Intensified mail censorship a failed attempt to put new twist on Death Row SHU experiment

by Robert Frazier

Prison-mail-processing-guard-dog, Intensified mail censorship a failed attempt to put new twist on Death Row SHU experiment, Abolition Now! At the onset of a signature campaign set in motion by three former governors hoping to get a bill on the ballot which if passed would have put a curious twist on the death penalty experiment in California, there was a more extreme than usual delay in the processing of Death Row SHU II and III mail.

The main selling point for the proposed bill was saving loads of money by arranging faster executions of the 747 prisoners currently warehoused in San Quentin’s four Death Row SHUs and the women all but forgotten in Chowchilla. However, the connection to the mail delays isn’t that. It’s that Death Row prisoners would no longer be housed exclusively in the San Quentin and Chowchilla torture units. They would be placed among the general population.

What appears to have caused the mail delays is the proposal that Death Row prisoners would no longer be housed exclusively in the San Quentin and Chowchilla torture units. They would be placed among the general population.

To better understand how this is the logical link to the intensified rooting around in Grade A and B Death Row SHU prisoners’ incoming and outgoing mail, let us first consider why the California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA) didn’t sign up or give financial support.

Many assume the lackeys, bullies and cowards who comprise the most part of that Security Threat Group (STG) probably thought it wasn’t in their best interest to all of a sudden meet face to face with the uncuffed Death Row prisoners they’ve been torturing their whole career. But the fact of the matter is the higher ups in the CCPOA STG actually had enough sense to realize no amount of their support could buy enough votes to pass such political doubletalk into law in this state.

The CCPOA members (guards) probably thought it wasn’t in their best interest to all of a sudden meet face to face with the uncuffed Death Row prisoners they’ve been torturing their whole career.

Even so, the meandering lackeys, bullies and cowards among the ranks at San Quentin took a Gestapo-style initiative. In the event it got on the ballot and voted into law, members of STGs such as the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and the CCPOA embedded at San Quentin decided to mobilize in preparation to implement a new twist on this politically orchestrated experiment.

By citing wild interpretations of prisoner correspondence to give the public an illusion the bowels of hell were opened upon them, the lackeys, bullies and cowards intended to use it as their window of opportunity. The fruits of their efforts were rotten to the core. The result was supposed to land a high number of formerly Grade A and B SHU II and III prisoners in any of the other SHU programs splattered across the state.

Yes, the motive and goal was and continues to be ensuring no empty cell left behind as the CDCR STG hierarchy is forced to release a significant number of other prisoners they’ve been warehousing in their network of torture units for untold years. Do you understand that these STGs and their associates will do anything, including disregard human lives, in order to ensure themselves doubled-up staffing jobs?

The motive and goal was and continues to be ensuring no empty cell left behind as the CDCR STG hierarchy is forced to release a significant number of other prisoners they’ve been warehousing in their network of torture units for untold years.

They almost got their hands on a nice shiny new state sanctioned weapon of mass corruption to maintain a force field of censorship. They almost had a window of opportunity to “justify” building more control units within existing prisons. But it looks like they got a rock thrown through that window, and the Death Row SHU expansion project in San Quentin’s Carson Section is still on hold.

They almost had a window of opportunity to “justify” building more control units within existing prisons. But it looks like they got a rock thrown through that window.

“Persons other than inmates should address any appeal relating to department policy and regulations to the Director of the Division of Adult Institutions (DAI). Appeals relating to a specific facility [like San Quentin or Chowchilla] procedure or practice [like excessive delays in the processing of mail to and from loved ones and/or prisoners’ rights organizations etc.] should be addressed in writing to the Warden ….” – California Code of Regulations, Title 15, Section 3137: Appeals Relating to Mail and Correspondences

Send our brother some love and light: Robert Frazier, F-55038, San Quentin SHU II D.R., San Quentin CA 94974.