Turned Away at the Gate -or- Legal Representative Refused Entry

The law student scheduled to do two days of interviews with prisoners texted me last night when she arrived in Crescent City.  She and her friend had hitchhiked all the way from Portland, Oregon, where she attends law school.

I picked them up at McDonald's, brought them back to the horse ranch/campground where I have a "guest tent." We got to know one another and I showed them the amenities available at the Orman Ranch.  After they settled in, we visited about the HS, Solidarity Coalition actions, her upcoming interviews, and of course, Bryan.

Preparing for a prison visit is a delicate process: no underwire bras, no jeans, no cell phones-so I loaned her my watch, and all layered items must open in the front, so I loaned her my cardigan sweater.  I think I should just put together a Prison Visiting Kit in one size fits all to keep handy. With no car of her own, I drove her to PBSP.

We arrived at the gate at 8:45 am where, again, a CO who is familiar with me was working.  They took our IDs and asked us to park while they made a few calls.  As I am on Bryan's visiting list and not a legal representative, I am not allowed on the facility property except on visit day.  That is completely understandable and the same in Washington State DOC.

After about 15 minutes (9:00, the time her first appointment was to begin), a CO from the visiting staff came in a car to pick her up but still they were making calls.  At about 9:15, the visiting staff member came over and told her there was a discrepancy in her presented ID and the paperwork she filled out.  The standard student dilemma....permanent residence in California, going to school in Oregon.  She had filled out the CDCR paperwork presenting her CA information, but had technically surrendered her CA ID when she applied for an Oregon drivers license.

A huge disappointment to all, but as explained, this is a maximum security institution and all visiting paperwork must check out.  A slight hint of intimidation when a CO spoke the words, "you were not forthcoming with the information you presented on your paperwork," making the student feel that she was being accused of misrepresenting her identification intentionally.

All in all, the truth is that I have heard many stories from families that CDCR will deny visiting privileges for the smallest thing.  One mother said she was denied because she left off a misdemeanor that was dismissed over 35 years ago.  When she got a notarized copy proving it was dismissed, she resubmitted her application recently, and is still waiting for its approval.  Her son is on hunger strike and she can't visit him...all because of this small discrepancy.

In the interest of safety and security, the denial today was reasonable, but it is so intimidating and disheartening to families who just want to visit their loved ones and others, like this student, who want to assist.  I think my presence and knowledge of how the system works was helpful in explaining all of this as we drove away.  She was crying and upset that this unintentional error meant the men, expecting to be interviewed, would be disappointed.  I explained...they are used CDCR toeing the hardest line, often resulting in disappointment or worse.

Holding vigil for Bryan across the road from Pelican Bay State Prison

I just didn't know what to do with myself today, having heard the news about men refusing water.  I know that Bryan is one of them.  So I drove to PBSP and with a few daisys picked from the ditch, just stood there holding vigil.  I watched the entire afternoon group of CO come to work and the 1st shift leave.  I also stayed until all the administrators, who left at 5:00, could see me .  I had no hatred, but I would quietly wave at them and more than half (my guess) waved in a friendly, supporting way back.

How the Day Unfolded

At about 1:45 p, I went to the gate, where a member of the visiting staff was working.  As he sees me whenever I visit, he knows me as well as any up there.  I just showed him my ID, told him the men were refusing water and that in all probability Bryan was dying.  I reminded him that I had passed a security check in order to visit and that I was going to be on public property and would not block traffic.  I promised to be quiet and peaceful.  He had no problem with me being there, but he did ask for me to remind him who I visit.

About 45 minutes later, a couple of cars with some guys in SWAT team looking uniforms got out and set up a tripod with video camera and made a big show of taping me.  Hmmm, Capitol Hill police on horse-back couldn't scare me off in 2004 , so their "show" had little effect.  When they saw that I didn't leave, they just left the tripod under the care of the gate staff and left.

Someone driving to work shouted out the car window, "HEY JULIE" and gave me a big wave. One of the visiting staff ?...that made me smile.  Also an employee stopped and asked who I was holding vigil for.  This employee didn't know that the men had begun to refuse water.  The sympathetic response given was a much needed kindness  that late in the afternoon.

Several family members of men in the SHU called, very upset about the men refusing water.  I just listened and comforted.  I also spent some time on the phone with Bryan's Mother.  She is so strong and supportive.

Tomorrow I'll go back from 1:30 - 6:00, with a sign.  Hopefully some friends?  Also, California Prison Focus has lawyers, etc.  at Pelican Bay on Wed and Thurs interviewing prisoners.  They might stay at the tent, I can give them a ride to the prison and just be at their disposal, whatever they need.

I felt powerless, but now I feel that I took an action that let everyone from the prison who saw me know  ...This is where I stand, in solidarity with the prisoners on hunger strike.

He's Dying.......

This is Bryan !!! PLEASE READ

I received this update directly from Ed Mead, the editor of the California Prison Focus paper, with whom I have been in direct contact from the beginning:

Updated News Item on Hunger Strike:
Tuesday 8:30 AM: According to a SHU nurse, things are bad at Pelican Bay. The prisoners have not been drinking water and there have been rapid and severe consequences. Nurses are crying. All of the medical staff has been ordered to work overtime to follow and treat the hunger strikers. As of Monday, there were about 50 on C-SHU and 150 on D-SHU. They are not drinking water and have decompensated rapidly. Some are in renal failure and have been unable to make urine for 3 days. Some are having measured blood sugars in the 30 range, which can be fatal if not treated. They have refused concentrated sugar packs and ensure. The staff has taken them to the CTC and given them intravenous glucose when allowed by the prisoners, but some won't accept this medical support. As of Monday, no one has been force fed with a nasogastric tube. A few have tried to sip water but are so sick that they are vomiting it back up. Some of the medical staff is freaked out because clearly some of these guys seem determined to die. Not taking the water is crushing the staff because the prisoners are progressing rapidly to the organ damaging consequences of dehydration.

**** 

I know for an absolute fact based on my in person conversations with Bryan that he is refusing water at this phase of the hunger strike..... 


May God have mercy on us all for allowing this to happen.....this is is our doing..... our elected officials used our tax dollars to create the SuperMax prison system, and the evil of that place has driven the men to this change the system or die situation .... and my friend Bryan is dying now.   

**** 

Also from Ed Mead via email to me:

Below is a letter from a PBSP Hunger Striker. Here is the letter from Chad Landrum:

“It’s been a difficult and uphill battle, a lot of brow-beating and direct debate, but as it stands all are participating on a limited basis. Some, including myself, are going “indefinitely”… victory or death! I ask that you and those necessary are aware of our participation. Geographically we are isolated from the main SHU facility and PBSP will try to isolate and restrain our info from getting out. We are in A-Z. Also, as you know, I’m sincerely sick with end stage liver disease (ESLD) and a severe case of related diabetes. I’m going to end up in the hospital almost immediately and will be effectively isolated. Due to my dedication to the struggle I will continue with my strike. I won’t know when to stop. If the demands have been met in whole, negotiated part, etc. I will not take the cops’ word for the pigs have proven their word to be hollow. I will need the word of you or your outside support. Likewise, please keep those convicts at the heart of this struggle in D short [corridor] abreast of my circumstances (most know me as ‘Ghost’ or  ‘Landale’). Hopefully the situation doesn’t deteriorate to this. What that I end this letter with the words of Ulrike Meinhof [of Germany’s Red Army Faction], ‘Protest is when I say I don’t like this or that. Resistance is when I see to it that things I don’t like do not occur.’”

Chad Landrum #J-53747
Pelican Bay State Prison
A-2-114 – MED/SHU
P.O. Box 7500
Crescent City, CA 95531

**** 

My friend, Bryan is in the D2 Short Corridor...one of 150 who are dying at this very moment...Please call the Governor Brown and CDCR Sec. Cates...

Call Every Day!

Gov. Jerry Brown (his line is always busy)

(916) 445-2841

Secretary Matthew Cate (I always get through on this number....and called just now, call him first)

(916) 323-6001

Call and say this:

“Hi my name is _____. I’m calling about the statewide prisoner hunger strike that began at Pelican Bay. I support the prisoners & their reasonable “five core demands.” I urge the CDCR to negotiate with the prisoners immediately & in good faith. Thank You.”

__________________
I needed clothes and you clothed me,
I was sick and you looked after me,
I was in prison and you came to visit me.
-Matthew 25:36

Day 11 - We Are the Government

A recent postcard from Bryan:

***** 

"When one spends each day naked and crouching in a corner of a cell resembling a pigsty, staring at such eyesores as piles of putrefying rubbish, infested with maggots and flies, a disease ridden chamberpot or a blank disgusting scarred wall, it is to the rescue of one's sanity to be able to rise and gaze out of a window at the world...."  Bobby Sands, Republican News, Nov.25, 1978

It was not by accident that the men and women who designed and built this place, did so with the elimination of windows.  Every aspect of this place was designed to break the spirit and the mind.  I haven't risen and gazed out of a window at the world in over 10 years....others here in over 20 now.  Is it really 2011?   ~Bryan

*****

And so it begins...no more cheery attempts to distract him from prison reality, no more chatty conversations about esoteric topics,  Bryan wants to hear news about his family/ friends and about Hunger Strike events and progress.  

Bryan is in this hunger strike until the organizers call it off because there is reasonable movement towards the meeting of their demands or he dies. He will not consent to force feeding, but they will probably do it anyway. But still he will resist...and I will stay by his side.

Because I am in Crescent City, our mail has been fast, about 4-5 days for postcards, so I communicate during the week on 4x6 index cards. The visiting process has been normal so far. That's the good news.

The bad news....They saw no medical attention at the SHU until HS Day 7, and by Day 9 Bryan had lost 17 lbs. The CDCR is already failing to follow their own HS policies. He is suffering from sleep deprivation as starvation can cause insomnia.  He hasn't even enough energy to pick up a pen to write. He just lies there and waits....and suffers. His kidneys and back hurt, his head aches... but he is emotionally strong and committed. Bryan is willing lay down his life so that this insanity called solitary confinement/sensory deprivation will come to an end.

The CDCR is starting to move towards "conversations" that hopefully will lead to negotiations with prisoners.  This matter is in the hands of an elected governor and the secretary he appointed. As our public servants, they institute policies and spend our tax dollars.  Is this what "we the people" want?

The men are doing their part, now we must do ours...we must apply political pressure to get CDCR to negotiate by calling Governor Brown and CDCR Sec. Cates...EVERY DAY.

Here is the script suggested by California Prison Focus (www.prisons.org) , part of the Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition:

Governor Brown (916-445-2841)
CDCR Sec. Cates (916-323-6001)

Call Every Day!

Call and say something like this: “Hi, my name is _____. I’m calling about the statewide prisoner hunger strike that began at Pelican Bay. I support the prisoners & their reasonable “five core demands.” I urge the CDCR to negotiate with the prisoners immediately & in good faith. Thank You.”

Please call today.  Post to facebook, text or tweet and ask your friends to call......do what you can to flood the phone lines of Gov. Brown and Sec. Cates.

Please -- Bryan's life depends on it.  I thank you.

You Are Not Alone -or- Let Me Entertain You

When times are hard, there is something comforting about having a loving soul just willing to be present, to walk beside you as things unfold. 

I have learned from working with wounded soldiers, families in crisis and now hunger striking prisoners that often I can’t change the reality of their situations, but I can taking their minds away from the pain. I can make things a little better, just for the moment.

Sometimes I entertain, just by tell stories of my life, my kids, my pets and the like.   I actively take the lead in providing something else to think about other than the situation.  Usually things start this way with shy people.  Bryan let me do a lot of talking in the beginning, he had so many questions.

Another way to help suffering people is to distract by getting them to tell me stories about their lives.  For instance, I asked Bryan what he used to do on the 4^th of July when he was a kid.  He launched off into a wonderful story of the huge family celebrations in Texas, complete with homemade ice cream and the kid’s fishing contest.  All I had to do is listen, smile and prompt with a question every once in a while.  The most wonderful thing about this is that for the duration of the story, his mind was back there, once again that happy 10 year old, frantically trying to catch the most perch.

As a continuation of my last post, here are the pictures that I took to visit to share with Bryan.  I am also able to send them in by mail. He feels guilty that I am here, investing all this time and effort for him, but I explain that it is my calling to be where I can make a difference, even if that difference is only to one person…. And Bryan is my one person at this moment in time.  

Through these pictures, I wanted to give him a glimpse of my reality here in Crescent City so he would know that I not at all put out.  This is not my first road trip/camping adventure in support of a worthy cause!

Here are the pictures I shared with Bryan on Monday and the approximate commentary:

My tent is about 24’x16’ plus a screened vestibule, larger than TWO cells in the SHU.  

My cot and teddy bear.

Tiffany, the Birthday Hamster.  She is my dwarf hamster, who is along for support.  I call her the “Birthday Hamster” because as a nanny, I would bring her to the house for the kids to play with, but only on the occasion of a birthday.  They love her!  So do I!

 

Here I am at Pebble Beach, just outside of Crescent City, CA

 

 A view from Pebble Beach Road, Crescent City, CA

This is my Cellie, as in cell mate.

Here is the fun part of this blog.  This is my teddy bear….Who needs a name.  I asked Bryan if he would come up with a name for my bear…perhaps talk through the steel door to his friends (they can do that with difficulty) and take suggestions.  He looked amazed and shocked -  like any typical man asked to engage is some sort of female silliness - and said he could never do that!  I have it on good authority from some of the other wives visiting their husbands that their men would almost certainly submit names.  So we’ll see.

Getting men to name a cellie is easier than getting them to name a teddy bear, so the contest is called, “Name Julie’s Cellie".  

It is this sort of “out of the box” activity that distracts and entertains my incarcerated friends, they always seem amused…which is good because they are usually laughing with me and not at me…either way, while they are laughing, they are free.

He calls me Kind Lady

Update from yesterday (Day 2):  After visit yesterday I saw  Native Americans dancing in regalia directly across the the street from the Pelican Bay State Prison gate.  I shouted out the window that I was taking a picture to send in to the men inside and the dancers all cheered.  Today, Bryan said he could hear the drumming and singing from his concrete yard yesterday but didn’t know what it was all about.  I have discovered we can bring up to 10 pictures into visit, so I am taking this one in Monday plus others to be posted here tomorrow.

.

Just for interest and to get a glimpse of Bryan and his writing style, I would like you to see a postcard he sent to me last January.  Note the PBSP stamp and date stamp Jan. 7, 2011

Early on Bryan began calling me Kind Lady.  I would say that is pretty close although I like to pretend I have an “edge” to me.  Maybe being an advocate for prisoners and their families in the Washington State Department of Corrections makes people in my social circle look a bit sideways at me, but Seattle is the land of the proverbial activist so for the most part, folks just smile.

Day Three of the Pelican Bay SHU Hunger Strike:  Bryan was in a chatty mood today, opening up more and more as he realizes that I am here for him, to provide companionship and support for the duration.  Given that the last 16 years the CDCR has been dehumanizing him in every way possible, he finds it hard to accept any nice things I say about him and even seems shy about feeling worthy of any human kindness.

One fear that Bryan voices to me is that I am inconveniencing myself or hurting my life in order to be here.  So I always share with him that I take time to enjoy myself and keep telling him that being here isn’t dragging me down.  I told him that when I’m not visiting with him, I do what I normally do. It makes him feel better, knowing I am having a vacation and treating myself right.  I don’t feel guilty about having beauty, fun and joy in my life.   

Day Two of the Hunger Strike...My Visit with Bryan

In 1989, Pelican Bay State Prison was cut out of a dense forest near Crescent City, CA. The highlight of the new super-max prison was the Security Housing Unit (SHU), the X-shaped building at front, where 1,300 prisoners are kept in long-term solitary confinement, under conditions of extreme sensory deprivation.

Image from : www.sfbappa.org

I just came from visiting Bryan...he is looking strong and is totally committed to staying on this hunger strike.  He has a sense of focus and is at peace with this action.  This is day two of the hunger strike and yesterday, day one, he was interviewed by a representative of California Prison Focus.  He told me he was nervous while waiting and spent his one hour of yard pacing back and forth and also when he was in his cell, until the interview time at noon.

Today, he said he was wiped out from that exercise and had learned his lesson about physical activity during a hunger strike.  He has a plan to stay hydrated...he put himself on a strict hydration schedule of one pint of water every two hours for a total of eight pints per day.  That's one gallon per day or 3.78 liters for his European friends.

I suggested to him that he apply the same forethought to his exercise/exertion.  Perhaps allow himself small amounts of walking as needed, maybe even schedule it out.  The "How to Hunger Strike" info I sent says to keep moving around to a bare minimum to conserve energy.  He said when he goes to yard instead of walking he will bring a book and sit down to read after his 15 minutes of walking.  Good!

I know this blog began with printing Bryan's letters, but I need to bring this up into real time so I will be putting his previous letters into a new blog called "Skin in the Game".  I have found when I want to understand a different culture, whether its a foreign country, the military or prison, the best way to get a real glimpse into a new world is to get a pen pal.  Most of the letters up until May 8 were, "what did you think of that book" type of chatter between friends getting to know one another, but slowly he would reveal here and there the truth about his situation in the SHU.  In the letter below, he drops it all on me.  I would like you to hear in his own words a description of why he is joining the hunger strike. After the letter below, I will probably excerpt past letters from time to time here, but for the most part, the focus of this blog will be on the here and now.

This is the 5-8-11 Letter in which Bryan finally told me the whole truth:

Sun. 5-8-11

Dear Julie,

Wanted to write you a quick letter and thank you for the Easter card and letting me know everything that was going on in the life of Julie.  :-) Hope you had a nice Easter Vacation and a fantastic time in the heart of the old Confederacy.  And as a Mother with a capital “M” I hope you had a really nice Mother’s Day today.  I’m sure my dear ol’ ma had a terrific day as she is a HUGE Dallas Maverics fan and they crushed the Lakers by 36 this morning on their way to a series sweep.  I know I just spoke in a foreign language right there to you but trust me it was a good thing for moms.  :-)

OK, on a much less upbeat note I’m very sorry to hear that your loved one had such a set-back.  I’m glad to hear that you found the right place within your faith to find peace with it all.  I know from our visits and letters that it is your rock.  I tend to lean inwards, Mr. Macho, but will admit that I’ve been “all over the place” for the past couple of months.  Several of us were litigation our denials by the prison (I.G.I. – Institutional Gang Investigators / Sacramento) to release us from SHU on the six year inactive review process.  The Courts have denied every one of them.  I just got mine back not too long ago for failure to show cause.

So where to now?  We honestly thought that the Courts would see how corrupt the 1030 system is (a 1030 is a confidential informant’s or debriefer’s statement saying you “did” this or that).  So no relief here with the institutional appeal process, no relief in the Courts and CDCR’s deaf ear to any public outcry behind keeping men in solitary confinement under these type of severe conditions for decades on end…literally.  We’re right back to debrief or die here.

Therefore after long and serious deliberation a large group of us have decided to go on a hunger strike as of July 1^st.  You know me well enough to know that I am in NO WAY suicidal, nor do I wish to harm myself in any way.  But collectively we feel as though we are already dead under these conditions of extreme isolation and deprivation.  I’m personally willing to go to this extreme in order to prove my desire to live.  This is not life Julie…period.  We are here for one reason only, our refusals to debrief. (emphasis mine)  I’ve had no serious write ups in almost a decade.  I have friends here who have 20-25 years in clean.  Why are we here?  Because we’re “labeled” as gang members?  What about the other 100,000 labeled gang members on Cal. main lines?  They can’t justify this Julie.

So why am I dropping this on you?  Well, frankly I have no plans on telling my family that I’m about to participate in this protest…fully committed.  CDCR has a policy of force feeding , but we are prepared to carry on unbroken even through such an extreme measure for however long it takes to change these conditions.  If  I hadn’t already went deep within myself to know that my mind was prepared to take on this responsibility (to see it through) and that I was one hundred percent committed, I would never write to you in this way.  But I am ready.  So I’m asking you if you would be willing to be my “monitor”?  I have no idea what lies at the end of this road, but I do know that between here and there I will need someone in my corner who’s willing to call and monitor my condition and make sure that I am treated right once I’m reduced to a weakened state.  I need to know if you would be willing to do this for me.  If so, I’d be forever grateful but on the other hand I also fully understand that it is a lot to ask of a friend and that you may very well be philosophically opposed to such an action or religiously opposed.  In which case I certainly would understand and would never allow your denial to harm our friendship.  Please let me know how you feel about it in case I need to start looking for a second or third.

Ok kind woman, I know this one was probably a shot out of the blue but the go date for this peaceful protest is just around the corner now and I really need to start getting my ducks in a row.  I’m including a postcard for you so you can let me know you received this letter.  As always I send you, your girls and loved ones my utmost respect and best wishes.  Know that I am well and strong.

With Utmost Respect,

Bryan