[Deathpenalty]death penalty news----TEXAS, TENN.

[Rick Halperin]

Dec. 14



TEXAS----re: death row conditions

Let me start by saying my name is Frank Moore and I am a prisoner on Texas
Death Row. Where at this time after 9 years on death row and over 4 1/2
years on the Polunsky Unit. I must say that death row conditions are at a
all time low. As I sit here writing this article with ear plugs in my ears
so I can hear myself think. The men here in A-Pod A-B-C Section are in a
up roar over the new changes in the recreation policy that Warden Jones ,
Major Nelson and Capt. Wickersham have implemented. At this time you can
only rec. in your section that you live in, this is another form of
isolation, to isolate us from each other. And to cause confusion and
conflict between prisoners and guards. Because there is no set policy any
longer , it does not matter any longer if it is your day to go out side or
not. If the guard ask you if you are going to rec. and you say "yes" and
it's not your day to go outside that's where you go or you V.R. V.R.
stands for verbal refusing of rec.

What's so bad about it is that the six sections and six dayrooms we now
only are able to use four of them. Men are kicking and beating on cell
doors asking to speak with the Sgt. Who will not come to the Pod. Everyone
is upset and stressing out over this situation. And to make matters worse
we have first and second shift guards in a conflict about who does the
most and less work around this camp. First shift loves the new changes
because now they can leave lots of work for the second shift . Meaning
showers and recreation. Chow and necessities and mail now fall to second
shift. I sit here in my cell now waiting to shower. I went to recreation
at 9:23 AM It is not 10:19 PM. There is no reason why I shouldn't have
already showered, but the guards that were working this morning were lazy
and unprofessional and playing kid games on death row. Because they feel
they have been doing more work than the second shift. And now it's pay
back time. That means that the second shift guards come in with an
attitude and bad understanding . So they take it out on us the prisoners.
And all that does is cause a stressful situation between prisoners nad
guards that leads to other situations. There should be set guidelines for
out side and inside recreation as there was, this new policy does not work
because it leaves too many loop holes for the guards. Now on to other
conditions .. The food is so bad that you can not identify what it is
that's on your tray half the time.. And then what makes it so bad TDCJ has
ordered all Texas prisons to cut back on the amount of food served to
prisoners. Stating that they are financially strapped and need to save
money . So they ordered units to reduce prisoners daily calories from
2,700 to 2,500.. But one condition here that is really our of hand is the
abuse that goes around this camp. In the four years that I was on Ellis
One. I can count the times I know prisoners were gassed and run in on. On
the other hand- this camp it's an every day thing. Someone is getting
gassed and beat down by the team, after running in on someone.. Stand
around bragging about how they took this prisoner and that prisoner down
and how many licks and kicks he got in. And what is real sad is that being
locked in these cells 23 hours a day has caused a lot of men here to
become mentally ill.. Mental illness at Polunsky unit death row has become
a epidemic since we moved from the Ellis Unit to the Polunsky Unit and
solitary confinement cells 23 hours a day.. I would be willing to bet that
if a Psychological study was done on the men on death row you would find
that the number of men suffering from mental illness is twice what it was
when we were at Ellis. You would be surprised at how many prisoners here
on death row are suffering from signs of concentration difficulties,
memory problems, incoherent speech, abnormal behavior and suicidal
tendencies. Sine we have been here several prisoners haveattempted to
commit suicide here on Polunsky Unit.

I know you are wondering how I know all this .. Let me explain, I used to
be the death row barber at Ellis and knew most , if not all, the men on
the row.

Through my job of cutting hair and talking with them. Now days I see a lot
of those same men when I am at rec. in the day room or they are in the day
room I am able to speak with them and watch their actions. While they are
in the dayroom. To see how they no longer care ..They don't shower anymore
. Comb their hair . .Etc. And I know without a doubt that long term
solitary confinement to a cell for 23 hours a day is psychologically
traumatizing. Because each day I live that situation and trust me, it gets
harder and harder with each passing day. And I am a strong minded and
strong willed person, I refuse to let it get to me so I keep myself
occupied writing to my friends and loved ones who support me in this fight
for my life and make it possible for me to survive under these conditions
I live in each and every day. I could go on all day about the conditions
here. I will say this, I am amazed at how many Americans are shocked by
the treatment of the detainees at Guantanamo and prisoner abuse at Abu
Ghraib Prison. Every time I turn on the radio I hear people speak of the
grotesque treatment that the Iraqi prisoners and the terrorists at
Guntanamo have received. Or read the USA Today .. I just don't understand
how Americans can be so shocked when this kind of treatment goes on in
America Prisons Systems all over the USA.

States like Texas are well known for their abuse to prisoners and bad
treatment to the mentally ill and weak prisoners ..Other states like
California , Pennsylvania, and New York too , just to name a few. What the
American people should be shocked and outraged about is how their sons and
daughters , husbands and wifes, and brothers and sisters, are treated and
abused in our prison systems around this great country of ours.

Who is always ready to fight for people in other countries human rights..
What about us and our human rights ? We scream and cry and threaten other
countries with war and embargos and sanctions. For the treatment of their
people in prisons.. When they treat their prisoners in inhumane ways and
like animals. But that don't shock me because I live on Texas Death Row
where men are subjected to abuse and treated like animals and viewed as
less than human beings each and every day. Where the justice system has NO
JUSTICE if you are in jail or prison then you are guilty. That is Texas
Justice..But every day we read and hear about the mistakes that are made
at Criminal labs around the state. Prosecutors withholding evidence.
Police lying under oath.. Lost DNA, lost evidence .. Look at the boxes of
evidence that was found in that warehouse in Houston.

Where is the out cry and rage about that ? Since it is our people that are
locked away and treated like animals and we are the Bullies on the block
we don't care about what other countries say or think about us being the
leader of men and women put to death under the death penalty act, almost
year in and year out. With the state of Texas being the number one killer
of men and women on death row every year. We don't care about the reports
that Amnesty International write about the treatment of prisoners in
America or their fight against the death penalty and how inhumane it is to
sentence any one to death.. Or Our human rights to life.. Now let me say
this I know all people don't feel and think like that because I have
supporters who support me and stand by me each and every day in this fight
for my life and my freedom.. Thank You

Frank Moore #999210






TENNESSEE:

State seeks new execution date for Sedley Alley


A convicted killer in Memphis got bad news today.

A 3-judge panel of the Sixth U-S Circuit Court of appeals moved Sedley
Alley a step closer to death.

The panel said Alley's petition focused on constitutional arguments,
rather than factual ones, that already have been reviewed and rejected.

As a result, the state attorney general asked the Tennessee Supreme Court
for a new execution date, requesting it within 21 days.

Alley was scheduled in die in June, but a federal judge in Memphis delayed
the execution to await a ruling in another case.

Alley was convicted of kidnapping, raping and murdering a young female
Marine near Memphis in 1985.

Tennessee's last execution was in 2000, and that was the first one since
1960.

(source: Associated Press)