nighthawk_75253
05-09-2002, 09:00 AM
News From The Hell Hole
by Hank Skinner - April 16th - 30th, 2002
<http://www.deathrow.at/polunsky/news/polunsky.jpg>
In my news from the hell hole of April 02, posted the 6th, I was explaining about how they mess over us on levelling classification and before that, on March 13th, posted March 19th, I went into great detail on it, using myself and what?s been done to me as the example. It?s not I, I, I or me, me, me, it?s just that this is complicated, I?ve been going a long time to lay this all out for you all in a coherent pattern so that you can see how they manipulate the system and pervert the polices in order to keep us perpetually on levels.
I use myself as the example also because my situation is one of the more egregious ones. I?m not violent; I never have been. Unlike some of the guys who have chunked stuff on the officers and committed assaults, I have not. I?m not saying I?m better than others or that others are wrong for what they do. Also, some of the others have been treated worse in some respects than I have. The main reason I use myself as the example is because I always have access to my own records and control of my own actions, but as I ask others, just forget it is me and think of it instead, of "every man/any man Texas death row." I?m not the spotlight. I?m just the vehicle which verifies and brings forth the news. A "reputable course." "A living example."
As I told you previously, I?d caught a case on 02/08/02 for "threatening an officer." This occurred approximately 90 days ago. On 4/14 we were warned that officers were being instructed to write cases for any violation they came up with. On 4/16 Sgt Duff came to f-pod to serve chow, 3:30AM. Most of the bean hole stops on the doors here are sprung from constantly being dropped open. The stop is supposed to stop the door at a 90 degree angle perpendicular to the door so that it acts as a shelf to set the food trays and drinks on for the prisoner to pick up after the officer serving has backed away from the door and instructed the prisoner to come forward and retrieve it.
After chow, when trays are picked up, the prisoner is instructed to place the tray in the slot and back away from the door. Since the doors are sprung it?s difficult to balance the tray there and so we just hand them out to the officers. This is practical and time saving, logical and efficient.
When Level III prisoners are fed, they require a Sergeant to be present to supervise feeding. Any Sgt. on the other shifts merely supervises the officers loading and picking up trays, watches the prisoner?s hand out their trays, to ensure safety.
On 4/16 at breakfast Sgt. Duff insists on taking over feeding entirely and makes the officers merely stand by and hold the tray carrier and coffee pitchers while he does all the serving and pouring. While he fiddles around meticulously balancing each tray on the 1½" wide door lip like a circus balancing act, chow does not get completed until late. Rushing to pick up trays, Duff insists on doing it all himself again.
He gets to Elkie Taylor?s cell in #4, A-Section and begins insisting that Taylor step back from the door which means he has to let go of the tray in order to comply. Elkie tells Duff repeatedly that the tray will fall. Duff says step back anyway. Given this order Taylor has no choice but to comply. The tray falls and Duff accuses Taylor of "assault," saying the tray hit his foot. It?s obvious to the prisoners that Duff is looking to contrive a case.
When Duff gets to my cell, I put my tray out on the lip and hold it there with 2 fingers. I?m on F-section and thus have no knowledge of what just transpired with Taylor, on A-section. I have a grievance in my other hand which I want to put out for pick-up and so I must do it after the officer takes the tray, while the slot is opened. Duff tells me "back up from the door." I step back to the maximum distance of my outstretched arm?s extension and tell Duff "get the tray. It?s going to fall. I want to put my grievance out before you shut the slot." He just stand there and tell me again to "back up all the way (to the back of the cell)." The tray is overbalanced and off the edge of the door lip. I?ve got both hands full and cannot pull it back. I tell Duff, "the tray is going to fall! Do you want me to just let it go and dump it in the floor?" He says, "I?m giving you an order and I want you to back up now! I say ok. I let go, the tray falls in the floor. Duff is 3 feet away yet yells "that?s an assault at 4:00 o?clock in the morning! Get me a camera!" I put my grievance out and tell Duff "I don?t know how you think I?ve assaulted? you. That tray never touched you and you told me to do that, you caused it." He says "you said you were going to throw it at me and you did!" I say "yeah, right" and go back to bed.
About 20 minutes later Lt. Tucker comes down here and asks me what happened. I told him exactly as I told you, above. He inform me Duff is claiming I threw the tray and hit him with it. I tell Tucker, "the evidence speaks for itself. Look at the pile of potatoes there in the floor, directly in front of the cell door and straight down from the bean hole -gravity at work. If Duff was standing off to the side as he said and I threw a tray at him, the food would be slung off the tray all down the run." Tucker says, "yeah, I see what you mean. OK, then," and leaves.
Less than 3 hours later Roy Simon, the so-called Counsel Substitute, comes running down here with a major disciplinary case already written up. This is unheard of. It takes 3 days at least to process a major case. It has Major Lester?s approval initials in the space showing why it was graded a major case. He tells me the major was called at home for this approval. Duff now alleges I "flipped" the tray out the bean hole and it landed on his feet. I tell Simon what happened. He reads Duff?s narrative and comments: Duff says I asked him 3 times to get the tray. I ask Simon "have you ever heard of someone being assaulted this way after being fore-warned 3 times?" He says, "I....I don?t know." I say, "Oh, now all of a sudden you a dummy just Duff, eh?" He says "Duff alleges the tray fell on his feet." I say, "Why do you think I kept asking Duff to get the tray if it wasn?t going to fall?" He says, "I don?t know." I remind him Duff corroborates exactly what I say up until the time the tray falls then it gets murky and Duff says "That?s when he assaulted me" but does not say how. So he knows the tray is going to fall, yet he waits till it is falling, then steps forward to let it hit his feet; he doesn?t even have enough common sense to get out of the way after being warned 3 times and yet this is somehow my fault!" Simon says, "I don?t know." I tell him "Since it?s obvious you don?t know anything I?ll represent myself at hearing." I sign for the case and he leaves.
A little while later another officer calls me over the intercom. He says, "Hey Skinner, I was told to order you to shave and get a haircut." I say, "OK, I hear ya." "You going to comply?" he asks. I say "Well, I?m Level III. You got me a razor?" (We?re not allowed to keep a razor anymore. They have to give them to us and get them back soon as we?re done) He don?t say anything. I ask "Are y?all running haircuts?" He says "Naw. Come on now, don?t take it personal." I say, "I?m not, but I can?t comply, so I guess I ain?t." Two hours later I got another
case, for "refusing to groom."
On Thursday, 18th, I go to court for these two cases. I give my statement to the DHO, Victor Boston. He calls Duff, no answer, so the assault case gets continued. Next, grooming. We call the charging officer. He admits they were not running haircuts at the time and I was in my cell, not the shower. "They can?t give us a razor while we?re in our cell but only in the shower). I point all this out to the Captain and tell him that I wasn?t given any opportunity to groom, they?ve not run haircuts since and this is entrapment. He finds me guilty anyway and tells me he notes for the record I have hair on my face and need a haircut. I tell him he can?t convict me on that basis because I?m being tried for an offense occurring on the date and time in the charge, not the present time of the hearing and that I object because I?ve not been served notice of any case occurring now so he?s violating my due process right. He laughs and keeps saying "Well.....I still find you guilty." Being locked in my cell and denied grooming implements is again somehow my fault? Apparently. However, twice before when I managed to get some grooming implements (mirror, comb, razor, nail clippers) they shake-down my cell, take it all and write me a major disciplinary case for "possession of Contraband." Got found guilty of that, too. So, no more shaving and hair cutting for me, either.
On Thursday, the 25th I bo back to court. This is held in the Lieutenant?s office right outside the door they have this huge homemade box fan blowing which is drying the "stab-proof" vests the officers wear. It sounds like a helicopter coming in for landing. I see the Sgt. in the hallway and ask him, "How in the hell I am going to be heard on tape at hearing and make my record with that thing blowin?" He says "Huh?", cups his hand over his ear, steps closer and leans toward me. I ask him again. He says "that?s exactly what I ask em and they told me to get lost, run me out of there." I smell a f**k job in the making here.
We wait and wait. Finally they call us in. I see right off that they have the chair where I?m to sit pulled back about 8 feet from the desk. I look around the room and the first thing I notice is Old Sorry Ass, lying Lt. Larry Roach sitting there whispering to the disciplinary captain Boston again. I say, "Well I see y?all don?t want me making a record today, since you got the chair way back here, the airplane propeller (fan) blowing on the vests out there (hearings are taped on a small portable cassette recorder with a built-in microphone. They won?t pick up if there is any background noise or if you?re too far away), so what?s up? You should have just put the chair back there against the wall." Roach says, "Well, Dude, we would have if we could have. Just be glad you?re even here." I scoot the chair forward. Roach gets up, walks behind the chair, pulls it and me even farther back than before and threatens me: "You move it again, you?re eatin? concrete all the way back down the hall." "Eatin? concrete" is a euphemism for getting "slammed", thrown down and beaten up.
See, what?s going here is that everybody all over 12 building has been talking about this dumb-ass case Duff wrote, they know it will not stand up if I?m allowed to question Duff and the officer witness I?ve requested, so they?re trying to: A.) Screw up the record with all this background noise and by having me far away from the tape recorder and B.) Doing anything they can think of to make me mad, so they can contrive some situation to say I "went off" and "disrupted" the proceedings, so they can throw me out of the room, exclude me from the hearing and convict me in my absence. Realizing this, I smile, determined to remain calm and win this hearing.
I?m cuffed behind my back and sitting in a hard plastic chair, the kind they use in grade schools, stackable. There?s no way to sit back with your arms and cuffs in the way, so I sit kind of leaned over toward one hip for balance with my ankles crossed, feet stretched in front of me. It?s the only way to sit up straight without falling when you?re cuffed and in one of these chairs. I?ve seen quite a few disciplinary hearings in my time and this is the way all prisoners sit in these chairs, simply because it?s the only way you can sit in one.
Boston is actin? all nervous and keeps shuffling his papers, tapping them down and alternately looking at me. He says, "You ready to start the hearing?" I say, "Waiting on you". Mrs. Hammack CSI, is getting Duff on the phone. Suddenly Boston says, "Say Dude, why you sittin? in my chair like that?!" Before I can even comprehend what he?s saying, he says it again. I say, "What do you mean? I?m just sitting here." He says, "You ain?t got your feet on the floor" then, to the officers escorting me he says, "Get him out of here!" Instructing them to remove me from the hearing. I say, "Wait a minute, Captain. Your post orders say you can exclude me from a hearing only if I?m disrupting the proceeding. I?m not disrupting anything, just sitting here." All the while the officers are pulling me up out of the chair. Roach jumps up and tells them "Put him against the wall", so they smash me into the wall and lean against me like they?re having to hold me there while Roach calls for a camera. They get a camera and Roach says on the video, "We?re doing this as a precautionary measure." Ha ha. I?m pretty mad, but I don?t resist them. "Just let them play their little games, I say to myself. We?ll see who gets the last laugh." Of course, they convict me in absentia.
Now I want to remind you all of a few things. For the last 4 ½ months I have been filing classification grievances on the basis of improper Level III placement because I am not violent and have committed no assaults nor assaultive/aggressive behavior to justify Level III placement or continuation. The major and prissy Daly falsify the grievance answer and I-204 form by saying I am on Level III due to a "recent staff assault" which never occurred. I file on them for falsifying governmental documents.
Back in August, the 25th of 2001, Sgt. Raymond Duff is the one who put me on Level III after ordering an unprovoked and excessive use of force against me after a f**k job shakedown at 11:30 p.m. at night. He also had officer Whitfield file false charges on me, alleging "attempted assault" #20010355563. They excluded me from hearing in that case as well, which is precisely why I got it overturned 7 ½ months after the fact, while in the meantime, they repeatedly "lost" my appeals of that case, etc. etc. Now we?ve come full circle. Eight and a half months after Duff put me on Level III I?m just two weeks shy of making Level II on May 08th, I?ve not had any cases at all in nearly 90 days. Now here comes Duff to save the day and "create" an "assault" out of thin air, to save the Major?s lyin? ass to boot. In less than 5 days I?ve been written three major cases, all bogus. Why? Just as I?ve told you all before, left alone, none of us do anything to justify our being put on levels.
So Major Tim has to contrive and manufacture a bunch of bull shit in order to justify his levelling decisions. Sherman Bell said
that the only way to get put on a level is to commit disciplinary offenses. So the major has got to have disciplinary convictions
on paper to support his keeping us forever on a level.
This case for "assault" is nothing more than bureaucratic cannon fodder fueled by Duff?s desire to retaliate against me for filing meritorious grievances against him and winning the appeal of the last bogus case he caused to be filed on me. The way Duff wrote the case and the actual events themselves would not have supported a conviction for assault. They could not let me question Duff so DHO Boston contrived a reason to exclude me from the hearing. When Paul says there is no incentive for good behavior, it?s a multifaceted statement and this is but one example. The short of it is that whether and why we?re kept on levels is never truly dependent upon our behavior and actions, but solely on the Major?s or other rank?s whims although we are made to be responsible for it on paper. What we all see is: "They?re
going to screw over me regardless of what I do, so I may as well do whatever and just not worry about it." When Warden Loyd Massey told Roy Pippin and later Richard Cartwright that they treat us as they do because the previous ad seg population prisoners (who inhabited these cells before us) were "animals". He forgot to mention one vital thing: It was he and the administration, by use of the tactics described above and the physical conditions extant here, who turned those men into "animals." Now they?ve got a fresh batch of 450 odd death row prisoners and they?re doing the same thing all over again.
As if all this weren?t enough, on Sunday, April 21st, they come in here and did a major shakedown on 2nd shift, supposedly looking for commissary items which Level II and III prisoners are not supposed to have because we are in "punitive disciplinary status." Officer Richard Davidson walks by me and into my cell flicking a lighter he has in his hand and raising his eyebrows up and down vaudevillian style, a la Groucho Marx, as if to say, "See this contraband I?m finding? in your cell?" This is the same lighter they "found" in my cell back in November when this same officer and his cohort "supervised" that shakedown with the aid of a lieutenant, who was also present this time around.
When I loudly begin to complain about this, Sgt. Phillip Griggs yanks me across the run, slams me face first into the wall and says, "One more word out of you, buddy, and you?re gonna eat some concrete." I tell him, "Word. Get with it." D. W. and Cartwright on either side of me, (held by other officers and cuffed behind their backs as I am) begin to loudly complain about Griggs? actions and tell him, "You slam Skinner or hurt him, you?re gonna slam us all!" They drag D. W. over in the corner and try to stuff him head first into the shower. The lieutenant sees this is getting out of hand and it?s a totally unjustifiable use of force, so he stops them and I tell D. W. to chill. I don?t want any of these guys getting beat up over me. But you better believe it made me feel good to know they would have, in a second, if that?s what it took. The rank can?t stand to see this kind of unity and so, a couple of days later, they move me to E-section, away from D. W. and Cartwright. It doesn?t matter where they move me. The unity remains.
To flesh out their "contraband" case, they again resort to confiscating some of my writing materials, exactly as they did back in November and again in December and again in February. Each time I claim ownership, produce the receipts showing that I bought them legitimately and get them returned.... until the next time. This ridiculous shit wears on a person. I can?t even expect to keep what I paid for and legitimately possess because these ass holes need to write a few cases to justify continuing us on levels? So I?m being punished for it and having had to buy it, to boot! As Mencken once famously wrote, "There comes a time in every man?s life when he is wont to cast aside reason, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats." (paraphrasing) so, now we see how docile humans can be made into raging animals. Pick, pick, pick..... pick, pick, pick ... 3 years and counting. How much of this could you take before you hoist that black flag? And, what if you knew your captors were going to kill you anyway? Then how long? We?re not talking here about what?s morally right or wrong, correctional security or any of the rest of that sort of reasoning or justification. We?re talking about you, as an emotional creature. How long could you stand someone needlessly and relentlessly f**king with you every day, day in, day out, with no surcease. How long before you snap and go off? And to think they said at trial that I possess no moral compass, no conscience....
Hank Skinner
<http://www.deathrow.at/polunsky/news/skinner.jpg>
Hank Skinner
by Hank Skinner - April 16th - 30th, 2002
<http://www.deathrow.at/polunsky/news/polunsky.jpg>
In my news from the hell hole of April 02, posted the 6th, I was explaining about how they mess over us on levelling classification and before that, on March 13th, posted March 19th, I went into great detail on it, using myself and what?s been done to me as the example. It?s not I, I, I or me, me, me, it?s just that this is complicated, I?ve been going a long time to lay this all out for you all in a coherent pattern so that you can see how they manipulate the system and pervert the polices in order to keep us perpetually on levels.
I use myself as the example also because my situation is one of the more egregious ones. I?m not violent; I never have been. Unlike some of the guys who have chunked stuff on the officers and committed assaults, I have not. I?m not saying I?m better than others or that others are wrong for what they do. Also, some of the others have been treated worse in some respects than I have. The main reason I use myself as the example is because I always have access to my own records and control of my own actions, but as I ask others, just forget it is me and think of it instead, of "every man/any man Texas death row." I?m not the spotlight. I?m just the vehicle which verifies and brings forth the news. A "reputable course." "A living example."
As I told you previously, I?d caught a case on 02/08/02 for "threatening an officer." This occurred approximately 90 days ago. On 4/14 we were warned that officers were being instructed to write cases for any violation they came up with. On 4/16 Sgt Duff came to f-pod to serve chow, 3:30AM. Most of the bean hole stops on the doors here are sprung from constantly being dropped open. The stop is supposed to stop the door at a 90 degree angle perpendicular to the door so that it acts as a shelf to set the food trays and drinks on for the prisoner to pick up after the officer serving has backed away from the door and instructed the prisoner to come forward and retrieve it.
After chow, when trays are picked up, the prisoner is instructed to place the tray in the slot and back away from the door. Since the doors are sprung it?s difficult to balance the tray there and so we just hand them out to the officers. This is practical and time saving, logical and efficient.
When Level III prisoners are fed, they require a Sergeant to be present to supervise feeding. Any Sgt. on the other shifts merely supervises the officers loading and picking up trays, watches the prisoner?s hand out their trays, to ensure safety.
On 4/16 at breakfast Sgt. Duff insists on taking over feeding entirely and makes the officers merely stand by and hold the tray carrier and coffee pitchers while he does all the serving and pouring. While he fiddles around meticulously balancing each tray on the 1½" wide door lip like a circus balancing act, chow does not get completed until late. Rushing to pick up trays, Duff insists on doing it all himself again.
He gets to Elkie Taylor?s cell in #4, A-Section and begins insisting that Taylor step back from the door which means he has to let go of the tray in order to comply. Elkie tells Duff repeatedly that the tray will fall. Duff says step back anyway. Given this order Taylor has no choice but to comply. The tray falls and Duff accuses Taylor of "assault," saying the tray hit his foot. It?s obvious to the prisoners that Duff is looking to contrive a case.
When Duff gets to my cell, I put my tray out on the lip and hold it there with 2 fingers. I?m on F-section and thus have no knowledge of what just transpired with Taylor, on A-section. I have a grievance in my other hand which I want to put out for pick-up and so I must do it after the officer takes the tray, while the slot is opened. Duff tells me "back up from the door." I step back to the maximum distance of my outstretched arm?s extension and tell Duff "get the tray. It?s going to fall. I want to put my grievance out before you shut the slot." He just stand there and tell me again to "back up all the way (to the back of the cell)." The tray is overbalanced and off the edge of the door lip. I?ve got both hands full and cannot pull it back. I tell Duff, "the tray is going to fall! Do you want me to just let it go and dump it in the floor?" He says, "I?m giving you an order and I want you to back up now! I say ok. I let go, the tray falls in the floor. Duff is 3 feet away yet yells "that?s an assault at 4:00 o?clock in the morning! Get me a camera!" I put my grievance out and tell Duff "I don?t know how you think I?ve assaulted? you. That tray never touched you and you told me to do that, you caused it." He says "you said you were going to throw it at me and you did!" I say "yeah, right" and go back to bed.
About 20 minutes later Lt. Tucker comes down here and asks me what happened. I told him exactly as I told you, above. He inform me Duff is claiming I threw the tray and hit him with it. I tell Tucker, "the evidence speaks for itself. Look at the pile of potatoes there in the floor, directly in front of the cell door and straight down from the bean hole -gravity at work. If Duff was standing off to the side as he said and I threw a tray at him, the food would be slung off the tray all down the run." Tucker says, "yeah, I see what you mean. OK, then," and leaves.
Less than 3 hours later Roy Simon, the so-called Counsel Substitute, comes running down here with a major disciplinary case already written up. This is unheard of. It takes 3 days at least to process a major case. It has Major Lester?s approval initials in the space showing why it was graded a major case. He tells me the major was called at home for this approval. Duff now alleges I "flipped" the tray out the bean hole and it landed on his feet. I tell Simon what happened. He reads Duff?s narrative and comments: Duff says I asked him 3 times to get the tray. I ask Simon "have you ever heard of someone being assaulted this way after being fore-warned 3 times?" He says, "I....I don?t know." I say, "Oh, now all of a sudden you a dummy just Duff, eh?" He says "Duff alleges the tray fell on his feet." I say, "Why do you think I kept asking Duff to get the tray if it wasn?t going to fall?" He says, "I don?t know." I remind him Duff corroborates exactly what I say up until the time the tray falls then it gets murky and Duff says "That?s when he assaulted me" but does not say how. So he knows the tray is going to fall, yet he waits till it is falling, then steps forward to let it hit his feet; he doesn?t even have enough common sense to get out of the way after being warned 3 times and yet this is somehow my fault!" Simon says, "I don?t know." I tell him "Since it?s obvious you don?t know anything I?ll represent myself at hearing." I sign for the case and he leaves.
A little while later another officer calls me over the intercom. He says, "Hey Skinner, I was told to order you to shave and get a haircut." I say, "OK, I hear ya." "You going to comply?" he asks. I say "Well, I?m Level III. You got me a razor?" (We?re not allowed to keep a razor anymore. They have to give them to us and get them back soon as we?re done) He don?t say anything. I ask "Are y?all running haircuts?" He says "Naw. Come on now, don?t take it personal." I say, "I?m not, but I can?t comply, so I guess I ain?t." Two hours later I got another
case, for "refusing to groom."
On Thursday, 18th, I go to court for these two cases. I give my statement to the DHO, Victor Boston. He calls Duff, no answer, so the assault case gets continued. Next, grooming. We call the charging officer. He admits they were not running haircuts at the time and I was in my cell, not the shower. "They can?t give us a razor while we?re in our cell but only in the shower). I point all this out to the Captain and tell him that I wasn?t given any opportunity to groom, they?ve not run haircuts since and this is entrapment. He finds me guilty anyway and tells me he notes for the record I have hair on my face and need a haircut. I tell him he can?t convict me on that basis because I?m being tried for an offense occurring on the date and time in the charge, not the present time of the hearing and that I object because I?ve not been served notice of any case occurring now so he?s violating my due process right. He laughs and keeps saying "Well.....I still find you guilty." Being locked in my cell and denied grooming implements is again somehow my fault? Apparently. However, twice before when I managed to get some grooming implements (mirror, comb, razor, nail clippers) they shake-down my cell, take it all and write me a major disciplinary case for "possession of Contraband." Got found guilty of that, too. So, no more shaving and hair cutting for me, either.
On Thursday, the 25th I bo back to court. This is held in the Lieutenant?s office right outside the door they have this huge homemade box fan blowing which is drying the "stab-proof" vests the officers wear. It sounds like a helicopter coming in for landing. I see the Sgt. in the hallway and ask him, "How in the hell I am going to be heard on tape at hearing and make my record with that thing blowin?" He says "Huh?", cups his hand over his ear, steps closer and leans toward me. I ask him again. He says "that?s exactly what I ask em and they told me to get lost, run me out of there." I smell a f**k job in the making here.
We wait and wait. Finally they call us in. I see right off that they have the chair where I?m to sit pulled back about 8 feet from the desk. I look around the room and the first thing I notice is Old Sorry Ass, lying Lt. Larry Roach sitting there whispering to the disciplinary captain Boston again. I say, "Well I see y?all don?t want me making a record today, since you got the chair way back here, the airplane propeller (fan) blowing on the vests out there (hearings are taped on a small portable cassette recorder with a built-in microphone. They won?t pick up if there is any background noise or if you?re too far away), so what?s up? You should have just put the chair back there against the wall." Roach says, "Well, Dude, we would have if we could have. Just be glad you?re even here." I scoot the chair forward. Roach gets up, walks behind the chair, pulls it and me even farther back than before and threatens me: "You move it again, you?re eatin? concrete all the way back down the hall." "Eatin? concrete" is a euphemism for getting "slammed", thrown down and beaten up.
See, what?s going here is that everybody all over 12 building has been talking about this dumb-ass case Duff wrote, they know it will not stand up if I?m allowed to question Duff and the officer witness I?ve requested, so they?re trying to: A.) Screw up the record with all this background noise and by having me far away from the tape recorder and B.) Doing anything they can think of to make me mad, so they can contrive some situation to say I "went off" and "disrupted" the proceedings, so they can throw me out of the room, exclude me from the hearing and convict me in my absence. Realizing this, I smile, determined to remain calm and win this hearing.
I?m cuffed behind my back and sitting in a hard plastic chair, the kind they use in grade schools, stackable. There?s no way to sit back with your arms and cuffs in the way, so I sit kind of leaned over toward one hip for balance with my ankles crossed, feet stretched in front of me. It?s the only way to sit up straight without falling when you?re cuffed and in one of these chairs. I?ve seen quite a few disciplinary hearings in my time and this is the way all prisoners sit in these chairs, simply because it?s the only way you can sit in one.
Boston is actin? all nervous and keeps shuffling his papers, tapping them down and alternately looking at me. He says, "You ready to start the hearing?" I say, "Waiting on you". Mrs. Hammack CSI, is getting Duff on the phone. Suddenly Boston says, "Say Dude, why you sittin? in my chair like that?!" Before I can even comprehend what he?s saying, he says it again. I say, "What do you mean? I?m just sitting here." He says, "You ain?t got your feet on the floor" then, to the officers escorting me he says, "Get him out of here!" Instructing them to remove me from the hearing. I say, "Wait a minute, Captain. Your post orders say you can exclude me from a hearing only if I?m disrupting the proceeding. I?m not disrupting anything, just sitting here." All the while the officers are pulling me up out of the chair. Roach jumps up and tells them "Put him against the wall", so they smash me into the wall and lean against me like they?re having to hold me there while Roach calls for a camera. They get a camera and Roach says on the video, "We?re doing this as a precautionary measure." Ha ha. I?m pretty mad, but I don?t resist them. "Just let them play their little games, I say to myself. We?ll see who gets the last laugh." Of course, they convict me in absentia.
Now I want to remind you all of a few things. For the last 4 ½ months I have been filing classification grievances on the basis of improper Level III placement because I am not violent and have committed no assaults nor assaultive/aggressive behavior to justify Level III placement or continuation. The major and prissy Daly falsify the grievance answer and I-204 form by saying I am on Level III due to a "recent staff assault" which never occurred. I file on them for falsifying governmental documents.
Back in August, the 25th of 2001, Sgt. Raymond Duff is the one who put me on Level III after ordering an unprovoked and excessive use of force against me after a f**k job shakedown at 11:30 p.m. at night. He also had officer Whitfield file false charges on me, alleging "attempted assault" #20010355563. They excluded me from hearing in that case as well, which is precisely why I got it overturned 7 ½ months after the fact, while in the meantime, they repeatedly "lost" my appeals of that case, etc. etc. Now we?ve come full circle. Eight and a half months after Duff put me on Level III I?m just two weeks shy of making Level II on May 08th, I?ve not had any cases at all in nearly 90 days. Now here comes Duff to save the day and "create" an "assault" out of thin air, to save the Major?s lyin? ass to boot. In less than 5 days I?ve been written three major cases, all bogus. Why? Just as I?ve told you all before, left alone, none of us do anything to justify our being put on levels.
So Major Tim has to contrive and manufacture a bunch of bull shit in order to justify his levelling decisions. Sherman Bell said
that the only way to get put on a level is to commit disciplinary offenses. So the major has got to have disciplinary convictions
on paper to support his keeping us forever on a level.
This case for "assault" is nothing more than bureaucratic cannon fodder fueled by Duff?s desire to retaliate against me for filing meritorious grievances against him and winning the appeal of the last bogus case he caused to be filed on me. The way Duff wrote the case and the actual events themselves would not have supported a conviction for assault. They could not let me question Duff so DHO Boston contrived a reason to exclude me from the hearing. When Paul says there is no incentive for good behavior, it?s a multifaceted statement and this is but one example. The short of it is that whether and why we?re kept on levels is never truly dependent upon our behavior and actions, but solely on the Major?s or other rank?s whims although we are made to be responsible for it on paper. What we all see is: "They?re
going to screw over me regardless of what I do, so I may as well do whatever and just not worry about it." When Warden Loyd Massey told Roy Pippin and later Richard Cartwright that they treat us as they do because the previous ad seg population prisoners (who inhabited these cells before us) were "animals". He forgot to mention one vital thing: It was he and the administration, by use of the tactics described above and the physical conditions extant here, who turned those men into "animals." Now they?ve got a fresh batch of 450 odd death row prisoners and they?re doing the same thing all over again.
As if all this weren?t enough, on Sunday, April 21st, they come in here and did a major shakedown on 2nd shift, supposedly looking for commissary items which Level II and III prisoners are not supposed to have because we are in "punitive disciplinary status." Officer Richard Davidson walks by me and into my cell flicking a lighter he has in his hand and raising his eyebrows up and down vaudevillian style, a la Groucho Marx, as if to say, "See this contraband I?m finding? in your cell?" This is the same lighter they "found" in my cell back in November when this same officer and his cohort "supervised" that shakedown with the aid of a lieutenant, who was also present this time around.
When I loudly begin to complain about this, Sgt. Phillip Griggs yanks me across the run, slams me face first into the wall and says, "One more word out of you, buddy, and you?re gonna eat some concrete." I tell him, "Word. Get with it." D. W. and Cartwright on either side of me, (held by other officers and cuffed behind their backs as I am) begin to loudly complain about Griggs? actions and tell him, "You slam Skinner or hurt him, you?re gonna slam us all!" They drag D. W. over in the corner and try to stuff him head first into the shower. The lieutenant sees this is getting out of hand and it?s a totally unjustifiable use of force, so he stops them and I tell D. W. to chill. I don?t want any of these guys getting beat up over me. But you better believe it made me feel good to know they would have, in a second, if that?s what it took. The rank can?t stand to see this kind of unity and so, a couple of days later, they move me to E-section, away from D. W. and Cartwright. It doesn?t matter where they move me. The unity remains.
To flesh out their "contraband" case, they again resort to confiscating some of my writing materials, exactly as they did back in November and again in December and again in February. Each time I claim ownership, produce the receipts showing that I bought them legitimately and get them returned.... until the next time. This ridiculous shit wears on a person. I can?t even expect to keep what I paid for and legitimately possess because these ass holes need to write a few cases to justify continuing us on levels? So I?m being punished for it and having had to buy it, to boot! As Mencken once famously wrote, "There comes a time in every man?s life when he is wont to cast aside reason, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats." (paraphrasing) so, now we see how docile humans can be made into raging animals. Pick, pick, pick..... pick, pick, pick ... 3 years and counting. How much of this could you take before you hoist that black flag? And, what if you knew your captors were going to kill you anyway? Then how long? We?re not talking here about what?s morally right or wrong, correctional security or any of the rest of that sort of reasoning or justification. We?re talking about you, as an emotional creature. How long could you stand someone needlessly and relentlessly f**king with you every day, day in, day out, with no surcease. How long before you snap and go off? And to think they said at trial that I possess no moral compass, no conscience....
Hank Skinner
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Hank Skinner