A Prisoner Voice

Dear PARC,

My name is ___, and I am currently incarcerated at the ___ located in California. I am but one of the many women here who are concerned about and frankly tired of the poor living accomondations and the utter disregard for our health and safety by those running this facility. I am writing to you on this date (3-21/04) in hopes of attaining guidance, direction, and /or assistance in resolving the dilemma at hand in an appropriate and timely manner. As of this date many of the female inmates have approached various Sergents, Lieutenants, the Captain, and Correctional Counselors(I,II, and  III) to little or no avail.

I will attempt to be as brief as possible in giving  you examples of a few of our problems. Keep in mind, this has escalated over time, our daily lives are full of such circumstances, and I believe whole heartedly that these problems will continue to be ignored, swept under a rug, and progress if not addressed with force.

Sanitation and Living Conditions: 
I realize overcrowding is a common factor of institutions, however cramming excessive amounts of people into 4 man rooms is unacceptable. I have no understanding of why people continue to be endorsed to a facility that is beyond capacity and falling apart, literally. There is a constant issue of availability of basic necessities such as sanitary napkins, tampons, and toilet tissue. Canteen now sells feminine hygiene products due to shortage. That in itself is an outrage. ___ is an institution of very old buildings which require a great deal of maintainance cleaning. We are provided with very little cleaning supplies if any, and at times, have been forced to clean bathrooms with our own state issued bar soap and water. 
Understandable for maybe a third world country, but not here in the United States.

Medical/Health:
It is an ongoing battle and hassle to receive medical attention. Response to a sick call slip can take up to a month and often requires several slips before an inmate is acknowledged. On the chance that a medical attention is an immediate need, the severity of the inmates health is determined by custody staff (correctional officer) before medical will even take notice of a situation. Custody staff are not trained medical personal and I strongly disagree that health of an inmate should be determined by someone with no medical credentials. On one account an older woman with blood pressure problems and diabetes was denied medical attention because her housing staff didn't think she looked sick. She passed out due to a very low blood sugar level, then and only then did she receive medical attention. Another inmate has been bleeding rectally for more than two weeks  and told to pu in a co-pay and wait to be helped. She too passed out due her condition. It is insane that such extreme situations must take place before medical complications will be noticed and determined as valid health issues! Not to mention the numerous cases of infections that are not treated and forgotten.Even chronic care patients are being charged for follow-ups. 

Water/Food:
The bacterial infections are acquired from the drinking water and food prepared in the water. _____ is a facility which at one time was a Naval Hospital and barracks. These buildings are at least 50 years old, possibly alot older, and in poor shape to say the least. The condition of the pipes could very well be one of the causes for the the polluted water. ___ provides their inmate population with bottled water because their water is unsuitable. Here at ___ we are offered bottled water in canteen. Same as the tampons, and sanitary napkins, this does no good to inmates who receive no outside financial help. Those running the facility cannot even provide an accurate date in which the filters for our drinking fountains were changed. A large number of us here use a sock to cover our shower heads when we shower because the sock serves as a filter. It's shocking and appalling that a small gym sock is entirely the color of rust after a 5-10 minute shower.

Plumbing:
Very old to say the least. Our dorms in Women's Unit house approximately 100 women per dorm. Each unit has 5 showers, sinks, and toilets to accommodate everyone in that unit. At any given time we can expect AT LEAST one of each to be broken, flooded, and leaking. In my dorm we have had 2 broken toilets, a plugged sink, and two broken showers. My first two days on this unit ,we were walking through  a river of water, urine, and feces. This is  still a problem , staff is aware, and in the meantime we tend to the flooding and maintainance of these filthy conditions ourselves.

I could continue but my goal was mainly to paint a picture and grab attention. Staff of all levels are aware of these conditions and are making no visible effort to resolve these issues in an acceptable timely manner. Appeals have been submitted, however the process is very slow and there is no guarantee that the appeals won't be denied. When inspected by ___ we are neither seen, nor heard. Similar to the way abusive foster parents lock away their ward while they portray a loving and healthy environment.

It is vital that you understand that the majority of the women here feel just as strongly as I do, however they are inclined to "keep their mouths shut"  due to intimidation and retaliation from institution staff. A lot of us here at  ___ are "short termer,"  meaning  two years or less, and would endure this mess rather than risk "lost" paperwork or losing our scheduled date. It is highly common for paperwork to be lost especially on people who use their voice. I refuse to remain scared on the sidelines. We are suffering injustice here at the ____. I'm using my voice  to ask for help and speak up for  myself and my peers who are still too timid to make a stand.I will not be intimidated or back down from what I believe in.

In closing, I respectfully request any form of assistance, guidance, and direction from your organization. 

It's been over 11 years now that (4) four expert witnesses, including the U.S. government's own witness, all testified that cocaine and cocaine base (so-called crack) all synonymous terms describing the same substance. This testimony was taken on May 1st through June 1st, 1994 in the case of United States vs. Ricky Davis and Jerry Jones. (please see 864 F. Supp. 1303 (N.D. Ga. 1994).

Testimony was taken from the following:

1. Dr. Warren J. Woodford, Ph.D. in chemistry, post-doctoral in medical chemistry, author of numerous scientific articles, various types of cocaine, forensic chemistry testimony in more than 200 cases. Dr. Woodford was called as a defense witness. 

2. Dr. Clinton D. Kitlta, Ph. D., in pharmacology. Former head of clinical psychopharmacology lab at Duke University. Dr. Kiltz is now associated professor Dept. of psychiatry, Emory University, emphasis of the pharmacological effects of various forms of cocaine. Dr. Kiltz was called as the court's expert witness.

3. Dr. John Holbrook, Ph. D. in pharmacology, a teacher for 20 years of various courses on pharmacology. Substance abuse, on the behaviorial effects of cocaine. Dr. Holbrook was called as the courts experts witness also. 

4. Mr. Joey Douglas Clarke, a master's degree in chemistry and works for the DEA (chemist) Mr. Clarke has no research or publication on cocaine. Mr. Clarke was called as the government's witness.

If there is 251 pages of testimony with regards to cocaine and cocaine base (so-called crack) and that all forms of cocaine are synonymous terms describing the same substance, then why are so many African Americans being subjected to this vile and irrational criminal statute?

In 1986, when Congress passed the harsh penalties for so-called crack cocaine, they were hearing all the deaths associated with so-called crack cocaine.
The New York Times first mentioned crack in a story on November 17th, 1985, less than a year before the 1986 Act passed. Media coverage intensified, and became like nothing ever seen before.
In the months leading up to the 1986 elections, more than 1000 stories appeared on crack cocaine in the national press, including five cover stories in the Times and Newsweek. NBC ran 300 separate reports on crack cocaine (15 hours of air time). Times called it the "Issue of the Year." September 22, 1986. Newsweek called crack the biggest news story since Vietnam and Watergate. (June 16, 1986).
The cocaine base (crack) laws were hastily drafted and approved in an unusually frenzied Congressional environment.
Media coverage peaked when basketball star Len Bias died, supposedly from smoking crack, shortly after being drafted by the Boston Celtics as the number two overall. This initiated prompt Congressional action under then Speaker of the House Tip O'Neal of Massachusetts. It wasn't until later it was verified that Bias died not from smoking crack, but rather from snorting powder cocaine.
It should also be noted that then house speaker O'Neal's district just happened to be Boston. Mr. Len Bias was to be to Boston what Michael Jordan was to the Chicago Bulls, Boston's savior. He was to bring Boston back to the championship years of Russell. O'Neal was raging mad that the savior had died from smoking crack, so the news media had reported. He knew that Boston would never see another title. Almost 20 years have come and gone, and Boston still has no title. And the crack cocaine laws are still on the books. 5 grams of crack will get you 5 years in federal prison, but 500 grams of powder cocaine will get you the same 5 years. Is something wrong with this number?

Now back to our expert witness:
Dr. Woodford testified at the Davis hearing in pertinent part...
"Crack cocaine came into being in the '80s... it lasted a while and went away. It occurred because of a change in the processing labs. The United States started bombing Bolivia and knocking out the finishing labs. It is very clear to see what happen without the finishing labs. What came to the United States was something with about 14 different alkaloids, one of which was Tropacocaine, which is very toxic to the heart. The other different alkaloids had a very dangerous and very traumatic effect on the human body. This crack was a very strong substance that you couldn't cut with nothing, most of all baking soda. The real crack was a crystallized substance, almost like plate glass. It was dark brown in color. You literally had to take a hammer and crack the plate like glass material into hundreds of little pieces. This gave birth to the (street) name crack. If this real crack cocaine could not be cut or adulterated then the strength could not be diminished."

Let's stop and remind ourselves if the United States Government knows all this very public information then why is this long gone real crack cocaine still in our law books? Why are young African Americans receiving as much as a life sentence for a substance that doesn't even exist in the scientific community, nor the streets of the United States?

One of the lawyers in the Davis case questions :
Q: Let me give you a copy of 28-841 beginning section 2 here. Now, looking at the statute, is there any difference in the substance describe in section II 1, 2, and 3 and the substance as cocaine base?
A: No.
Q: Why is that?
A: Cocaine--well, cocaine base is cocaine. Cocaine base comes from coca leaves. It is a chemical formula of C17 H21 NO4. It comes from coca leaves.

Now, Dr. Klitz's examination by the court:
Q: Does the scientific community today have a consensus about what is meant by crack?
A: It would say probably not.
Q: Did it in the early--I mean in the middle '80s have a consensus about what crack is?
A: Yes, I believe we're talking about fairly impure mixture of a number of alkaloids of which cocaine was one of them.

Dr. Holbrook, cross-examination by the defense:
Q: Are the terms cocaine and cocaine base synonymous?
A: Yes.
Q: Are the terms cocaine base and cocaine freebase synonymous?
A: As far as I know, yes.

Joey Clark, government witness (DEA chemist) cross examination:
Q: ..."you agree, sir, that the term cocaine and cocaine base are used interchangeably?"
A: They can be.
Q: And as a word of art in chemistry are they used interchangeably?
A: Yes.
Q: So that when you use one term, you can use either term and mean exactly the same thing?
A: Correct.

Scientifically, all forms of cocaine are cocaine, be it rock, so-called crack, cocaine base, free base. They are all terms for the same substance.
Our U.S. Congress walked into hastily slinging together a statute without looking in both directions before crossing the street.
The scientific community was not allowed to offer or give testimony regarding the crack issues they held in 1986. 
If you make a mistake, say so, then you correct your mistake. 92 percent of the federal so-called crack defendants are African Americans, only 3 percent are white.

The states along with the United States government has conspired to prosecute federally all African Americans who are arrested for so-called crack cocaine. In 17 states and a number of other cities--including Boston, Denver, Chicago, Miami, Dallas, and Los Angeles--not one white has been federally prosecuted for so-called crack since the law became law in 1986. Evidence has shown that whites sell and use more of this drug than African Americans. For Congress to allow the U.S. government agents to step inside a sovereign state and exericse its absolute power over an individual and charge the individual with a federal crime after the state has filed its own charge first, is a pattern of prosecution bordering on another form of genocide. 

Selective prosecution. Ask a U.S. Assistant Attorney why are only African Americans being prosecuted federally. Ask a county prosecutor why he turns over most of his so-called crack cocaine defendants to federal authorities if they are African-Americans. Ask them both, why they don't charge whites federally? It's racism; it's as racist as slavery was. This is nation problem, this pick and choose the federal cases for prosecution. 

Stanley Huff
#06811-041
FPC Atwater 
P.O. Box 019001
Atwater, CA 95301

You can order Stan's book "Obstacles" about a young African-American teenager sent to the Napa Boys' Home athttp://www.publishamerica.com/shopping/shopdisplayproducts.asp?catalogid=13351

Dear PARC: Personnel at ___ detention center in Georgia are enforcing what rules they choose and denying people of their rights.  The mail is sifted for what they choose to be delivered or not.  My grievances and requests are ignored.  I have had an injury to my neck since early Dec 2010 and unable to get medical treatment.  Medial is dictated to by the authority of the Sheriff's Dept.  Deputies are present during inmate medical discussions- NO medical privacy.  Negligence by nurses and harassment by deputies in supervisory positions.  This is done by corporals and sergeants who hide their actions behind floor deputies.  Please contact me.  I have times, dates, names.  Speaking with facility personnel will not get the truth.  I would be grateful for any help or guidance you can provide.

ps...  This facility only allows generic white postcard correspondence only (unless the mail is clearly marked addressed from an attorney) otherwise they will not let me have it. 

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