Thanks for writing! I finished the transcription for your post. The pages were accidentally scanned in out of order, but I corrected that in my typing...hope that's okay.
In response to your question..."What do most prisoner-bloggers post here? I don't want or plan to copy others' style, especially since in my experience the typical prisoner writing ratio is about one readable composition for every thousand or so totally uninteresting, incoherent ramblings."...from what I have seen so far, some prisoners write poetry or stream of consciousness pieces, others write about their day to day life or random thoughts, some share journal entries or artwork, others write letters to specific people (friends/family/comment responses), and some are looking for pen pals. Basically, I guess the answer is your blog can be whatever you wish it to be...your world, from your unique perspective.
Again, thank you for writing. My best to you. -Melanie
Me encantó la foto con los gansos. Yo jamás me hubiera imaginado que hubieran gansos en la prision, que van de visita y son afectuosos al ser humano sobre todo si son libres y pueden volar a donde quiera. Yo provengo de una isla tropical llamada Puerto Rico y me mudé en busca de un mejor provenir como lo hacen tantas familias de America Latina. Yo tambíen hablo el idioma español y me siento muy orgullosa de mis raíces latinas. Los politicos de nuestros países se han olvidado de nuestra gente y de nuestra patria, solo desean su enriquecimiento personal y monetario. Venden nuestro suelo y tranquilidad por dinero. Nosotros somos la majoría y tenemos que decir basta a todo lo que esta pasando a nuestro alrededor, es como usted dice, nosotros somos la mayoría y tenemos que tomar consciencia de todo lo que esta pasando a nuestro alrededor. Tenemos que unirnos como una sola nación que habla español y cuidar nuestra fauna, flora, oceanos y nuestra agricultura. Enseñar a nuestros hijos a respetar la naturaleza, a nuestros animales que mueren y se extinguen por el solo deseo de matar ó destruir. La contaminación nos esta acabando y nuestro aire cada vez es menos puro. Ya la gente no quiere cosechar, no quieren sembrar ó recoger fruto alguno porque es mas fácil ir a un restaurante de comida rápida y pagar para que otro lo haga. Tenemos que recordar que somos una gran comunidad y que somos capaces de hacer cosas grandes y únicas para nuestras familias Latinas. Espero que sus cartas sirvan de inspiración a todos nuestros jovencitos y a las futuras generaciones para que siempre recuerden y guarden nuestras costumbres, nuestras tradiciones y nuestro idioma Español.
"Que siempre reciba la agradable visita de sus amigos con alas"
I must say you are a valiant man, making this letter and tell everyone that you were one of them and because of your circumstances you learn that this is not a good thing.
Thank you for tell your true and stand up for all the people that need your words, and your support.
I think you have found your propose in life and is a blessing. You are an admirable person.
God Bless You and I vote too for the make of the movie "The Bully"
Sometimes people that have the freedom never look for the love of God. They think they have the freedom to chose between good or bad, take the easy or the hard way of doing thinks in life and they never have the time to thank for the things we have in life to our Creator. You are Bless because even on a place fill of bad energy and so much anger you open your heart to meet Jesus Christ. I hope your letter works as an inspirations to other that have meet Jesus and to understand that no matter were you are or who you were you always have the change to meet Jesus and be a new creature. God loves us no matter what and always bring light to our lives. God Bless You Patrick and always keep the faith. Evelyn Marcano
I really enjoyed reading your recommendations for prison reform and wondered if you would like an opportunity to write something a little different. My husband, Andy, and I are writing a book about the institutionalized (legal) prejudice against people with felony convictions. For example, Andy was given a life-without sentence as the result of felonists trying to keep us apart, and after a 6 year court battle, he has been out for almost 10 years. Our federal case is Dixon, William v Holland, 1999 or 2000.
Now that it is more difficult for some folks to make money from racism, sexism, and the other "isms" a small group of people who have grown powerful and wealthy by getting the masses to abuse one segment of society have turned their attention to felons in the last 30/40 years. It is now legal to discriminate against felons before and after their incarceration. We call this discrimination, "felonism". Since coining the term, we see its negative effects in every part of our society. It is considered acceptable to laugh about people being raped in prison because they are felons. Children with incarcerated parents refuse to cooperate with school staff because they parallel the CO's and prison staff who separate them from their parents. Cooperating with a teacher would be a betrayal of their incarcerated parent. New laws are being created daily to oppress people with felony convictions, and society does not even realize how they have been duped into believing all felons are dangerous people. Our goals are to eliminate institutional felonism, prevent generational incarceration, and have all prisons turned into healing centers.
Andy and I are writing a book, "Felonism: Hating in Plain Sight" Most of the book will be real-life stories about exact ways in which felonism has affected people's lives, but those using it and those receiving felonism. You are welcome to share events from your life that have been generated by people who discount you as a human being based on the fact that you have a felony. While we cannot pay you for your submission, we can publish your name and contact information so that more people will know about your situation and possibly keep in contact. Since you appear to be a solutions oriented person, I'd love it if you could write about changes that you see could help overcome felonism.
You are welcome to share this request for submissions with others. We may not put everyone in the book, but we will use as many stories as possible either in the book or on a blog. Nothing will be published without a consent form being signed, which I will send after editing each submission. Submissions can be mailed to P. O. Box 128071, Nashville, TN 37212 or emailed to this address, but I would prefer emails at felonism@gmail.com. I hope to hear from you soon.
Third & last installment: The manner in which PDOC uses solitary confinement often discriminates against prisoners with 8MI/ID: PDOC often unnecessarily and inappropriately places prisoners in solitary confinement because they have SMIIID. Isolating prisoners on the basis of their SMIIID without adequate justification constitutes impermissible discrimination and unjustifiably denies them access to services and progrmns provided to most other prisoners. PDOC has failed to make reasonable modifications to its policies, procedures, and practices to meet the needs ofprisoners with SMIIID in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs and consistent with legitimate safety requirements. Instead, it has routinely elected to segregate these prisoners urmecessarily in its solitary confinement units. PDOC's solitary confinement practices violate the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against "cruel and unusual punishments." Embodying "broad and idealistic concepts of dignity, and thus are assigned to PDOC's second category indeed have SMI. We also identified other prisoners with SMI who are left offpDOC's active mental health roster entirely. 3 civilized standards, humanity, and decency," Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97,102 (1976), the Amendment prohibits officials from disregarding conditions of confinement that subj ect prisoners to an excessive risk ofharm. Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 843 (1994). PDOC's use of a harsh fmID of solitary confinement for extended periods of time on hundreds of
I haven't take time to read this word for word, but what I scanned looked important for Inmate Advisers to know.
continuation of same report: 2 conditions that prisoners with SMI face while in solitalY confinement are harsh. They are routinely confined to their cells for 23 hours a day; denied adequate mental health care; and subjected to punitive behavior modification plans, forced idleness and loneliness, unsettling noise and stench, harassment by correctional officers, and the excessive use of full-body restraints. • The manner in which PDOC uses solitary confinement on prisoners with 8MI results in serious harm: PDOC uses isolation on prisoners with SMI in a way that exacerbates their mental illness and leads to serious psychological and physiological harms. Indeed, our expert-consultants interviewed and reviewed the records ofmore than two dozen prisoners whom they concluded were seriously harmed by solitm'y confinement in various ways, including severe mental deterioration, psychotic decompensation, and acts of self-harm. For instance, even though only a small fraction of the prisoners at the prisons we toured were housed in solitary confinement units, most ofthe suicide attempts occurred in those units. Specifically, more than 70% of the documented suicide attempts between January 1, 2012 and May 31,2013 occurred in the solitary confinement units. • Numerous systemic deficiencies contribute to PDOC's extensive use of solitary confinement on prisoners with 8M!: PDOC routinely resorts to using prolonged solitary confinement on those with SMI primarily because systemic deficiencies interfere with its ability to provide adequate mental health treahnent. When we initiated our investigation in May, prisoners with SMI were placed in solitm'y confinement at twice the rate ofprisoners without SM!. Too often, instead ofproviding appropriate mental health care, PDOC's response to mental illness is to warehouse vulnerable prisoners in solitmy confinement cells. • The manner in which PDOC uses solitary confinement also harms prisoners with ID: PDOC uses solitmy confmement on a significant number ofprisoners with ID, as defmed below. Prisoners with ID are especially susceptible to the hmmful effects ofPDOC's use of solitary confinement They have limited coping mechanisms mld their mental health is prone to deteriorating when subjected to the stressors present in PDOC's solitary confinement units. We believe PDOC is not adequately addressing such concelllS.
this is part of a Justice Report on PA prisons put out 2/24/14. I thought you might want a look. due to limited space, i had to chop it up. The mistakes were already in the report. I. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS PDOC has begun reforming the way in which it uses solitmy confmement on prisoners with SMIIID. In recent months, PDOC has implemented new procedures for the disciplinary process. It has also implemented new protocols for the treatment of prisoners with SMI in certain specialized housing units. These reforms have led to a reduction in the nmnber of prisoners with SMI subjected to solitary confinement. Moreover, PDOC is in the process of drafting policies geared towm'd fhrther reducing the number of prisoners with SMIIID housed in isolation units and improving mental health care for prisoners with SM!. While the Commonwealth has made impOliant improvements, much more work needs to be done to ensure sustained compliance with the mandates of the Constitution and the ADA. Below we summarize our factual detelminations and our ongoing concems: • The manner in which PDOC snbjects prisoners with SMI to prolonged periods of solitary confinement involves conditions that are often unjustifiably harsh and in which these prisoners routinely have difficulty obtaining adequate mental health care: In the one-year period between May 2012 and May 2013, PDOC confined more than 1,000 prisoners on its active mental health roster in solitary confinement for more than 90 days.3 Nearly 250 of those prisoners were in solitary for more than a year. There are still roughly liS prisoners PDOC identifies as having SMI who are in solitary. Our expert-consultants have concluded that the liS number grossly understates the number ofprisoners with SMI currently subjected to solitary confinement, estimating that there are hundreds more.4 The 2 In making these findings, the Department of Justice does not intend to suggest that every use of solitary confinement on persons with SMIIID is a per se violation of the Eighth Amendment or the ADA. 3 PDOC separates its active mental health roster into two categories: (1) those prisoners designated as having "the most serious need for mental health services;" and (2) those designated as having a ~'present mental health need." 4 PDOC has newly revised its active mental health roster. It designates only those in the first category as having SM!. However, after reviewing medical records and interviewing prisoners, we and our expert-consultants in mental health have concluded that a very significant number ofthe prisoners cU!'rently designated as not having SM!
RSS
In response to your question..."What do most prisoner-bloggers post here? I don't want or plan to copy others' style, especially since in my experience the typical prisoner writing ratio is about one readable composition for every thousand or so totally uninteresting, incoherent ramblings."...from what I have seen so far, some prisoners write poetry or stream of consciousness pieces, others write about their day to day life or random thoughts, some share journal entries or artwork, others write letters to specific people (friends/family/comment responses), and some are looking for pen pals. Basically, I guess the answer is your blog can be whatever you wish it to be...your world, from your unique perspective.
Again, thank you for writing. My best to you. -Melanie
Me encantó la foto con los gansos. Yo jamás me hubiera imaginado que hubieran gansos en la prision, que van de visita y son afectuosos al ser humano sobre todo si son libres y pueden volar a donde quiera. Yo provengo de una isla tropical llamada Puerto Rico y me mudé en busca de un mejor provenir como lo hacen tantas familias de America Latina. Yo tambíen hablo el idioma español y me siento muy orgullosa de mis raíces latinas. Los politicos de nuestros países se han olvidado de nuestra gente y de nuestra patria, solo desean su enriquecimiento personal y monetario. Venden nuestro suelo y tranquilidad por dinero. Nosotros somos la majoría y tenemos que decir basta a todo lo que esta pasando a nuestro alrededor, es como usted dice, nosotros somos la mayoría y tenemos que tomar consciencia de todo lo que esta pasando a nuestro alrededor. Tenemos que unirnos como una sola nación que habla español y cuidar nuestra fauna, flora, oceanos y nuestra agricultura. Enseñar a nuestros hijos a respetar la naturaleza, a nuestros animales que mueren y se extinguen por el solo deseo de matar ó destruir. La contaminación nos esta acabando y nuestro aire cada vez es menos puro. Ya la gente no quiere cosechar, no quieren sembrar ó recoger fruto alguno porque es mas fácil ir a un restaurante de comida rápida y pagar para que otro lo haga. Tenemos que recordar que somos una gran comunidad y que somos capaces de hacer cosas grandes y únicas para nuestras familias Latinas. Espero que sus cartas sirvan de inspiración a todos nuestros jovencitos y a las futuras generaciones para que siempre recuerden y guarden nuestras costumbres, nuestras tradiciones y nuestro idioma Español.
"Que siempre reciba la agradable visita de sus amigos con alas"
"Que Dios le Bendiga",
Evelyn Marcano
"Beautiful work and good technique. I like it."
Evelyn Marcano
I must say you are a valiant man, making this letter and tell everyone that you were one of them and because of your circumstances you learn that this is not a good thing.
Thank you for tell your true and stand up for all the people that need your words, and your support.
I think you have found your propose in life and is a blessing. You are an admirable person.
God Bless You and I vote too for the make of the movie "The Bully"
Best Regards,
Evelyn Marcano
Man can keep your body in bars for any decisions that you make for good or bad but your soul and your mind those always can fly apart.
Evelyn Marcano
Sometimes people that have the freedom never look for the love of God. They think they have the freedom to chose between good or bad, take the easy or the hard way of doing thinks in life and they never have the time to thank for the things we have in life to our Creator. You are Bless because even on a place fill of bad energy and so much anger you open your heart to meet Jesus Christ. I hope your letter works as an inspirations to other that have meet Jesus and to understand that no matter were you are or who you were you always have the change to meet Jesus and be a new creature. God loves us no matter what and always bring light to our lives. God Bless You Patrick and always keep the faith.
Evelyn Marcano
Now that it is more difficult for some folks to make money from racism, sexism, and the other "isms" a small group of people who have grown powerful and wealthy by getting the masses to abuse one segment of society have turned their attention to felons in the last 30/40 years. It is now legal to discriminate against felons before and after their incarceration. We call this discrimination, "felonism". Since coining the term, we see its negative effects in every part of our society. It is considered acceptable to laugh about people being raped in prison because they are felons. Children with incarcerated parents refuse to cooperate with school staff because they parallel the CO's and prison staff who separate them from their parents. Cooperating with a teacher would be a betrayal of their incarcerated parent. New laws are being created daily to oppress people with felony convictions, and society does not even realize how they have been duped into believing all felons are dangerous people. Our goals are to eliminate institutional felonism, prevent generational incarceration, and have all prisons turned into healing centers.
Andy and I are writing a book, "Felonism: Hating in Plain Sight" Most of the book will be real-life stories about exact ways in which felonism has affected people's lives, but those using it and those receiving felonism. You are welcome to share events from your life that have been generated by people who discount you as a human being based on the fact that you have a felony. While we cannot pay you for your submission, we can publish your name and contact information so that more people will know about your situation and possibly keep in contact. Since you appear to be a solutions oriented person, I'd love it if you could write about changes that you see could help overcome felonism.
You are welcome to share this request for submissions with others. We may not put everyone in the book, but we will use as many stories as possible either in the book or on a blog. Nothing will be published without a consent form being signed, which I will send after editing each submission. Submissions can be mailed to P. O. Box 128071, Nashville, TN 37212 or emailed to this address, but I would prefer emails at felonism@gmail.com.
I hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
Linda Polk
The manner in which PDOC uses solitary confinement often discriminates against
prisoners with 8MI/ID: PDOC often unnecessarily and inappropriately places prisoners in
solitary confinement because they have SMIIID. Isolating prisoners on the basis of their
SMIIID without adequate justification constitutes impermissible discrimination and
unjustifiably denies them access to services and progrmns provided to most other prisoners.
PDOC has failed to make reasonable modifications to its policies, procedures, and practices
to meet the needs ofprisoners with SMIIID in the most integrated setting appropriate to their
needs and consistent with legitimate safety requirements. Instead, it has routinely elected to
segregate these prisoners urmecessarily in its solitary confinement units.
PDOC's solitary confinement practices violate the Eighth Amendment's prohibition
against "cruel and unusual punishments." Embodying "broad and idealistic concepts of dignity,
and thus are assigned to PDOC's second category indeed have SMI. We also identified other prisoners with SMI
who are left offpDOC's active mental health roster entirely.
3 civilized standards, humanity, and decency," Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97,102 (1976), the
Amendment prohibits officials from disregarding conditions of confinement that subj ect
prisoners to an excessive risk ofharm. Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 843 (1994). PDOC's
use of a harsh fmID of solitary confinement for extended periods of time on hundreds of
I haven't take time to read this word for word, but what I scanned looked important for Inmate Advisers to know.
2 conditions that prisoners with SMI face while in solitalY confinement are harsh. They are
routinely confined to their cells for 23 hours a day; denied adequate mental health care; and
subjected to punitive behavior modification plans, forced idleness and loneliness, unsettling
noise and stench, harassment by correctional officers, and the excessive use of full-body
restraints.
• The manner in which PDOC uses solitary confinement on prisoners with 8MI results in
serious harm: PDOC uses isolation on prisoners with SMI in a way that exacerbates their
mental illness and leads to serious psychological and physiological harms. Indeed, our
expert-consultants interviewed and reviewed the records ofmore than two dozen prisoners
whom they concluded were seriously harmed by solitm'y confinement in various ways,
including severe mental deterioration, psychotic decompensation, and acts of self-harm. For
instance, even though only a small fraction of the prisoners at the prisons we toured were
housed in solitary confinement units, most ofthe suicide attempts occurred in those units.
Specifically, more than 70% of the documented suicide attempts between January 1, 2012
and May 31,2013 occurred in the solitary confinement units.
• Numerous systemic deficiencies contribute to PDOC's extensive use of solitary
confinement on prisoners with 8M!: PDOC routinely resorts to using prolonged solitary
confinement on those with SMI primarily because systemic deficiencies interfere with its
ability to provide adequate mental health treahnent. When we initiated our investigation in
May, prisoners with SMI were placed in solitm'y confinement at twice the rate ofprisoners
without SM!. Too often, instead ofproviding appropriate mental health care, PDOC's
response to mental illness is to warehouse vulnerable prisoners in solitmy confinement cells.
• The manner in which PDOC uses solitary confinement also harms prisoners with ID:
PDOC uses solitmy confmement on a significant number ofprisoners with ID, as defmed
below. Prisoners with ID are especially susceptible to the hmmful effects ofPDOC's use of
solitary confinement They have limited coping mechanisms mld their mental health is prone
to deteriorating when subjected to the stressors present in PDOC's solitary confinement
units. We believe PDOC is not adequately addressing such concelllS.
I. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
PDOC has begun reforming the way in which it uses solitmy confmement on prisoners
with SMIIID. In recent months, PDOC has implemented new procedures for the disciplinary
process. It has also implemented new protocols for the treatment of prisoners with SMI in
certain specialized housing units. These reforms have led to a reduction in the nmnber of
prisoners with SMI subjected to solitary confinement. Moreover, PDOC is in the process of
drafting policies geared towm'd fhrther reducing the number of prisoners with SMIIID housed in
isolation units and improving mental health care for prisoners with SM!. While the
Commonwealth has made impOliant improvements, much more work needs to be done to ensure
sustained compliance with the mandates of the Constitution and the ADA. Below we summarize
our factual detelminations and our ongoing concems:
• The manner in which PDOC snbjects prisoners with SMI to prolonged periods of
solitary confinement involves conditions that are often unjustifiably harsh and in which
these prisoners routinely have difficulty obtaining adequate mental health care: In the
one-year period between May 2012 and May 2013, PDOC confined more than 1,000
prisoners on its active mental health roster in solitary confinement for more than 90 days.3
Nearly 250 of those prisoners were in solitary for more than a year. There are still roughly
liS prisoners PDOC identifies as having SMI who are in solitary. Our expert-consultants
have concluded that the liS number grossly understates the number ofprisoners with SMI
currently subjected to solitary confinement, estimating that there are hundreds more.4 The
2 In making these findings, the Department of Justice does not intend to suggest that every use of solitary
confinement on persons with SMIIID is a per se violation of the Eighth Amendment or the ADA.
3 PDOC separates its active mental health roster into two categories: (1) those prisoners designated as having "the
most serious need for mental health services;" and (2) those designated as having a ~'present mental health need."
4 PDOC has newly revised its active mental health roster. It designates only those in the first category as having
SM!. However, after reviewing medical records and interviewing prisoners, we and our expert-consultants in
mental health have concluded that a very significant number ofthe prisoners cU!'rently designated as not having SM!