[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----CALIFORNIA

[Rick Halperin]

April 5

Friends---

The following note was sent to me by someone in Europe who is a penpal
with a death row inmate in California----

I send it along as a brutal reminder that the death penalty is a process
of physical and psychological terror and torture which culminates in the
specific act of liquidation.

This letter is, sadly, not an aberration.....activists in many states with
a (large) death row population can identify with this.....I hope this
letter can serve as a stark reminder that conditions on death row need our
constant attention and activism.

(At the very least I hope that activists in California will look into the
situation currently in effect at San Quentin)

Rick


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Dear Rick,

today I received a letter from a death row friend from CA. I want to share
it with you, because it is so crazy. This man never complains.
When he writes this, I believe him.

He wrote:

..........On March 2nd the Power To Be came through East Block and took
everybody's property. If it wasn't in one small legal file box or in your
wall locker it was confiscated as "excess property". They didn't care what
it was, books, stamps, writing material, legal documents, canteen, cloths,
personal or state- it was all kicked out the door and confiscated. I was
left in a holding cage in my boxershorts, teeshirt and showershoes. All my
other cloths were confiscated because they were in a box and not in my wall
locker. I asked Sgt Bloise what I was supposed to wear, that she had just
taken all my cloths. She looked at me with this crazy look in her eyes and
said "I don't care". I was left all but naked and the unit supervisor said
she didn't care. I wasn't alone. They did everybody that way. They even took
all my writing material, stamps included, because I had been writing a
letter and left my writing material on my bed, thinking it would be okay.
But not according to that fat pig Sgt Bloise. She took it, reasoning "not in
your wall locker". So when those stamps arrived you sent, it was a true
blessing. I had up until then been borrowing stamps and writing material.
This card, along with a few others, were in my wall locker. There was no
reason for them to do this kind of a search and destroy except to display
their mean spirited arrogant power over us, telling us: go fuck yourself.
What you're going to do about it? They know that no one has authority on
them. They have freedom to do anything they want- make their own rules as
they answer to no one. I'm told we will be allowed to send our confiscated
property home, if we have money on our account, which I don't, otherwise
those items will either be destroyed or donated. So looks like I'm going to
lose everything. You know I really hate this place. I try to understand
but this latest move by the 'power to be' is simply beyond comprehension.