THE EXECUTION OF SCOTT ROSE
by Timothy J. Muise

His purple neck houses the crushed windpipes that blocked the life-breath from reaching his lungs. No quick snap of the neck like the hangman's noose affords, but a slow grasp for breath, arms clawing in a panic, as things turn dark and the slowing heartbeat pounds with decreasing fervor in his ears. The whiteness of the sheet knotted around his throat contrasts the dark death-house his end came in. This is no suicide—this is a murder, a state execution.

Some say Massachusetts has no death penalty. Men like me know it is a lie. I see this state's version each and every day. Slow and methodical, but just as real as any other. Men sentenced to death by a thousand cuts. Life without parole (or now even with parole) should be called death without parole, as that is what the end game is—death. The demoralizing and dehumanizing state prison system here in Massachusetts is a political debacle with sadistic guards left over from the failed "tough on crime" era of William Weld creating a class of angry young prisoners to unleash on society> There is no correction, only hopelessness. And the hopeless sometimes kill. Dominic Cinelli was hopeless, a product of the guards.

Scott Rose, known as "X" to his friends—and not by some number, but a real, live human being—did not commit suicide as was reported. He was murdered. He was maliciously and premeditatedly executed by the Department of Corrections. This is a fact, not a hyperbole. And no one seems to care.

The two highest ranking members of the security team here at MCI Shirley, two of the most sadistic guards, intimidated psychiatric staff into taking Scott off his psychiatric medication because they—the sadistic guards—thought Scott might be misusing it. Some prisoners are afforded such low doses of medication. It does not work properly. Some prisoners just want to get high and forget about the hopelessness, so these prisoners may try to "cheek" their medication for an increased dosage. The guards felt Scott might be doing this, so they scared the psychiatrist into taking away his medication. Scott needed this medication. Now he is dead.

The guards at MCI Shirley, in conjunction with the psychiatric and medical staff, murdered Scott Rose. But they also had a co-conspirator, a joint-venturer as the law details, and this was Josh Wall, the chairman of the Massachusetts Parole Board.

You see, Josh Wall does not parole lifers. He stated in the Boston Globe that he (the Parole Board) would decide the time second degree lifers would serve. Scott Rose was a second degree lifer who knew that dregs like Josh Wall would not parole him no matter how well adjusted he became or how many reparations he made to his community. Josh Wall murders people for a living—he subjects them to the slow, grinding, and hopeless death sentence that is prison in Massachusetts.

Josh Wall is a murderer. The guards here are murderers. The psychiatric staff are murderers. They all roam free while Scott Rose hangs from a makeshift noose in the new death chamber here at MCI Shirley. God will condemn them.

Dominic Cinelli shot a police officer after being paroled. Tragic. I knew Dominic. He was an angry product of a system that took away his soul by grinding it down to hopelessness. Dominic made it to the streets, after decades in prison, and visited his anger and hopelessness upon that poor policeman. Dominic pulled the trigger, but eh real murderers are the sadistic guards and draconian wardens who made Dominic into a killer.

The governor was pressured into blaming the parole board. All politics here as usual in Massachusetts corrections has become.

Prisoners know what instills hope. Prisoners want to obtain that hope. Do not believe the propaganda machine of law enforcement or corrections. Investigate this fact for yourself. Our society is founded on second chances—in redemption. Where would we be without it? Where would YOU be without it?

Let's please put an end to all murder through commonsense rehabilitation. Let's replace the sadistic guards with progressive programming overseen by professionals. Let's bring the hope back into the hearts of men. Let's replenish souls rather than deplete them.

How do we do this? With justice tempered with mercy and compassion. But it must start with the motivated prisoner at its core as the jailer-jailed divide can never be bridged. Prisoners will heal each other if we let them.

We must work together to strengthen the social fabric and end violence. The human condition can only be advanced if we seek to hear the cries of the oppressed. No more executions. No more murders. No more hopelessness. The dark can only be overcome with the light. Please help us light our lamp. Lives are at stake.

IN MEMORY OF SCOTT ROSE

To get involved in the movement for progressive prison reform, please contract me at my listed address.

Timothy J. Muise
#W66927
MCI Shirley
P.O. Box 1218
Shirley, MA
01464-1218