There's a new rule been introduced, 212, which is putting a hell of a lot of inmates into seg. If an inmate has in his/her possession any documents, transcripts, ID numbers, etc. of any other inmate or inmates it now means a year or more in seg. This is affecting dozens of jail-house lawyers who have, in the past, helped fellow inmates with their cases. Whether or not this was introduced to stop people helping one another or if they just want to lockdown as many inmates as possible I doubt we'll ever know, but that's the way it is.

I hope none of you have a loved one caught up in this new ruling.

Rose

It's a crackdown. The rule has been there but not strictly enforced. There are many inmates who help others with their legal cases and I don't know if it's the activity itself that is illegal or if it's charging for it that is illegal. I do think they're looking for ways to get guys into Seg. I'd heard earlier they were rotating them in and out of seg in order to free up cell space because they're abominably short of space. Thanks for the info. They just shook down Jim's cell on a random search the week I visited and that's probably what they were looking for.

They tried to get Tony on this last year when they put him in seg, it was in it's infantcy then and, anyway, the material he had was part of his case and court filed records so they had to let it go. But it seems they've ironed it out and made it part of the rule book and are now using it to clear the cells. They've stopped one inmate from helping another, that's for sure, no matter what the reasoning behind it all.

Rose

I talked to Jim last night. He said they recently sent a memo out "reminding" inmates about this rule and cautioning that infractions would not be tolerated. Apparently, because they only have the one small legal box to cram their papers into, some inmates who have pending appeals and lots of paperwork were borrowing space from others who had the room. Why this is deemed illegal I'll never know. But it is and he said there was a lot of paper shuffling going on when the memo came out. My question is whether or not Tony (and the guys on his gallery) even got the memo over there or if they were conveniently forgotten??

As they tried to get Tony on this rule last year he was aware of it. Apparently they've made some changes to it, ironed out a few 'problems' and now it's in force. It wasn't in the rule book Tony had last June and has only just been put in. Believe me, he knows that rule book by heart so, if he says it wasn't there, it wasn't. Even his attorney had trouble with it. It seems to me to be a follow-on from the 'no corresponding between inmates in other facilities' rule. They don't have to have all their legal papers crammed into one box. They can have some stored for them, that's what Tony does, and if he needs something from it he can get it. It's not easy and it's not a good solution because I expect things go missing, but legal stuff can be put into storage. Tony had a rap sheet and ID photo of his father, who he didn't know until the court sent him this info. It's part of his own case and has exhibit numbers and everything else on. He'd had the info for a few years and they'd seen it on every shakedown. But, last year, they wanted really badly to put him in seg so tried to use this new rule in him. Luckily his attorney sorted it out with the assistant warden.

Rose

Yeah, Jim won't use the storage facility. I think I'm his storage facility!! And a lot of the guys are juggling so many different aspects to their cases that they supposedly need things with them all the time, or think they do. Or perhaps they are justified in believing things would go missing if they sent them to storage. I know I'd be suspect. This memo that came out was an update to the original just saying they were going to start enforcing it for real, a warning if you will.

Boy I'm not looking forward to "lockdown season" at Menard. They seem to choose the hot months for their lockdown binges.

I'm being very selfish and saying 'good' to the hot season lockdowns. I just don't want them when I'm over. Of course, Tony and I can only go on what happened last year as the Row was on lockdown all the time. So, I'm in need of advise from you and others about that. If you say they have them in the summer months then I know they do. Of course, Tony was in seg from June to August last year so, once again, any lockdowns didn't affect him, and as I visited in April I missed them.

Rose

Yes, you missed them, barely! One big one started the first of May and lasted 3 weeks. Another one came in June, then one in July and another fairly big one in August. It gets so blessed hot in those cells -- over 100 degrees -- and then they're let outside for rec and their moods just cannot be the best. Tempers flare and before you know it, fights break out. Most of the guys are basically locked down anyway, if they're in PC, in Seg, or if they don't work. So the only thing they lose by going on an official lockdown is their rec period and their chow hall. I heard that they regularly go on a lockdown when they switch from winter rec to summer yard and use it as a way to shake down all the cells. But if you avoid the summer months, you should be fine. I worry that I'll drive 8 hours and arrive at the gate only to be turned away. That happened once, but they very quickly allowed visits. During the 3-week lockdown last year, it caught Jim just before a commissary shop and he didn't have much in his box. He was getting so hungry and I just couldn't stand it. So I left at midnight Friday and drove over for a 1-1/2 hour Saturday visit, turned around and drove back to Ohio. Not fun, but I stuffed him to the gills and that was worth it.

I didn't know of this new ruling, but my husband had personal information stolen from him from someone who was in his cell. I guess this is a good thing because what can he do with my husband's personal information. Little did we know, the guy was just recently released. On the other hand, if someone is trying to help someone else out, it certainly is a bad thing.

Sorry, I was given the wrong info, the new rule is number 211, not the 212 as I was previously told. Someone deserves a smacked wrist!!

This is what, I understand, it says:

Possession or solicitation of unauthorized personal property of another inmate, employee or former employee, files, medical records or photo of said persons is punishable by up to 6 months in seg.

This is a shorter time in seg than was originally thought but long enough.

Rose