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| Welcome to the Library Project |
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| We are presenting this to you as a model that is working to help educate the general public about conditions inside the United States penal institutions. We have tried to keep it simple (easy to set up and transport from one library to another), attractive, and realistic. Each inmate has his/her own picture and words shrink-wrapped and set on a display stand inside the libraries display case. We contact each library and sign up for the use of the case a few months in advance. The display stays up for a month and then moves on to another library. |
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| Statements written by inmates regarding abuses of a more graphic nature are in pamphlets on a card table along with a book for comments and the e-mail and snail mail addresses of HumaneTreatment4HumanBeings or whatever organization is sponsoring the project in your area. |
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| All statements are copied word for word. Inmates are encouraged to write straight from their hearts and not to worry about grammar. Some subjects that we have right now are: Bipolar disease, abuse of geriatric inmates, infectious diseases, medical corruption,some disastrous water situations, government corruption, and lack of ventilation in the summer. All this is on separate stapled sheets...nothing fancy. |
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| " Here in Wisconsin, we have laws that fine people for locking their animals in the car without proper ventilation. Yet, in Texas, hundreds of inmates are sealed inside dormitories without windows, asthmatics included, in the extreme heat of Texas summers." |
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| "Who really is paying for all the chemo and breast surgery on all the women with cancer? Why is no one really checking out the water at the Hobby Unit in Marlin Texas?" |
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| "Infectious diseases includes you." |
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| The pamphlets let it all out. We hope that you use these ideas and improve on them. Feel free to send us your thoughts str8talkin777@yahoo.com . Since our focus is on women in Texas, that is where most of our information comes from. We invite literature from any prison reform group to be sent to |
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| HumaneTreatment4HumanBeings |
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| We will include them with ours at the library |
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| People in Prison are People
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| I never thought about people in prison. If they were stupid enough to get caught in a crime, then they could live in jail. I did not care what prisons were like in the USA because no matter how much those low life's (lower life forms) complained, they still lived better than free people in third world countries. Even if I read about a prisoner dying of neglect, I would think about old people dying the same way in retirement communities. It is a shame, but a certain amount of cruel acts happen in every environment no matter how much we try to help. |
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| Then I met Maria Cortez in the Mt. View Unit in Gatesville Texas. Then I began to see the holocaust happening right here in my own country. A hidden, secret, slow extermination process that has nothing to do with democracy and everything to do with modern slavery and extreme corruption. Prison reform needs to happen as much for our sake as for the inmates and the guards. Please take the time to read some of the statements adjacent to this display case. |
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| Brilliant, productive, law abiding human beings with bi-polar disease need medical assistance. They do not need to be imprisoned for years. Bi-polar is a disease, NOT a crime. |
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| Marla Iverson tells her own story. It is worth reading and located with the comment book close to this display. |
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| "She had served her six years. I handed her two stuffed animals. She held one on her chest and the other she rubbed against her cheek as she asked , ' Am I too much of a thug?....These are so soft. We never get to touch anything soft.' ... I will never forget the sight of this 25 year old "thug" lying in bed sleeping soundly with a fuzzy pink tiger under each arm, a little brown bear across her neck and a stuffed bumble bee on her cheek. Now I understand the importance of tracing my hand on a piece of paper and sending it inside for them to touch and know that no matter what they have done, there is a human hand extended for them to hold when things get seriously deranged..." |
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| "Our voices together need to alert the public that these contagious diseases are not only a threat to prisoners; they are a serious threat to the free world. Contagious diseases don't know the meaning of being "behind bars". That doesn't stop them. They ride out from the employees, the mailman, the visitors, the medical staff such as it is , the instructors, the clergy. they go to the private homes, the schools, the churches, places of business. by ignoring the medical needs of prisoners, the public will eventually suffer in a way they do not want to suffer and it won't be the prisoner's fault. It will be the fault of the public. See Patrick's article that he wrote about this in 1998 which is turning out to be quite prophetic today http://www.patrickcrusade.org/debate.htm." |
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| "Gee, sometime I know God see all this. You kind of wish that time would run back to when you were first born. So you can find out how did people in America start not seeing God." |
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| (Barbara's entire letter is located with the handout sheets. It is definately worth the read.) |
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| Submitted anonymously from Riverside Unit Gatesville Texas |
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| "Do you want me to tell you about this place? The sounds at night of pain, sorrow, love, and hate. The white walls, white clothes, and the bleak feeling that pervades them. This place is too cold, too hot, too quiet, and much too loud. It is all of these things at all the wrong times. It hurts to be here. The smallest things are light in our days...a smile, a kind word and laughter, hope, even chocolate. With all this ugliness, darkness, and pain, friendships are still made and endure through the punishment. Women still laugh 'til they cry, give of their hearts, and form bonds that will last forever. Even here the light prevails. We see the sky, hear the birds, feel the sun. WE WILL GO HOME!!! We will survive. We will live to see another day. These words flow through me from the feelings in the air. Emotions run high, we are women after all. Do you want me to tell you about this place?? I can't!! You cannot know unless you are here. I can try through my eyes and my heart to let you know ,but you will never know the cold, hard facts of this place. No letter can bring the stark reality of this prison. My prison to you, you think you can see but I do see; you think you can feel but I do feel; ;you think that you know but I do know. This place has brought me the most pain and loneliness, the most happiness and true friendships. Do you understand? No, I do not think so. This place I cannot explain but I do know that I'll carry it in my heart forever. I will never forget the lessons learned, good and bad. Evil and good run through here, side by side. Everyone must pick and choose carefully which way to go. This place will take us in all different directions. One of them right back here. Another one to live, love and see all the world has to offer outside these walls. Which way will I go? Which way will you go? Only one can answer that. We shall see....." |
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| "We have an inner judge that judges everything we do and don't do, think and don't think and etc....and when we do anything that goes against the book of law it automatically says we are guilty and need to be punished. Now, I see why when I do something wrong, something inside me says, 'you messed up and need to be punished for that.' The other part of us receives the judgement and it's called the 'victim'. It carries the blame, guilt, shame etc. This is so me. Big time because I find myself doing things and always see people doing it better than me and I'm like 'why can't I be the best one at it?' or 'I'm not smart enough to make a 12.0 on reading so that I can go to college.' And no matter what I am told, it still all comes down to 'not good enough'. We do need a great deal of courage to challenge our beliefs because we are so used to walking hand in hand with what we were taught to believe that when we deal with being taught something different or told something different, we begin to feel the blame, guilt and shame that occurs if we go against these rules. This book says, 'True justice' is paying only once for each mistake and 'True injustice' is paying more than once for each mistake. We have such a powerfull memory that when we make a mistake, we judge ourselves and find ourselves guilty and we punish ourselves. But because of our memory we remember it and we judge ourselves again!! and we are guilty again!! and punish ourselves again!! and this seems to happen over and over. Am I correct??" |
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| While serving time in California |
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| "Should any human being ever be considered disposable?" |
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| Quote by Mother of inmate |
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| Thanks Margarita for all the spirit you have poured into this project and "str8talkin". You are a "WOW" on this planet. |
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