To all the brothers on the yard: Help us help ourselves

by Daryel Burnett

From-the-Slave-Plantation-to-the-Prison-Industrial-Complex-art-by-Malcolme-Morgan-web-300x225, To all the brothers on the yard: Help us help ourselves, Abolition Now!
When we fight – as a team: the Bay View and all of you, readers and writers – we win. Help the Bay View, help yourself and let’s make some REAL progress. – Art: Malcolme Morgan, G-63825, CCCF C3C-214, P.O. Box 2760, California City CA 93504

The San Francisco Bay View is an African American newspaper based in San Francisco, California. For over four decades, its progressive liberation journalism has been championing human right issues nationwide, especially on behalf of the thousands of men and women being warehoused inside one of the hundreds of dungeons dotting the national landscape of America.

The owners of this newspaper, Willie and Mary Ratcliff, have been uncompromising in their support for prisoners. We owe them not only our support but our appreciation for being our spearhead in advocating for a variety of prisoners’ rights issues.

The purpose of this flyer is to directly appeal to all the brothers on the yard to make a contribution to the Bay View. Your donation will allow the newspaper to be sustained as a platform for advocacy, where education is provided in the interest of the prisoner class.

Willie and Mary Ratcliff have been uncompromising in their support for prisoners. We owe them not only our support but our appreciation for being our spearhead in advocating for a variety of prisoners’ rights issues.

The Bay View has supported the following issues:

  • Legislation to end mass incarceration.
  • Laws to abolish gang enhancements.
  • California’s statewide prisoner based hunger strikes.
  • Abolishing indeterminate SHU terms.
  • More humane and fair parole board hearings.
  • Advocacy to restore family visits for all prisoners.
  • Abolishing the death penalty.
  • Our human right to free speech, expression and association.

Please recognize that your contribution will make a difference. Your donation can be stamps, $10 dollars or you can purchase a subscription. Your sacrifice is for a worthy cause.

Send your donations directly to the Bay View: SF Bay View, 4917 Third St., San Francisco, CA 94124.

In kindred spirit,

Ifoma

Send our brother some love and light: Daryel “Ifoma” Burnett, B-60892, CSATF C3-218, P.O. Box 5246, Corcoran CA 93212. In a cover letter, he writes, “I am always appreciative of the support y’all gave us in Pelican Bay.” Then he adds this note of prison reality: “Sorry for the wet spots. It’s been raining, and sometimes the rainwater leaks from the roof inside the cells.”

How can we stop bogus 115 rules violation write-ups from blocking parole?

by Alan Quinn

Ifoma’s fundraising for the Bay View has collected so far dozens of stamps and a huge donation from the family of his comrade, Anthony Quinn. With their check, his father, Alan Quinn, sent this inquiry. If you have any information he can use, send it to the Bay View and we’ll pass it along to him.

Our son Anthony Quinn, K-34653, who is in the 21st year of a 19 to life sentence in Corcoran State Prison. He was 19 at the time of his arrest, so he falls under SB261 and SB261B, which were recently signed into law.

There is one issue I would like to bring up:

Has there been any action with regards to 115s and other write-ups inside? As it stands now, if there is a “dust up” or any sort of physical confrontation, everyone with 20 feet gets written up and there is no representation of any sort for those written up. A board consisting of two guards and one officer reviews whatever the guard writes up in his report.

The officer then upholds the write up and many times the perpetrators as well as innocent bystanders are relegated to the hole. This is so unfair!

Then you add to that, when an individual goes before the Parole Board, that 115 is held against them and most often prevents parole from being granted. Talk about double jeopardy! Any class action suits being mentioned along these lines? Any mention of this issue?

Thanks for all that you do.

Sincerely,

Alan Quinn and family