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Sunday, September 06, 2009

Sept 1, 2009

Dear Sis~

The first thing you need to understand about our yard (outdoor recreation) situation is this: Prisoners in any long term confinement status (which most courts have construed as anything longer than 30 days) have a constitutional right, under the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution to a minimum of one (1) hour per day of outdoor recreation. This is a health issue (physical and mental health). This one-hour minimum has been established by the Federal courts around the country, including the federal prison system, over the last 40 years, as a result of many federal lawsuits brought by prisoners. Every state in the nation, except Florida' Death Row, recognizes this standard. In Florida, for the last 25 years, we on death row have only received four (4) hours per week, in two 2-hour sessions. Often, we'd get less than 4 hours as our yard was often cancelled (inclement weather, holiday, or any imagined reason) and never made up. I recall, in the 1990's, going 3-4 weeks in a row without any rec, followed by one or two rec sessions, then another 2,3,4 weeks without any rec. On Death Row, rec is really all we have; it's our one chance to get out of our cage, feel some sunshine, get some exercise and feel human. Many of us have been in tiny cages for 10, 20, 30 years now. Even the terrorists suspects held at Guantanamo Bay get at least one hour per day. Many, many medical studies have been conducted by the most prestigious medical experts in the field which have universally concluded that the one hour per day is the minimum to maintain good physical and mental health...
Ok, up until 1981, the FSP administration gave Death Row hardly any rec, and the rec was held on a tiny, fenced-in muddy area, about 20' x 20'. Then a Death Row prisoner, named Bob Sullivan, filed a federal lawsuit in 1981 (Bob was later executed). Judge Scott appointed an attorney, William Sheppard, to represent Bob, and Sheppard moved for class-action certification, which was granted. The litigation dragged on for the next 18 years, going to the Federal Court of Appeals twice, and during this time Sheppard collected well over $500,000 in attorneys fees and costs. Around 1983, Sheppard got the state to sign a consent decree, ostensibly settling the case. Under the consent decree, Sheppard sold us out, agreeing to a sub-constitutional four hours of rec per week. The consent decree also guaranteed us rec in a larger yard, which was built for us (it's only 80' x 90'), with a basketball goal and a volleyball net. That's the yard I've been walking around in for the last 20 years. I tried, unsuccessfully, to challenge the 4-hour provision in the consent decree (remember the consent decree was already in effect when I arrived on Death Row, and I was bound by its terms, even though I never had any input into its formulation). By then, the case was styled Dougan v Singletary (i.e., the Dougan case). I was mad as Hell about the sub-constitutional 4 hours per week provision, but all my years of efforts to re-open and modify the consent decree failed (Sheppard fought me on this; this case was his cash cow and he cared nothing about our rights or recreation).
Ok, then in 1996 the Republican-led US Senate passed the PLRA (Prison Litigation Reform Act) whose sole purpose was to greatly reduce and discourage any type of prison-related lawsuits. Among other things, the PLRA allows the state to dissolve any consent decree two tears after it was issued, and it basically requires all federal judges to grant such a motion. So, overnight, around the country, all the states filed motions to dissolve all prison consent decrees (even though many of them were exhaustively crafted after years and decades of litigation). Florida moved to dissolve the Dougan consent decree, and this was granted in 1999. In 2001, the Dougan case was officially closed. So, after 20 years, we were right back to square one. For the next 8 years, FSP continued to abide by the terms of the consent decree (4 hours per week in the "Big" yard, with cancelled sessions made up) even though the decree was dead. Then, just 2 months ago, the FSP administration suddenly decided to start messing with our rec. I guess it took them 9 years to realize the consent decree was dead. Now, they making us rec in tiny, one-man cages (but only for one of our two weekly sessions) and they announced they will no longer make up any cancelled yard sessions. So, now that I know the consent decree is dead (I didn't know this, being in Virginia for the last 9 years), I'm going to file suit to get our one-hour-per-day minimum. The prison has now opened a can of worms and I intend to get what we should have gotten back in 1983 when Sheppard sold us out. My goal is to get an attorney (I'm working on that), then get my case certified as a class action suit for all Death Row prisoners. An attorney will make some good money (just as Sheppard did) because we will win, and as the prevailing party, the attorney will be entitled to all costs and attorney fees. The state should have left us alone, (and I would never have done the research and learned that the Dougan case was closed) but now I intend to get us adequate and meaningful recreation. Right now, I'm exhausting my administrative remedies (the grievance process) which is mandatory prior to filing suit. Them I'll file suit (I have to hustle up the $350 filing fee), then I'll get an attorney, either on my own or appointed. ASo, now you know the short version of my next legal project!
Love, Bill

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

August 23, 2009

Dear Sis~
Over the weekend of Aug 15-16th a group of guards beat a prisoner half to death across the river at Union Correctional Institution. Last I heard, the guy was in critical condition. I learned about it on one of my PBS channels, which carries Florida governmental issues, when Walter McNeil, the Secretary of the Department of Corrections, gave a live press conference to announce the beating on August 21. The guards initially tried to cover it up (no surprise), and succeeded until someone - a guard or someone in medical- came forward and belatedly reported it. Now, 4 or 5 guards (including 2 sergeants) are "on leave" and 4 nurses have been fired. The fired nurses is your tipoff that the nurses participated in the cover up. This is routine when prisoners are beaten. Some medical staff cover up beatings enthusiastically while others are intimidated, even threatened bodily, by the guards. The cover up consists of altering or fabricating the medical reports (since the injured guy invariably ends up in the medical department, if only briefly) to show either no injuries, or very minor injuries (even if the guy has broken bones or is dying) or to claim the injuries are self inflicted. The medical department here did the same thing when those 9 guards beat Frank to death in 1999. All prison medical departments do it. Anyway, McNeil announced he had called in the F.D.L.E. (Florida Department of Law Enforcement) as well as the FBI. That tells me the injuries are very serious, the guy may be dead already; it also tells me that McNeil is putting distance between himself and this beating. In response to a reporter's question, McNeil admitted this was the third mass beating incident in the last 3 or 4 months (2 at UCI, one here at FSP). Then in the next breath, he denied that there is a systemic problem, and claimed that these were just isolated incidents. That bullshit; these beating are systemic (and UCI is notorious for them) and for every one like this which gets publicity, there are hundreds which never see the light of day. That's a fact. The only rare thing about this is that McNeil chose to announce it publicly. In the old days, it would have remained a dark secret; certainly nobody in the DOC would be announcing it. The prison system is like a black hole; things happen in here that the public never hears about. It's like being on another planet. At least now we have a little transparency and a little accountability ...

In my next entry I'll tell you what's going on with our recreation situation and why I'll have to be going back to federal court (after 15 years when we last fought and won this battle) to rectify the situation. This administration appears to be anxious to provoke the death row population here. They're suddenly going out of their way to harass us. This started as soon as our new warden (Warden Singer) arrived, so you can draw your own conclusions.
Love, Bill

August 18, 2009

Dear Sis~
For the past week this prison has been immersed in its typical pre-execution ritual of spiffing up the joint for proper presentation prior to tomorrow's state-sanctioned murder. The guards have been busily supervising various work crews who have been stripping, waxing and buffing the long hallway corridors, painting the endless rows of barred gates dividing the main corridor, polishing all the brass handles and knobs, cutting the grass (yesterday) and carefully trimming along the rear driveway, where the execution witnesses will arrive tomorrow, followed by the old, white Cadillac hearse (the same hearse I've watched carry bodies out of this prison for over 35 years now). Such are the mundane preparations for a "tidy" death. There's something morbidly sick in being so concerned that the prison itself looks clean and good while the activity going on in its bowels is so foul. It reminds me of how Jesus Christ rebuked the high priests and Pharisees, saying their hearts were like sepulchers (tombs carved into the rocks), all clean and white-washed on the outside, yet full of filth and putrefaction inside. This capital punishment is an abomination that scars and rots the heart of our society, wounding the spirits of even those who carry it out, whether they recognize it or not. It's a foul deed, pure and simple, and is beneath the dignity of a great nation. I must believe that one day we will awake and this too shall pass.
Love, Bill