After spending forty-five years on San Quentin’s death row, I’m now among those who have been transferred transferred to the California Men’s Colony (CMC-East). San Luis Obispo’s CMC-East is sometimes referred to as a “country club” (see the Wikipedia page, for one), even though it’s a Security Level III prison.
One of the first aspects of the prison I noticed was the extremely minimal number of Black correctional officers and employees. There are so few compared to San Quentin that that I was compelled to actually ask a black female officer about the percentage of Blacks employed here. Her response was simple and cautious: “there’s some.” Needless to say, her facial expression (she was surprised that a prisoner would ask such a question) and lack of any elaboration made a very powerful statement.
The discipline is harsh and arbitrary; the rules during count are an obvious example. I remember early on there was a male, middle-aged Black officer (aka “bootlicker”) who announced that he’d write up anyone on the tier who talked during count. Prisoners stand by their windows for count, and then a sergeant moves along and commands us to “move AWAY from the window”, at which time he looks into every cell. It’s the kind of scenario that’s repeated in various forms every day; no matter what prisoners do, they’re wrong and may receive a disciplinary report, usually for “disobeying a direct order.” When slavery was legal in America, slaves were beaten with a whip–today they’re whipped with a pen.[1]
Discussion of this seems to be unappreciated, as well; certainly, it’s quite the coincidence that three days after texting my longtime friend and comrade (K.D.) that “San Luis Obispo is undoubtedly Klan Coun- ty”, I’m unable to send any texts or make any phone calls on the dayroom Kiosk, or the personal GTL Tablet issued on May 10, 2024.
The Public Address system is one particular structural failure that we are often punished for. There’s perhaps one hundred yards distance from Building Two to the exercise area. There’s exercise equipment, basketball and handball courts, and six octagonal metal tables for board games–and no working PA system. Building Two only has one working Public Address System speaker attached to its front for announcements (medical appointments, education, classification committee, visits, legal mail pick-up, etc.) and, unfortunately, the antiquated PA system is more of a mumbling echo system.
Prisoners of all races think that the mumbling echo system is intentionally used when prisoners are in the exercise areas (as well as inside their assigned cells with solid steel doors) so that we can’t hear and decipher what’s being announced. This can ultimately result in abuses of authority. Staff issue disciplinary reports and cite us for “disobeying a direct order, saying that we intentionally failed to to appear for our appointment. No, it doesn’t matter that the prisoner simply didn’t hear the
announcement, as the Disciplinary Hearing Officer will always be guided by the wording of the alleged infraction and usually knows nothing about the circumstances or conditions of the alleged offense.
This aspect of the disciplinary rules infraction reports (RVRs) process is found across prisons. I’ve received two separate disciplinary reports for “deadly weapons.” The first was in 1980 for a small screwdriver I had, made from a copper staple of a cardboard box; the second was in 2021, for an electrical cord prong domino etching tip.[2] It’s almost impossible to believe that a prisoner would receive a RVR for simply saving uneaten food from the dining hall in a plastic bag to take back to his cell for later. But an investigation of prisoners’ RVRs issued recently would reveal this reality.
It’s an adage that misery [1] loves company–it not only loves, company, it demands it!
I thought it was interesting that both LA Times journalist Keegan Hamilton and Scripps College professor Mark Golub noted that I laid on the grass here for five minutes, just to appreciate how it felt. It feels different–being on grass, as opposed to walking on concrete for 45 years–and these are little things that most people would never think about.
Sixteen days after my arrival here, I was finally issued most of my property after complaining to several administrators and filing a 602 grievance. I doubt that its another instance of overlooked containers, as my name and CDCR number were clearly printed on the tops and all four sides of my four plastic containers. Even after all of this, one of my containers was missing–and it was filled with legal petitions and documents, including most of those directly related to the currently pending civil suit for the theft of my property), as well as excerpts from the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5) and other educational materials. It’s astounding, as well, that any and all death row prisoners transferred to CMC-East are only allowed to have one box (16″ X 12″ X 10″) of legal materials–there are traffic violation cases that contain more than one box of legal documents!
A reliable and reputable free world source has confirmed that the California Appellate project has received innumerable complaints from transferred/transpacked death row prisoners whose property has been lost, severely damaged, or stolen. Who will be held accountable for the loss of property? Also, how many appointed attorneys will make inquiries with wardenes and administrators, and make records of this for possible future civil and criminal litigation?
Another question: who will check the property cards of the inmate workers involved in this process (also known as “SPIs”-“Special Privileged Inmates”)? I saw a property officer hand one of my clear containers to an inmate worker, empty except for three visible strawberry drink mix packets. I looked the inmate in the eyes and said, “enjoy the kool-aids.” He didn’t say a word; he knew I’d seen my property being given to him. I also saw my pair of knitted gloves (purchased through the special purpose program) thrown in a clean gray trash can, along with a black knitted watch cap that a death row prisoner had made for me at San Quentin. When I asked the property officer why my gloves and cap were being thrown in the trash can, his response was that we aren’t allowed to have gloves or black caps here. Needless to say, after I left the R&R area, the inmate worker simply retrieved the gloves and cap from the trash can, either for his own use or to sell to another inmate/prisoner.
Some inmates are so comfortable and complacent with the “K-9s” (guards) that they collect and pass ingredients for their juice in the immediate presence of the K-9s in the dining hall on a regular basis! The guards turn a blind eye to these char- acters’ blatant and obvious activities in exchange for information about other prisoners’ activities. Upon arriving here at CMC-East I was stunned to see three or four inmates casually strolling across the yard with a guard, walking and talking with him like he were a seasoned convict. I’ve since learned that this is the new normal–I’m a stranger in a strange land. The Twilight Zone…
Another interesting (and disappointing) aspect of the prison existence is the regularity with which some obviously ignorant negroes abuse the “N-Word.” They abuse it so frequently, as though the more they say it, the cooler or hipper they are. Perhaps even worse is that they abuse it in the immediate presence of anyone! Whites, Latinos, Asians, guards–it doesn’t matter. Conversely, very seldom have I heard any Whites call each other a “cracker,” “honkie” or “peckerwood;” or Latinos refer to each other as a “wetback” or “bean-picker;” or Asians refer to each other as “gooks” or “slant-eyes.” In short, ignorance is one thing, and stupidity is another, but combined-they’re an extremely dangerous combination. The phrase, “if common sense were common, everyone would have it” most certainly applies here.
I’ve also listened (intensely) to numerous right-wing radio programs of Riverside and San Francisco and continue to be dumbfounded by now many of the hosts will regularly tell their listeners what they all “know,” as in, “everyone knows…” It’s as though these hosts know all of their listeners’ individual life experiences (how else can one person KNOW what another person KNOWS?). It’s as though they think that there’s no difference between thinking, believing, and so forth, and actually knowing a specific truth or fact based in reality. The programs with co-hosts makes matters even worse as they always agree with what the other says. The listener is never challenged to actually think about what’s being said.[3]
Through the decades, I’ve been fortunate enough to connect with a few real brothers (and others) who have the same principles and rules of conduct as my own. They all have been adamant about how vitally important it is to be careful about who I speak with and what I say. Not only are the guards watching ALL death row prisoners with microscopes–so are the SPIS and other beasts of CMC-East.
[1] For more on this, see my writing in Covert Action Magazine (November 9, 2023), space4peace.blogspot.com (August 23,2021); SFBayview.com (September 26,2021 and October 2, 2022); and prisonwitness.org/jamespanderson. Additionally, keep an eye out for an upcoming LA Times article by Keegan Hamilton. For historical context, one should also look into the Willie Lynch speech.
[2] For more, see: space4peace.blogspot.com; September 30, 2021.
[3] Interested readers should read Propaganda by Ernie Bernay.
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