The Jungle of Death
by Jeremy Pilson

When one conjures up the mental image of a jungle, it is likely exotic plants, snakes, and animals that fill the mind's eye. But were one to imagine a unit within a prison where danger and death are ever-present, a place where prison officials play a deadly game of chess with prisoners as the pawns, they would've accurately imagined a kind of jungle that exists at the federal supermaximum ADX prison known at the Step-Down Units. Like the jungles of the Amazon, the Step-Down Unit (through which all inmates must pass to leave ADX) is populated with Predators (Gangs and Other Sadistic Inmates) and Prey (Weak Prisoners, Homosexuals, Informants, etc.) but unlike the jungle where the prey may hide or run to evade capture, at ADX prison officials coerce these inmates into a unit together, unlock the doors and watch the blood flow. Inside America exists a modern day coliseum. Except instead of christians being fed to the lions, ADX officials such as Blake Davis, Patricia Rangel, Louis Milosnic [sp?] and Russ and Dianne Krist force into dangerous situations the inmates they least desire (jailhouse lawyers and those who oppose their tyrannical abuses of power) and their feigned shock and dismay when another dead or injured inmate is carted off to a hospital or morgue is repugnant to every basic notion of human decency imaginable. I too will very soon have my day in the jaws of death, but before I am escorted into the arena I will make damn sure the world knows of this practice. That this occurs in a civilized society is appalling, but the fact that so many have been harmed and Davis, Rangel, Milosnic and the Krist's have not been held accountable is an even greater testament to the consequences of allowing the Government to police itself. If these people had caused such injuries and death outside Government service they would be labeled criminals or worse and most certainly imprisoned for such egregious misconduct. But because they are employed in the civilian government their actions are cloaked in the general trust afforded government officials by the citizenry they are sworn to serve and protest. Their betrayal of such trust should anger any decent American. I urge my supporters to call Senator Mark Udall at 719-471-3993 and Congressman Doug Lamborn at 719-520-0055 to urge them to support a full criminal investigation by an independent counsel into the actions of these officials at ADX and to email ohchr@ohchr.org [sp?] to investigate the violations of International Covenants and Treaties at ADX.