Sound Mind Lesson

by

Floyd Smith

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State of California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
Memorandum

Date: July 20, 2018
To: East Block Spirituality Group Participants
Subject: Update

First, the next scheduled meeting is 8/7/18 at 10:10 in the CHSB.

Secondly, in an effort to know how best to serve the community volunteer Billie Mizell and myself have been conducting personal interviews with as many of you as possible. Some of the issues and concerns that have arisen are:

* Current scheduled group time interferes with yard time.
* Discomfort with the hospital as the meeting venue.
* Varying degrees as to what the focus of the community should be.
* How the meetings should/could be announced in EB.

Please know that we are exploring different venues and meeting times (13:00?). We would like to have your continued input on these matters and any other concerns. Your patience and support of this upstart community is truly appreciated.

Please feel free to respond to this memo or ask that we come and speak directly with you.

[signature]
Rabbi Paul Shleffar

Author comments: Wow, I'm insulted by your lack of patience and support of the vision and hard work that started 18 years ago when I was the community, physically and spiritually.

LGBTQ is not even on this memo nor EVEN mention of The Sound Mind Program. YET I see the word Jewish and your title rabbi on this paper. I love you and respect you enough to educate you.

See you 8.7.18. Let's get back to work.

===

Today is July 20, 2018. It's also my birthday.

What a day to receive a memo that intentionally refuses to acknowledge my existence and what I was born to do. So I teach this lesson today:

The future cannot be rewritten!

The memorandum you've just read was authored and generated by the systematic attempt to hijack my original program design, turning it into what it is NOT. Instead of setting The Sound Mind program in motion and inviting community to the program focus—that I worked my ass off to develop, present, and struggled for, for 18 years, when I was the only person "living out" about my sexual orientation in the condemned general group yard population, meeting and socializing with the crowded closeted family, the PFlags, and the straight allies to develop the Sound Mind Streamer for in-cell community engagement for EVERY interested inmate within the entire prison—, when we finally get our own space for us to "just be" and be constructive, productive, and to lead by creation, here comes bullshit.

In the following pages, I address the content within this memorandum with a level of integrity that is required of my generation, by those who have set the standard for providing society an equal opportunity to experience what we are truly made of.

My primary focus is to get back to work on The Sound Mind.

Responding to memorandum:
1. Current scheduled group time interferes with yard time.

All religious group times interferes with yard time. People sign up and attend, or they don't. Also, this is the historical first interyard group, so no mater what, it cuts into someone's yard time.

We are not asking for special treatment. We are requiring equal treatment per department policy.

2. Discomfort with the hospital as the meeting venue.
The hospital admins were grateful to "allow" us space. And due to our condemned security status, the hospital group room is the only venue available to the condemned population to:

a.) provide an intimate environment for this unique group of interyard consolidation with ten cages in the group room.

b.) inmates in either condemned religious groups don't have a "discomfort" excuse about the chapel venue or the group yard venue for condemned AMI smuggling. These areas are designated by the state due to state and federal law. As a result of Plant Operations, the safety and security of the institution, inmates, and employees.

The hospital group rooms were designed for the facilitation for high security risk inmates population with ten cages. Cell front consults are also available to inmates with discomfort with the assigned venues designated for the group. THIS IS STILL PRISON, AND THIS IS DEATH ROW. The hospital is providing us EQUAL treatment.

c.) The hospital group rooms are also equipped with everything we need to operate and maintain the original focus of this group.

3. Varying desires as to what the focus of the community shall be.
The primary focus of the original design is to provide for the facilitation of the spiritual wellbeing of the LGBTQ population of the condemned row from an urban ethnographic perspective, through the medium of The Sound Mind Streamer.

a.) The hospital group room is the command center.

b.) The inmates are counseling participants who express screening and approve desired focused content relevant to the specific service of the unique condemned row population, that is more urban oriented in 2018. This means that we are not there to talk about how gay we are. We are there to collect and provide content that is spiritually uplifting and morale building to the rest of us by way of direct access to Sound Mind Programming.

So while other religions are "having service," we are "providing service."

I've been working to bring this for 18 years as the ONLY open black man on death row. Jessica and Skyler just got to death row, and Randy Craft and other faith-based groups had over 40 years to turn their desires into a group.

Mainline groups had ample time to create what The Sound Mind is, so I'm offended that the above questions and the memo's tone undermines the work of the only person who wrote the program.

4.) How the meetings should/could be announced in EB.
Due to the tone of this memo, I'm returning to my original position in this form for clarity.

The state law and CDCR policy provides us an EQUAL OPPORTUNITY to be announced as LGBTQ spirituality group over the PA system. When a closet door opens, there must be an open place to receive family.

They announce:
Jewish
Muslim
Jehovah's Witness
Latterday Saint
AMI American Indian
Catholic
Protestants

etc., over the PA system.

I agree with the associate warden: NO HIDING.

And let me remind you that there was a time that these programs didn't exist, and none of us could imagine what these people experienced the first time these groups were announced in a unit in any prison in the United States. They are our leaders.

Those inmates fought physically, spiritually, and legally for us to have the religious and spiritual freedom to be announced as we are, and I'm personally offended that my original name of the group is being underminded. This is a LGBTQ spirituality group, and this group is designed for the spiritual uplift of the community. Open, closeted, allies, and PFlags through the groundbreaking innovative program design that I wrote and pursuant to the anti-discrimination laws of the state, the county, and CDCR.

I demand that we be announced as LGBTQ Spirituality Group.

The old group model serves the group participants only.

However, by default, it leaves the hundreds of closeted family—especially our inner city population—totally underserved and neglected.

My model for The Sound Mind serves the group. The group serves the community, and every inmate with a TV in SQSP, when they—under their own interest—tune into the programming that is generated from a condemned source that is powerful and a historical first here at SQSP.

My spirit was lifted the moment Billie Mizell suggested that the mainline LGBTQ group is willing to be one community with us. My heart felt so good and warm. Can't explain how amazing that made me feel. Now, that's empowering. And here's why: The Sound Mind Streamer.

In this prison and all over the USA, prisons—all Protestants, Catholics, Muslims, AMIs, etc.—all identify under those titles. It's our turn now.

I can't wait to ask the mainline group to step into a new "lead by creation" future, and let our community be addressed as and be known as:
The San Quentin State Prison
LGBTQ Spirituality Group

That's the community that I vision presenting.

The Sound Mind Streamer.

We have a group, we have donors for content. Let's serve.

===

The Future Has Already Been Written

"California Code of Regulations
Title 15. Rules and Regulations"
https://govt.westlaw.com/calregs/Document/IC000B8A02EC311E38929D3B349823D8F?viewType=FullText&originationContext=documenttoc&transitionType=DocumentItem&contextData=(sc.Default)

§ 3210. Establishment of Religious Programs.
(a) Institution heads shall make every reasonable effort to provide for the religious and spiritual welfare of all interested inmates, including, but not limited to, affording inmates a reasonable accommodation to attend a scheduled Religious Service if they are unable to do so due to conflicting work/education assignments. Reasonable accommodation may include, but is not limited to, modified work schedule, use of accrued time or allowable breaks, granting of a job/assignment change, changes of regular days off, etc. Use of reasonable accommodation shall in no way adversely impact an inmate's credit earning status.
(b) Depending upon the number of inmates of the various faiths, chaplains may be employed or their services may be accepted on a nonpaid volunteer basis. When feasible, separate space for services of the faith groups represented by a substantial number of inmates shall be provided. However, in some facilities, such as camps, it shall be necessary for the various faith groups to share such space as is available for religious services.
(c) Reasonable time and accommodation shall be allowed for religious services in keeping with facility security and other necessary institutional operations and activities. Insofar as possible, other facility activities shall be planned so as not to conflict with or disrupt scheduled religious services.
(d) A request for a religious service accommodation that requires a specific time, location and/or item(s) not otherwise authorized, will be referred to a Religious Review Committee (RRC) for review and consideration. The RRC shall be comprised of designated chaplains, and a correctional captain or their designee. Accommodation for religious services that are not granted, shall be for reason(s) which would impact facility/unit safety and security, and orderly day to day operations of the institution.
Note: Authority cited: Section 5058, Penal Code. Reference: Sections 5009 and 5054, Penal Code; and Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA), 42 U.S.C.§§ 2000cc,et seq.

HISTORY
1. Amendment filed 7-12-82; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 82, No. 29).
2. Editorial correction of Note filed 8-16-82 (Register 82, No. 34).
3. Amendment of article heading, section heading, text, and Note filed 11-1-93; operative 12-1-93 (Register 93, No. 45).
4. Amendment of section and Note filed 1-17-2006 as an emergency; operative 1-17-2006 (Register 2006, No. 3). Pursuant to Penal Code section 5058.3, a Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 6-26-2006 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
5. Certificate of Compliance as to 1-17-2006 order transmitted to OAL 6-22-2006 and filed 7-27-2006 (Register 2006, No. 30).
This database is current through 8/3/18 Register 2018, No. 31
15 CCR § 3210, 15 CA ADC § 3210

Author comments: The Sound Mind Streamer provides for the spiritual welfare of interested LGBTQ inmates, open and closeted.
They already allow us to use a hospital group room.
Recreation yard isn't a work/education program. No condemned inmate in this group has a prison job.

Please let's stop fighting each other and get back to work on leading by creation of something new: The Sound Mind.