Home Society How about Impeaching Somebody for the Cruel Federal Prison System?

How about Impeaching Somebody for the Cruel Federal Prison System?

26
(L) Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849). (R) Kathleen Hawk Sawyer, current Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons

by Mary W Maxwell, LLB

Edgar Allan Poe, born in Boston, wrote the short story “The Pit and the Pendulum.” It begins with a Latin cry for joy:

Impia tortorum longas hic turba furors
Sanguinis innocui, non satiata, aluit.
Sospite nunc patria, fracto nunc funeris antro,
Mors ubi dira fuit vita salusque patent.

Roughly: “This is where insatiable torturers had for a long time fed their lust for the blood of innocent people. But we have destroyed the pit of horror and can be happy. In place of being stalked by grim death, life and good health are revealed.”

Now hear this, from The Alliance for Global Justice (afgj.org), in their statement 15 months ago:

The Alliance for Global Justice, August 21, 2018:

“We are happy to report the removal of three persons from our list because they are out of prison on parole. These include Black Panther and Black Liberation Army activist Herman Bell who was paroled on April 27, 2018; Debbie Africa, one of the Move 9, who was granted parole on June 16, 2018; and Robert Seth Hayes, member of the Black Panther and Black Liberation Army, who was paroled on July 24, 2018.

“Sadly, just as three US Prisoners of Empire have gained their liberty, two Water Protectors from the Standing Rock resistance have been sentenced and three others are awaiting sentencing.

“[Many] are currently incarcerated in the US are targets because of their actions threatening US imperial power, imprisoned for their political activity. AfGJ considers them both political prisoners and ‘Prisoners of Empire.’ Please see our notes regarding Guantanamo Bay, immigrant detention, and mass incarceration.”

I will print below a bio of several political prisoners in the US, including our friend Leonard Peltier. But this article endeavors to celebrate. Or at least to point to the potential for celebration.

Let’s start with a bit of Poe’s “The Pit and the Pendulum.” He was talking about the Inquisition, in Toledo, Spain, that was said to have terrorized anyone who was not Catholic or who refused to convert to Catholicism.

The Pendulum, and the Lozenge

You may recall that “the narrator” in Poe’s story (he has no other appellation), found himself in a dungeon where a razor-sharp sword swung like a pendulum over him, and he had but seconds to escape being slashed.  He did escape the pendulum but then found that the walls of the room were changing from rectangular shape to lozenge-shape and he would inevitably be crushed.

Inevitably? No. The French, under Lasalle, came to the rescue, halting the torture of the Inquisition.

Here is the opening section where we hear the narrator more or less lose his mind when he gets sentenced to the pit:

“As I heard my sentence of death fall from the lips of the Inquisitors, I became light headed. The room and my judges swirled to black as I felt the pull of a doomed descent. All went to nothingness.

“I began to wake…. My senses then returned, and I was shocked awake by the memories of the trial, my sentence of death….. Did I dare open my eyes? What if there was nothing to see? Unable to bear it any longer, I quickly opened my eyes to find ……. darkness! Unfathomable, suffocating darkness!

“Calming myself, I reasoned that even though quite a bit of time seemed to have passed, I was not dead. Why was I not executed the night of my trial with the others that were found guilty? Oh no…What if… What if I was in a tomb? Would I be starved in the darkness or something worse? I knew my sentence was death; I did not know the mode or the hour.

Boyce’s Nightmare

Hmm. I have just been reading the book American Sons, jointly authored by Vince Font, Christopher Boyce (of Pine Gap fame), and Cait Boyce, the paralegal who played Laslle, as it were, in freeing Chris from prison.

Page 139:

“[Chris] thought if he tried hard enough he could somehow will himself away, force the calendar backwards and find himself back [at] Redondo Beach before any of this. He would rise and dance. He would burst out the door into the warm night among the free….

“Out on the elevated tier that ran the entire length of the cell block, there was a man whose arms and legs were flailing wildly. There was a second man seated o top of him, one hand planted firmly over the bleeding man’s mouth, the other hand twisting a shank into his neck.

“Chris’s stomach somersaulted. He swallowed the urge to cry out. In this place any outward expression would mark him for the others. Instead he gritted his teeth. The killer, cradling his victim’s head like a lethal vise, whispered a single word in Spanish: ‘Aceptalo.’

“It was not the way the dying man’s chest heaved as he fought for life that would haunt Chris, but the soothing voice of his murderer urging him to ‘accept’ it.”

Other Punishments

I’d like to point out that most of the suffering endured by prisoners is not indicated in the legislation that underpins their incarceration. Speaking of the federal system — all of which has laws codified in the United States Code — the only things a judge can consign a convicted criminal to are fines and/or imprisonment.

Some state laws call for “imprisonment with hard labor.” And on the easy end of the scale, a judge may be able to “sentence” the person to hours of community service or the requirement that he take an anti-drug course.

Yet the prisoner has to put up with much more. He may be in solitary — this is not something prescribed at his court trial — and he (or she) may face the terror that Chris described above — violent beatings or death by a fellow inmate.

I would guess that his worst pain comes from not being able to help his family. Maybe he was the sole support of his parents. Maybe he has kids at home. When they go to school, they must either make up a lie about Dad or admit that he is a criminal and thereby lose their own social standing,

In addition, the prisoner faces,  on a daily basis, countless humiliations and frustrations. The price of a phone call at many “correctional facilities” is outlandish. Recall my article about Whitey Bulger being disciplined for masturbating.

Whitey was later killed by another prisoner. As far as I know that person got away with it. Many such deaths are vengeance organized by someone outside, especially if you have ratted on the crime boss.

Whom Shall We Blame?

So, let’s ask Who is responsible?  the easy answer most people would give is “The crim — he should have thought of it before.”  But as I just said, the thing he should have thought of is imprisonment — loss of liberty. And granted, he should have foreseen possible horrible effects on his family.

But he should not have to face violence every day. Clearly it is “allowed” by the directors of the prisoners. Where did the guy who said “Aceptalo” get a knife?  Recall that poor old innocent James Earl Ray got shanked by many inmates in the yards, when he was an old man, and consequently suffered liver damage and died from it.

Consider this quote from a New York Times article of December 28, 1973, by Martin Waldron, entitled “James Earl Ray to Move to U.S. Prison”:

“James Earl Ray, convicted of assassinating the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is being transferred from a state to a Federal prison for “security reasons,” the Justice Department said in Washington yesterday.

Mr. Ray, convicted of shooting the civil rights leader with a rifle from ambush in Memphis on April 4, 1968, will be imprisoned in one of the six Federal maximum‐security prisons under an agreement with the state of Tennessee, the Justice Department said.”

Sound fishy to you?

Blame the DoJ

Owing mainly to the fact that I have been studying the odd situation of Jahar Tsarnaev — odd because he is totally incommunicado — I have become aware that cruelty in prison is gratuitous. Many of the restrictions, chalked up to the need for “security” are but added punishments.

This is illegal. Please note that Congress foresaw the problem of any citizen losing his rights in the face of authority. God knows you cannot fight an armed cop. If you even raise your voice to him, you may get arrested for resisting arrest or even “assaulting an officer.’

So the federal legislators bountifully passed the Civil Rights law that is codified at 42 USC 1983 as follows:

Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress,

That, however, only gives a person some possible monetary compensation. And he has to sue to get it. Not easy.

I am looking for ways by which the cruelty of prisons may be stopped. If it is a federal prison, the proper person for Congress to impeach is the Director of the Bureau of prisons. I say “impeach” as that would result in the public taking notice of what goes on.

An impeachment is only a political punishment — it does not result in any judicial action against the impeachee.

Political Prisoners

Besides the bad things that happen in jail, there is the fact that many folks should not be in jail — if their crime was not a crime. As noted above a group of activists has succeeded in getting parole (not as good as acquittal, but better than jail) for three persons.  They name other whom they are “working on.”

 

Here are three, with the Alliance for Global Justice’s reasons for considering them to be political prisoners. That group praises Stan Smith and the Chicago Committee to Free the Five (773-376-7521, uscubachi@yahoo.com) for initiating this project and compiling the original list in 2013. They say:

“If you see any mistakes, persons who should be listed who are not included, have updates on the status of political prisoners or have any other questions or comments, please send them to James @AFGJ.org.”

I quote:

Leonard Peltier

Peltier is an activist in the American Indian Movement. In a COINTELPRO style operation, he was sentenced to life for murdering two FBI agents. Evidence exonerating Peltier was withheld by the FBI. In his appeal, the government admitted it had no evidence to show he killed the two FBI agents. Peltier has been imprisoned for 35 years for this crime that he did not commit. To learn more see Robert Redford’s documentary “Incident at Oglala” or visit http://whoisleonardpeltier.info.

Mumia Abu Jamal

Jamal is the most prominent political prisoner in the US. In 1981, COINTELPRO style, he was arrested and sentenced to death in an unfair trial for the murder of a Philadelphia policeman. Mumia was an organizer and campaigner against police abuses in the African-American community and was the President of the Association of Black Journalists. During his imprisonment, he has published several books and other commentaries, notably Live from Death Row. See documentaries “Mumia Abu Jamal: A Case For Reasonable Doubt?”” or visit http://freemumia.com/ or http://millions4mumia.org.

Simón Trinidad,

Trinidad, aka Ricardo Palmera, is a long-time leader of mass movements for social change, and was a top negotiator for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP). He was arrested in 2004 in Ecuador in the process of negotiating with the UN for their release of FARC prisoners. He was then extradited to the U.S. on charges of narco-trafficking and kidnapping and subjected to four separate trials due to the difficulty the prosecution had in securing a conviction. Learn more at http://freericardopalmera.org.

More to follow.

SHARE

26 COMMENTS

  3. Diane entered this comment to an earlier post:

    Diane de Vere October 18, 2019 at 1:41 pm

    Ankle bracelet have been used for a long time in Alice Springs- being tested/trialled using the local aboriginal community as guinea pigs. NT -correctional services are masters of humiliation, torture, degradation and it is all covered up.

    Children as young as 10 kept in solitary confinement for 21 hours a day. No visitors-no blankets-handled by psychopaths —
    There is such a history of outrageous acts of brutality in a flawed incarceration system based on Her Majesty’s Prison system, these bracelets [of Dr Pridgeon] almost look humane.

  4. Thank you Mary for fighting for the rights of these ‘forgotten’ individuals. Johnny Cash would be proud. You should go into politics, you would make a fabulous president (wink – no emojis!)

  5. A bit about Torture: “Trauma-based mind control programming can be defined as systematic torture that blocks the victim’s capacity for conscious processing (through pain, terror, drugs, illusion, sensory deprivation, sensory over-stimulation, oxygen deprivation, cold, heat, spinning, brain stimulation, and often, near-death), and then employs suggestion and/or classical and operant conditioning (consistent with well-established behavioral modification principles) to implant thoughts, directives, and perceptions in the unconscious mind, often in newly-formed trauma-induced dissociated identities, that force the victim to do, feel, think, or perceive things for the purposes of the programmer. The objective is for the victim to follow directives with no conscious awareness, including execution of acts in clear violation of the victim’s moral principles, spiritual convictions, and volition.
    Installation of mind control programming relies on the victim’s capacity to dissociate, which permits the creation of new walled-off personalities to “hold” and “hide” programming. Already dissociative children are prime “candidates” for programming”.

    About torture

    The psychology of torture Beatrice Patsalides

    She describes the transmogrification in “Ethics of the Unspeakable” Torture survivors in Psychoanalytic treatment.” She also states, “As the gap between the “I” and the “me” deepens dissociation and alienation increase.
    Torture equivalent of cognitive death the “Self” is shattered
    The tortured has nothing familiar to hold on to: family: home; personal belongings; loved ones : language; name.
    Gradually they lose their mental resilience and sense of freedom. They feel alien unable to communicate, relate or have empathy with others

    • Thanks, Diane. The other day you said Prince Andrew could be seen in his interview to be dissociative. Since then, two other MK-Ultra survivors have mentioned that to me (without prompting from me, and they did not read Gumshoe).

    • a bit more from my files:

      Sources? Fritz gets most of his information from ex-illuminati and ex-Satanists such as John Todd and others which he has personally deprogrammed. His book
      The Illuminati Formula Used to Create an Undetectable Total Mind Controlled Slave was written in cooperation with one such ex-illuminati victim, Cisco Wheeler.

      Springmeier’s definition of what constitutes Satanism is rather broad and includes pretty much anything which he considers non-Christian.
      Satanic groups or fronts include the Catholic Church, Freemasonry, Scientology, Watchtower Society, Episcopal Church, Unitarian Church (Yale, Harvard), Mormonism, Cabala, Rosicrucians, Nazism, Socialism, Communism, Zionism, Jewish Finance, the New Age movement, Alchemy, Gnosticism, Intelligence Agencies, Salvation Army, Disney movies, and the United Nations.

      ALL members of the Illuminati are Satanists.

      ALL members of the Illuminati are subjected to trauma-based mind-control.

      ALL members of the Illuminati have Multiple Personality Disorder.

      When a member of an Illuminati bloodline reaches the age of 3, he or she is taken to meet an Illuminati Grande Mother, a high-level Satanic priestess. These meetings are held twice a year and are attended by all Illuminati families and their Mothers of Darkness.

      The Grande Mother examines and evaluates seven Illuminati children. If the child is worthy of entry into the Illuminati, he or she is assigned to one of the Illuminati bloodlines. For each approved child, another is sacrificed and his or her blood is used to write the name of the newly-approved Illuminati child

      Druid Occult Grande Dame and Grand Master

      • reminiscent of the minotaur/ in the labyrinth in Crete myth
        and sacrifice of at least seven virgins from Athens ?

        Theseus (name meaning sacrifice) had to defeat/ kill the Minotaur (half man half beast/bull) and find his way out of the Labyrinth. He was basically rescued by Ariadne via a thread – (Ariadne also known as Daphne or Laurel )

        From wikipedia: [Minos put Ariadne in charge of the labyrinth where sacrifices were made as part of reparations either to Poseidon or Athena, depending on the version of the myth; later, she helped Theseus conquer the Minotaur and save the victims from sacrifice.]

  6. Jail is a mind control system. They take a person’s privacy first. There are many tricks the “gov, doc and bosses” then use.
    The reincarnation rate shows that rehabilitation is not a factor here.
    Luckily most of the tenants are conspiracy aware if only subconsciously, and have a satirical naming system for the oppressors.
    Medical treatment is done without informed consent, or withheld when appropriate and requested.
    The food and water is pretty much medical treatment for an overactive cognitive individual.
    I used to hate people for admitting that they liked the extra “justice” , now I feel sorry for them because for whatever reason they are deranged.

  7. Thanks Simon–a couple of paragraphs from my submission re NT RC into Child Protection and Youth Detention. — Sent to commissioners 2016.

    …”There is a long history of these orchestrated abuses of power, mismanaged resources, both human and fiscal, and the deliberate destruction of anything that succeeds.

    As a survivor of mind control techniques that used torture and systematic abuse, dating back to my growing up in London during the second world war, I am very knowledgeable about trauma related disorders and the impact this has on the psyche. I have been involved in extensive research about organized mind control and I am currently working with Survivor groups around the world. I have in depth knowledge about the nature of the mind control experiments conducted by the Tavistock Institute’s “Psychological Warfare Department,” headed by Dr John Rawlings Rees.

    I also have experience and documented records that show how Tavistock Nodes were established in Australia post WW2. In particular I am aware of the way Psychiatry, Education and Religion has been used to control and manipulate the policies and practices to suit the agendas of those holding the ultimate power.

    This submission supports and gives voice to those at the grass roots, who have been “done to”, those who have been silenced, those who have been subjected to the tyranny of the dominant rule of colonization, crimes against humanity and genocidal practices carried out with impunity.

    While we have yet another Royal Commission, as a result of the Four Corners Report, with its specific line of inquiry still to be determined, there are already “new” structures, policies and government departments already set up to provide “solutions” new “innovative” ways of working, again avoiding getting to the source of the problem. The “new” leaders have been selected and staff are going through “new” training. A pattern repeated over and over again, where those responsible are never held to account, and their misconduct is rewarded with apparent impunity, and guarantees of promotion.”

  8. Australia is a concealed colony about to be a Chinese colony.
    The laws corporations and currency have no legal foundation, and the government does not represent the people, nor are they in a position to defend their interests.
    The government and entire Judicial system is unlawful, fraudulent and invalid.
    All political appointments, the banking laws, the whole Court System and taxation have no legitimacy, they are totally null and void.
    The government does not want us to know the true situation, as it is part of the hidden agenda.

  10. NWO: Communism by the Backdoor –One World (Government) System–very comprehensive I have only watched 5 episodes–very validating about my understanding of things.

    Interestingly Australia does not get a mention—Secret sacred the great silence- Total validation of Fiona story, Reina’s Story and Sarah Moore’s story–and my story.

    Also Mary and Dee’s reporting on Gumshoe.

  11. The agenda is coming together.
    A few days ago I heard an interview on ABC News Radio (which is infested with (((BBC))) imports) with famous, ‘highly respected’ Melbourne human rights lawyer Julian Burnside. His argument was, in light of rural towns in Australia ‘dying’, we should allow in lots of Africans etc. who, “even if they only draw on Newstart, will benefit the communities” REALLY ?
    Mabey he meant Communists.

  12. Salvation Army? You remind me of “People of the Abyss” by Jack London
    https://archive.org/download/cu31924032587556/cu31924032587556.pdf
    (Pg 121 for the Salvation Army)

    Crowd Cheers Executions At GOP Debate – Rick Perry On Death Penalty (TYT – yuk)
    ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXB8avpzMyI

    Alot of prisons are privately run (Serco, is that you?) thus there is incentive for them to keep their prisons full for maximum profit. Some things just should not be privatised.

C'mon Leave a Reply, Debate and Add to the Discussion

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.