Prison Is Speech By The State and It's Organized Violence By William Thorpe

The colloquialism "The only thing prison provides is time and what the prisoner does with the time is solely his choice."

On the surface and superficially it sounds commonsensical making all the sense in the world because it fits the narrative of the national status quo and its pursuit of a supposed responsibility and its individual accountability. But upon scrutiny, we find it is just another gibberish and idealistic utterance in the employ of the controlling functions of the state and its national status quo. And why should we simply stop with prison being the only environment requiring the accountability of individual responsibility        Lets expand it to general life, beginning with the argument point from our political and religious reactionary brethren, the life begins at conception demagoguery and let's hold that construct of life responsible and accountable for itself independent of the mother and humor at its collapse in the objectivity of its anticipation. Which by the way as much as our reactionary brethren push for life at conception, the fact it is still based on the responsibility and accountability of the mother as an independent anticipation, in no uncertain terms mocks the responsibility and accountability supposition.

And it makes the same point, that as much as the controlling mechanism of the status quo expects a self-policing imperative with our buy into a superficial and speculative grasp of individual responsibility and accountability. The fact remains, prison provides more than time. Prison is speech by the state and it's organized violence. Prison as function of the state assumes responsibility and accountability for and of the imprisoned in dicta to provide.

Thus the responsibility and accountability of the state to the prisoner as it exercises it's organized violence speech of imprisonment should not be excused nor apologized away with the naive and delusional observation that the prisoner in and for theirself should have the presence of mind and ambition to experience the passage of the imprisonment time in a supposed manner when the very lack or bias of the supposed is what resulted the prisoners confinement to begin with.

The adage "the devil is in the details" isn't sophistry and society and its inherent relations cannot escape its scrutiny and consequences of those relations will compel such scrutiny regardless of whether we are intellectually-material enough or still indulging in the intellectual-liberalism of our subjectivity. Because even the sun bows down to reason as the practice of our brethren in 1789 reminded us and again we were taught from 1818-1828 that colloquial traditions and culture are just that mechanisms of the supposed, to be brushed aside as feeble articles of backwardness while new realizations in the employ of progress enable the emergence of a new culture and tradition which in the prison context is reform and holding state and it's organized violence responsible and accountable.

By William Thorpe

I Am Tired, I Am Weary, I Am Angry, Virginia's Pocahontas Correctional Center By An Anonymous Prisoner

The author wishes to be anonymous. We found it fitting for Easter.  We am very concerned about the young man who wrote this letter.  

Please show your support and share your comments with this prisoner.

Any comments would do him good so if there are comments, we will share with the author & VAPJN

By Pocahontas Correctional Center Prisoner (anonymous)
VAPJN
VAPAC

VIRGIN ISLANDS CONSORTIUM CHRONICLES VI PRISONER ABUSE WHILE HELD AT VIRGINIA'S RED ONION STATE PRISON

This week we learned from Editor-In-Cheif and journalist Ernice Gilbert of The Virgin Islands Consortium who first reported an astounding account of Virgin Island detainee Hector Ledesma recount of prisoner abuse while he was imprisoned at Virginia's Red Onion State Prison by Guards.

The following article is about the ongoing reports of unimaginable mistreatment prisoners persistently endure at the hands of corrupt prison guards in Virginia Penitentiaries written by Virgin Island Hector Ledesma. 

My name is Hector Ledesma.  I have been incarceration for the past 13 years and 9 months.  I was recently doing time in Virginia Red Onion Super-Max State Prison.  I was sent there from Citrus Count detention center. Upon arrival to Red Onion, I was placed in a locked down cell with stool all over the walls.  I was told to remove my clothes and give it to the officers, so I did. I was then locked in that cell with no clothes. The officers refused to give me showers for three months, they refuse to give me any soap, toothpaste and other hygiene.  The first time I brushed my mouth my gums was so tender that they started to bleed. I was given no toilet paper and the toilet and sink in the cell was not working either. The officers refused to give me a bed mattress so I had to try to sit and lay o the cold iron for months.  I was being STARVED FOR THREE DAYS of EVERY SINGLE WEEK. So, for three days straight per week I would receive no breakfast, lunch or dinner. I had to DRINK MY OWN URINE TO SURVIVE. I was BEATEN/ABUSED by the officers all BECAUSE I was from the Virgin Islands. I thought I was going to die, I felt like dying.  I tried sending some type of letter to my mother over on St. Croix but one day SGT. Flemming came to the cell door with something in his hands, he looked at me and said ‘what is this boy, you trying to snitch on us? Nobody could help you, don’t you see that your own Government don’t care about you, that’s why they sent you up here.’  I just ignored him. Next thing I knew my door was being buzz opened and in comes the officers, I moved back up on the wall and they kept coming after me calling me “Island Monkey.” They said where you gonna run to, and started beating me up, they left me on the floor bleeding through my mouth.

On another occasion I was sitting with my head between my legs while I sat on the cold floor, and the officer said stand up you piece of shit before I come in there and F*** you up.  So I took a little time to stand up and he called back up. When they came in my room, I said what was the problem, they said get on the floor now mother f***er, so I did as I was told.  They then had the dog breathing and dribbling over me while they laughed. Sgt. Flemming then took his foot and put it on top on my buttocks and said don’t f***ing move. Then he started to rub his foot on my butt and said nice ass, then he started rubbing harder, my penis and testicles started to hurt cause it was rubbing on the cold floor, so I tried to move and he punched me behind my head and said I told you not to move you piece of shit.  When they left, again I was coughing out blood. Even writing this right now is killing me inside, having to relive those moments. I thought I was gonna die. I didn’t know what to do. I felt like giving up. I drew a face with my blood on the wall. I used to speak to the face on the wall to try to give myself some type of hope some type of comfort, some type of energy so I wouldn’t give up. I was so tired and beaten down. I didn’t know how much more I could have taken.  I spent nights crying inside. I prayed so hard. Just when I was thinking of a way to give up on life, I started thinking about my family and friends and I kept telling myself to be strong for them. I heard my Sister Demaris voice in my head telling me to keep fighting. Don’t give up the family needs you.

I started thinking about a few people and the good they have done for me, and I told myself I have to find a way to stay strong, don’t give up, don’t surrender, keep pushing through, you have love ones waiting for you to be free.  So I refuse to die, I refuse to give into the pressure. One day I took a chance and sent a letter to my mother and from what I was told, she received it, she cried out for me when she read it. I was telling her they trying to kill me and to get help asap and so on. I’m pretty sure she still has that letter. So my Mother went to B.O.C Golden Grove crying and spoke to Officer Morris among others and showed him the letter. They assured her that they was gonna help me but they did nothing. I kept getting TORTURED DAY IN AND DAY OUT with NO HELP.

One day B.O.C. Officials to include Director Mulgrav, Officer Morris, Classification Leader Ms. Dewese, Head of Medical Linda Caldwell came to Red Onion to visit us and see how The V.I inmates were doing.  All of US told them about the abuse and mistreatment we are receiving. I even told them about the officers beating my mentally ill cousin Michael Ledesma unconscious. They bust his head open and let the dog bit him up, all because they was telling him to come off the bunk and he took too long to respond. Of course, he would. He is MENTALLY ILL, but they don’t know how to deal with mentally ill inmates so they think beating the crap out of them is the right way.  B.O.C officials saw him for themselves and still did nothing about it. They claimed said they would look into it because that’s not the first time that they are hearing complains like this. They assured us that they were going to move us from that particular prison because of the abuse of not only Virgin Island inmates but reports of excessive force and abuse of other out of state inmates. I told them, by us coming to them about the treatment that the officers will retaliate and I was told not to worry because B.O.C will continue a check on us to make sure that we are okay. On my way back to my cell the two officers who were escorting me said to me, You rat mother***er, we told you that nobody gonna help you.  You thought we were joking. We got something for you later. I said nothing. I just felt like BREAKING DOWN.

So later that night around 9pm I heard my door popped open and saw the same two officers standing there with an African American inmate.  They said you bitch mother f***er, here’s a present for you. So they locked us in and walked away, I knew what time it was, because they don’t move anyone so late at night and they also do not mix race in the same cell unless you request it on paper.  It’s VI with VI, Spanish with Spanish and so forth. So I already knew I was about to get stabbed maybe to death. I jumped off the bed, there was inmate AJ with a shank in his hand, so I stood there with a wire in my hand and my shoes ready to fight for my life.  But then one guy yelled out to me through the AC vent. He said VI what’s going on down there. I told him nothing I’m good. When inmate AJ heard my accent he said oh shit you from the islands. I said yeah and what. He said what the f*** did I get myself into and told me the cops lied to him.  They told him that they gonna put him in a cell with A White Snitch, deal with him and they gonna look out for him, they gonna send him to a lower land prison. Inmate AJ then said dude I don’t want no problems with no VI people. I got love for you guys. I love the VI so I told him what are we gonna do about this then cause you can’t stay in this cell with me when I already know your motives.  AJ then gave me the shank/knife and said dude that’s proof that I don’t want no problems with the VI. So three days after the officers realize nothing was done to me and they ask him why the f*** is He still breathing. AJ then told them he is from the VI he ain’t no white dude like you told me. I sent word to my mother to alert B.O.C officials about this retaliation on my life. My mother emailed Director Mulgrav, Linda Caldwell and Ms. Dewese about the latest incident and the only reply my mother got was from Director Mulgrav asking who she was.  And once again they did nothing to help. That’s when I was convinced that B.O.C. left me there to die.

The following day the same officers brought a charge against AJ.  The charge was that he disrespected them which was a lie. They wanted him out of my cell to try put someone else, but the same day AJ had to go to what we call Kangaroo Court for the write up, that same exact day I was So Blessed that some Marshals came to get  me for another case back in the VI. My life was spared because of my accent and also because the Marshals came for me for another case. I tried seeking help and was unsuccessful. Last December I spent about three weeks on St. Croix in Golden Grove, my first night sleeping up by booking control, at night two officers opened my door to check on me and saw me lying down under the bed under the iron and asked me what was wrong with me and why I was sleeping under the bed on the cold floor, and for a moment I realized I was back in the VI.  I slept under the bed because I figure whenever the door open the officers coming in to beat me so I felt safe under the bed. While I was in Puerto Rico Federal Prison I did the samething as well. I had 15 different roommates because nobody lasted there with me. I was losing it. I was losing my mind. And still my torture and abuse is still going unnoticed.

As I write this, I am on St. Thomas prison, the Annex and I’m still having problems mentally and to this day I have received no help and there are still V.I inmates in Red Onion along with Wallens Ridge prisons in Virginia getting tortured and abused. One of the sad things is that we’re just up there filling slots for other inmates who left.  It’s a vicious cycle. Those two prisons are max prisons for high risk deadly inmates. If you ask BOC’s Director to contact BOC’s classification for the prison records of any VI inmate housed in those prisons, you would be shocked to learn most of these inmates are inmates with good behavior. I know of VI inmates sent to these supermax prisons without a single write up while incarcerated in the Virgin Islands, but they are in a super max prison.  It’s a cycle that needs to end. They rotate us and sell us like slaves. They sell us off to the lowest bidder. I believe, if the contract for, lets say Red Onion, states that 15 VI inmates will be housed there, then what happens is everytime an inmate gets release or moved from Red Onion State Prison, BOC just sends another body to fill that vacancy.

It’s sad because the Virgin Islands is such a small and beautiful place where everybody knows everybody.  How could you send away your own people to racist, homosexual, abusive, gang prisons to be hurt? There is no rehabilitation in those prisons.  Those prisons just fill you up with hate. There are no programs for us up there and by law their should be.

VI Code says “the Director of Corrections is authorized to enter into agreements to use the correctional or detention facilities of the United States Bureau of Prisons; or the correctional facilities of any state or local government or private correctional entity located in the United States, its territories, possessions, commonwealths or the District of Columbia, which are accredited by the American Correctional Association, when the Director of Corrections determines that detention and/or correctional facilities within the Virgin Islands are inadequate to serve the best interest of the inmate or the general interest or welfare of the Territory; provided that as a condition of the prior to the transfer of any inmates, the Director of Corrections shall ascertain and ensure the availability of educational and/or vocational programs at the institution they are to be transferred to for the purpose of enabling such inmate to gain marketable skills, and provided further that no inmate is to be transferred to any institution lacking any such program(s).”

Also on December 28, 1979 Ali vs. Gibson, civil number 76-535, Mr. Ali argued about his illegal transfer to an out-of-state prison was a violation of his due process because you are not allowed to send away an inmate to state prison without giving him or her an advance notice and a hearing as to why you are sending that inmate away.

Title 5 V.IC.s 4501 Through s4503 Indicates the proper procedure for sending VI inmates to out-of-state prisons.  As of currently, they are sending us away to these abusive prisons for no reason knowing fully well of the abuse we receive in those prisons. To this day, I still dream and have cold sweats whenever I think about what I went through up there and what my fellow VI inmates are still going through up there. These prisons are setting us up for failure.  It feels like we are being set up to come right back in prison, be killed, or continue a life of crime. We want none of these things for ourselves. However, we are a byproduct of what has happened to us, of what our VI government allowed these out-of-state prisons to do to us. There is no rehabilitation. In the 13 years and 8 months I have been incarcerated what I have learned more than anything else how to survive. I have gained alot of pain in my heart from being away in out-of-state prisons away from my loved ones.  There is a sincere disappointment that our VI Government has allowed state prison officials to take advantage of me and my fellow VI inmates. Please end this cycle. People keep saying stop the violence. Well you should start from in the prison system. Help us. It’s cheaper to educate than to incarcerate. Don’t wait until it’s somebody you love to want to help. Bring us home to our families or put us in better state prisons so we can get the proper care, treatment and education that we need. This will allow us a chance of being successful when we return to our community.

By Hector Ledesma Submitted by: Cydmarie Cruz, cousin of inmate Hector Ledesma.

Editors Note: Written with the permission from the family of  Hector Ledesma expressing they are trying to be heard. Stating It's sad how people could automatically think an inmate is lying when he or she reports abuse by prison officials...Mr. Ledesma's cousin Cydmarie Cruz states: They assume that prison officials are there to protect and ensure safety so they can't possibly be abusive...Who feels it knows it. My family Mr. Ledesma is not worried about the doubters..He is to focus on getting something done..The Attorney general and Prison officials are now claiming that they are investigating Prison abuse..Yesterday a Sergeant that works in the prison and for PREA met with Mr. Ledesma to discuss what happened in Red Onion...the family states Truthfully the government are full of crap. They are only trying to do something now because election time is next month. We are not concerned about them and their bs Politricks ..We just need a course of action. The abuse has to stop..

Related Article DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE LAUNCHES FULL INVESTIGATION INTO TREATMENT OF VI PRISONERS HELD IN OFF-ISLAND FACILITIES 

Reference
The VI Consortium was founded in 2014 covering U.S. Virgin Islands news, politics.

Cover-Up And Corruption By Prison Guards & Nursing staff Asserted by Julian Mitchell

Vapac received this letter via our email Submission by Mr. Julian Mitchell who is imprisoned at Red Onion State Prison at this time.

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l've been housed in long-term segregation for the last two years. The Administration is doing this as a way to prevent me from timely filing a Civil Lawsuit against them for "The Use Of Excessive Force", because This has happened on camera more than once, which clearly established a consistent pattern of Abuse. On 6/6/2015 I was approached and propositioned at Wallens Ridge State Prison by a VADOC employee who told me to assault my cellmate, because he had filed a complaint on another VADOC employee who planted a Razor in my cellmates property and wrote a False Weapons charge on him.  An investigation and help from the outside resulted in that officer getting exposed and the charge was dismissed.

I was offered an opportunity to be Transferred to a lower level facility to assault my cellmate, when I refused the staff told me they'd have me assaulted by another prisoner and put the Canine on me.

They drugged me and had another prisoner start a fight with me; the guy threw a punch, and I defended myself, there were no weapons involved but the staff still shot me with several IMPACT ROUNDS throughout the short duration of this simple fistfight, and once we were on the floor and 15 ft. apart no longer scuffling, the K-9 officer entered the pod, looked up to the Gun tower and asked which one, the Gunman screamed and pointed at me, then the K-9 officer literally picked up his VADOC assigned Canine by the collar and forced it to engage and attack me, latching onto my Neck, Shoulders, Back and Face tearing through my Lips. They then took me to medical but denied me proper medical treatment and a tetanus shot. I was threatened and taken to segregation for about 45 days, then released me back to the general population. I went through the proper exhaustion of all administrative remedies made available to me by submitting an informal complaint and grievances stating that: VADOC employee did, in fact, Use Unprovoked, Unrestricted, Unnecessary Use of Excessive Force by forcing his VADOC assigned canine to engage and attack me while I was on the floor bellie down with my arms outstretched in full cooperation and compliance which the Pod camera footage clearly confirms, I requested that the camera footage be Preserved for Further Preponderance of the Evidence in Court to establish proof of excessive force claim. I went on to file a civil lawsuit and to prevent that from happening the staff plotted once again to stop this from getting out. I don't take any medicine nor was I at that time, they needed me to take something and open the doors so they can drug me and assault me so, They called me to the dentist who deliberately drilled into my teeth hitting nerves for second time, they prescribed antibiotics and Tylenol which was what I was supposed to have been given; however, I was drugged with illegal psychotropic mind, thought, and mood altering medications that have never been prescribed to me, so unbeknownst to me I had consumed these drugs without my prior knowledge and/or consent and as result I had adverse affects and was fainting and throwing up blood, I attempted to get medical treatment which they refused although several people and our families contacted the Warden and Other Wallens Ridge State Prison Staff and told them I needed to be seen; The Warden came to the pod and had the Sgt. C call medical the same nurse that drugged me S. R. O. said I'm a waste of time she's not gonna do nothing for me they are short staff and she ain't got time to deal with me, and stop having people calling up there.

At 3:00 pill pass came and Nurse O. came to pass out medication, afterwards she'd called me out and told me to leave whatever paperwork I had in my hands upstairs because share didn't want to see it, I told her it was the list of medicine that I'm allergic to, she said: I don't give a damn, I'm not doing nothing for you, you are wasting my time I told you we're short staff and you kept having people calling up here, you're not dead yet cause you can walk, if you can walk you can walk faster, you got 10 seconds to get downstairs and across this pod or I'm leaving. I made it to the office as fast as I could. Nurse O. immediately stated: I ain't give you the wrong medicine, I'm not wearing that and I'm not doing nothing for you.
JLM: I had to have taken the wrong medicine, I've been throwing up blood and had blood in my stool, plus I've fainted 3 times already!
I don't care you're not dead yet you're breathing and you can walk; That's it! Officer. A, He can return to his cell, there's nothing I can do for him, he's wasting my time.
Then she stormed out of the office and out the pod headed toward the Warden several other staff members.
As I got up to leave ofc. A put out his arm and told me to wait and sit back down until she's all the way out of the building. I did so. Once she had left the pod I headed up the staircase to cell #643 in bldg. B- pod 6.where I was being housed. Midway up the staircase, other prisoners asked what were they going to do for me; and I told them she said I'm not dead yet cause I'm breathing and I can walk so she's not wasting her time doing nothing for me.
Many prisoners were outraged and concerned, shouting simultaneously where is the paperwork? and, Did you show her the papers of medicine that you can't take?
JLM: I got the paperwork right here. I tried to show her but she refused to look at them she said I ain't give you the wrong medicine, I'm not wearing that! Then she said I'm not yet cause I'm still breathing I'm wasting her time she ain't gonna do nothing for me and told the C-O she's done put me back in my cell and she stormed out of the office and out the pod. I'm gonna put this in the lawsuit too.
Ofc.T.A: What's that in your hands?
JLM: The list of my medication allergies.
T.A: Bring the paperwork down here to the table.
JLM: You can check it out or give it to them to keep I got plenty copies.

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T.A: I don't need to see them. Get down here until they decide what we wanna do to you.
JLM: Look, She's already gone, so if you don't want the papers and she's not gonna do nothing for me then let me go back in my cell because there's no reason for me to be out here.
T.A: No! You're not going to your cell, You gone do what I say, when I say it! Didn't I tell you, I'm the boss, you gon do what I say do?
(At this time Another prisoner named Mr. W. walked up on that statement being made by Ofc.T.A, Winston being aware of T.A having harassed and threatened me using those same words just 2 weeks prior in an attempt to provoke me, reminded me not to let the guy get under my skin.)
W.: Be cool, Bro you know what they tryna do, don't let them trick you up.
JLM:I'm aware! Dude ain't try a let me go back in my cell.
JLM:I'm ready to go back in the cell, you not trying to let that happen so, You need to put the cuffs on me; I'm putting my hands behind my back, cuff me up and take me to the (segregation) hole.
T.A.s: I'm not putting no cuffs on you or taking you to the hole, something else is gonna happen! Didn't I tell you at the table that you got one more time to pissed me off? We gone get you under the stairs.
As he said this he was already double locking his handcuffs like brass knuckles.
He created a Zone of Danger at this point, and I reacted out of fear of being hurt and experiencing serious bodily injury or death, and I throw a punch before he could hit me with the double-locked handcuffs. We started throwing blows, and another C-O named T. came running up screaming we're gonna kill your ass nigger, get his ass under the stairs, he met me with a can of mace and threw  up his offensive guard, so I had to fight him too, I was now fighting both of these officers at the same time;The Lt. came in and told me to get on the floor, I did and they cuffed and shackled me, then maced me again as more came to join in screaming get that nigger under the stairs; they finally got me under the staircase and at least 7 officers started kicking and punching while I was on the floor in full restraints, then as they all screamed stop resisting the K-9 Officer T.S. forced his new VADOC assigned Canine A. to engage and attack me on my left leg while they stabbed me with a knife; they took me out the pod and assaulted me again in the saliport/hallway in front of LT. C who did nothing to avert the attack besides saying hey guys wait until we get him to room 2 in medical then you can fuck him up; they took me outside and choked me in front of the Warden who also did nothing to avert the attack besides saying get him to medical first; Lt. K. (who I'd filed a Prea complaint on) was outside at the A-bldg. fence and said I'm sending somebody to deal with your ass I told you I'd get your ass one day! ;They took me to medical and Sgt. C came in and him and multiple officers assaulted me in the medical doorway he kicked my left leg over and over and broke it they also broke my ankle; they got me into exam room #2 in medical and kicked and punched me even attempted to gouge out my left eye; Nurse R. D (who was named in previous lawsuit) was there and said I hate this fucking guy he refused treatment (which I didn't) everybody heard it right, Yes they all said in unison,good get this nigger out of my face strap him down; they strapped me down after denying me medical treatment until Sgt. D came to Wallens Ridge State Prison to transfer me to Red Onion State Prison.
Once Sgt. D. changed me out into transportation gear and full restraints, he and other staff roughed me up before they got me in the car and told him, he hasn't cried out once, he won't break, the guy is a fucking rock! Sgt. D. said: Don't worry we're gonna break his ass at Red Onion!

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While transporting me to Red Onion State Prison, Sgt. D. told me: You know we're going to fuck you up right?
JLM: How long is this ride gonna be?
D: You heard what I said? You understand we're going to kick your ass again as soon as we get to Red Onion, you know that right?
JLM: Are they as racist at Red Onion as they are at Wallens Ridge, can I get visits from people of another race or is it pretty much the same everywhere in these mountains, just wanna make sure before I have my biracial family try to come all the way to Virginia to visit me and get shut down and turned around again.
D: You think I'm kidding about us kicking your ass when we get to Red Onion, you're worried about the wrong things, you should be terrified about the shit we're about to do to you, you'd be begging right now if you only knew!
JLM:You've already made it clear that you guys are gonna round your gang up and jump me upon arrival, I'll have to endure it when that time comes, I can accept that there's no way to stop what's inevitable, I will not beg nor cry, your gonna do what you're doing regardless, it is what it is and what will be, will be!
Sgt. D told his partner to call Red Onion and he began to slap the dashboard and window yelling out stop kicking, this guy's being a real asshole we're gonna need a lot of backup!
When we arrived at Red Onion Sgt.B.B. (who was the investigator at Wallens Ridge and was also named in the previous lawsuit) was there at Red Onion waiting on me with several other staff members; they took me to intake and filmed me change out in full compliance noting my leg was severely injured and refused to get a wheelchair instead they forced me to walk in full restraints knowing I wouldn't physically be able to walk fast; they pushed me and told me to walk faster then out of somewhere insidiously sadistic without warning they Picked me up and slammed me on my face bruising my face busting my lips giving me a concussion and fractured my shoulders while they pulled on the cuffs to yet cause me as much pain as possible while screaming "stop resisting, stop resisting" although the camera footage clearly shows that I was never resisting nor became combatant; They took me to the medical intake door but didn't take me in to get treatment; they got a wheelchair instead and took me to the B-bldg. 3-4-5 side and put me on my knees to face a wall in full restraints still with my hands behind my back; and in another attempt to make me cry and beg they grabbed my hands and broke several of my fingers on camera, when I didn't cry out beg or shed even a solitary tear; Sgt. B said: He can't break, we gotta strap him down; they put me in a filthy cell with fecal matter smeared all over and strapped me to the bed so tight that it cut off my blood circulation and (which caused permanent nerve damage) denied me proper medical treatment and left me there to bleed out for over sixteen hours;the next day I was taken to medical but even with multiple 3 inch deep stab wounds I wasn't taken to the hospital, given stitches properly treated at Red Onion.
Once they did pill call a few times I noticed I was feeling a very strange agitation and paranoia I demanded to know what I was taking, that's how I found out that I was still getting medication that I wasn't supposed to take and that it was psychotropic medication never legally ordered by the Mental Health Doctor, Dr. E ..McD, which clearly shows that the medical staff were using prisoner's medical insurance to purchase medications and medical supplies that we know nothing about nor need in order to receive kickbacks.

The staff stacked charges and threw away my personal property to put me in a position where they could cover up what I already started to expose about the VADOC creating false institutional, personal and legal profiles and identities on prisoners, and also take all my money (which I never received) from Wallens Ridge and to block my phone privileges so I couldn't call anyone and expose what happened to me, they tampered with and outright threw away my incoming and outgoing personal and professional/Legal mail (and have still been doing so).

They gave me Counselor K as a staff advisor for these institutional charges who was also on the longterm segregation board, even though I stated I'd been drugged and denied medical treatment and the camera footage clearly shows that I'm not at fault. I was given a guilty verdict at the hearing.
I completed the sentence imposed, but since I wrote up the incident and tried to file a lawsuit for "Use of Excessive Force" the Administration decided they weren't going to let me out of segregation nor let my legal mail and lawsuit out of this prison and they've done everything they can to prevent that even sending me all the way to Sussex 1 State Prison all the way in Waverly, VA without any of my personal property and/or legal paperwork each time for months at a time. When I made it here in 2016, Another prisoner Mr.J.S. and I were both starved at Red Onion and had Racist Officers spit chewing tobacco in our food or put sleeping meds in our food and juice and refused to let us go to recreation or shower, I couldn't for a full month.

I believe proof exists the Administration of the VADOC even in Richmond and the local courts are trying to do more than stop these lawsuits, they know there's enough evidence to Establish grounds to bring forth Federal charges under THE FEDERAL RICO ACT if a proper investigation is conducted.
What these Racist people are being allowed to do and get away with is morally wrong and unacceptable! We as a people have moral responsibility to "STAND UP, SPEAK OUT, AND EXPOSE " what the sadistic and insidious Virginia Department of Corruption and its employees are doing!

By Julian Mitchell

Red Onion State Prisoner in Solitary Confinement Accuses Guards Denying Of Meals, Threats of Sexual and Physical Assault

Virginia Red Onion State Prisoner [ROSP] Donnell Barnes soon to be released from prison accuses Guards of continued mistreatment as stated in his first letter published June 1, 2018. He states to vapac ROSP guards are starving him in retaliation for filing complaints on their misconduct ranging from withholding food to the point of starvation, to sexual and physical assault.  These ongoing violations of threats and provocation by ROSP guards must be investigated. Prisoner Barnes has said to be a transgender and is in fear of reprisal which means being humiliated for being the person they are. This degrading treatment of prisoners is dehumanizing but then add to the torturous treatment of this prisoner being locked in solitary confinement. Red Onion  State Prison needs to be independently investigated

Virginia's Red Onion State Prisoner Jason Jordan Files A Grievance and Lawsuit Then Report of Abuse and Assault Ensues

The complaint method of the Virginia Department of Corrections [VADOC] is the process in which prisoners are able to air their complaints about prison guard abuse, violations, and lawlessness. The primary recurring theme prisoners report at Virginia's Red Onion State Prison [ROSP] are threats of retaliation or in the case of ROSP prisoner Jason Jordan's report, full-blown assault. Magaret Breslau prison activist and force behind Virginia Coalition for Justice  Virginia Prisons Justice Network  [VPJN] among other platforms cited in a recent correspondence with VADOC whom asserted all claims of abuse are taken seriously and properly investigated. However, prisoner Jason Jordan reveals his attempt to file a criminal complaint were denied him by ROSP investigator denoting the rule of thumb "wall of silence" to protect their own. We must interject "how can prisons police/investigate themselves. His claims for filing a grievance and lawsuit when he was met with physically aggressive behavior taken to a spot off camera and kicked in his testicles (drawing blood) by guards as to "teach him a lesson" Mr. Jordan went through the various steps to file a charge, "what prisoners go through when they follow their First Amendment Rights to redress a grievance"  wherein Civil Court he won a "Summary Judgement" and is waiting to go to trial. Mr. Jordan also asserts he is a "mental health" prisoner and is being denied mental health treatment. We must state here, Retaliation is illegal, guards have abused their power when they violate the 1st Amendment Rights of prisoners, in this case, the right to petition government officials for a redress of grievances.


By Prisoner Jason Jordan held at Red Onion State Prison
In collaboration with Virginia Prisons Justice Network  [VPJN]
and VAPAC

• Under the First Amendment, you have the right to “petition the government for a redress of grievances
• Jordan v. Large, No. 7:2016cv00468 - Document 28 (W.D. Va. 2018)

Outside Exercise Is Denied Customarily By Red Onion State Prison Guards, Sexual Harassment Sometimes Involved By D. Barnes

Per DOP 861.3 reads as follows: Exercise~a. Special housing offenders should be allowed a minimum of two hours of out of cell exercise five separate days per week in a supervised area, unless security or safety considerations dictate otherwise. b. During periods of total facility lockdown, out of cell exercise may also be suspended for special housing offenders. c. A record will be made any time exercise is given or refused. Unfortunately, outside exercise is customarily denied those in Solitary Confinement (aka special housing units) Staff shortages are endemic as excuse, other times it is Guards unwillingness to do their job thwarting Prisoners rights to outside excise by humiliation. The following letter was submitted by Prisoner D. Barnes. Imprisoned at Red Onion State Prison.

By D. Barnes
Collaboration Shaheed Omar
vapac

Virginia's Denis Rivera Prisoner At Red Onion State Prison Expresses Fear Professing Threats From Officers

One of the biggest threats at some Virginia Prisons especially ROSP prisoners convey is the antagonistic threat of "I'll set you up" from guards.  Prisoner Denis Rivera confined in Virginia's Red Onion State Prison [ROSP] speaks of lawlessness by prison guards, Threats and Abuse seem to be the common thread in their midst. Mr. Rivera states threats of retaliation for complaints. One must realize here that if the job duties were being performed there would be few complaints from prisoners.
                              Click On Pop-Outs for Assessable Reading ↓↓↓
By Denis Rivera
Collaboration Shaheed Omar
vapac

FREE-LANCE STAR IRKED BY ACLU of VIRGINIA REPORT ON SOLITARY CONFINEMENT

It would have been refreshing had the 5/16/18 FREE-LANCE STAR Fredricksburg Virginia editorial on VA. MAKING STRIDES ON SOLITARY CONFINEMENT, made the effort to do what editorials and opinions are intended and that makes us think and attain a deeper understanding of an issue. But true to contemporary form the editorial instead plyed the idealistic and easy way out lemming-dive by parroting a narrative that has nothing to do with the nature of the issue. Instead, the editorial behaved as any run of the mill diversionary campaign leaflet pronouncing absurdities.

The question isn't; "really what is a prison to do" as fifth columnesque asked by the Free-Lance Star Editorial. Because the answer to what is a prison to do is simple: Follow the law, comply with the rule of law and obey policies and procedures. But we have to assume that if this answer, is such a conundrum and paradox for the Free Lance-Star editorial to access we have to then presume that the editorial accepts the mythology, prison officials are beyond reproach and above the law.

The prison officials are beyond reproach and above the law narrative, quite frankly is tired, worn and stale and has wreaked more havoc on society than the cumulative and aggregate acts of the prisoners whom prison officials have the professional privilege and responsibility of imprisoning.

Virginia spends relatively $1.5 Billion on its prisons and if taxpayers who are saddled with poor schools, a health care system that's a travesty and the injustice of an anachronistic political-economy are satisfied with their money funding an opaque prison system that is supported by default tough on crime platitude excusing the unaccountability of its prison officials who behave with lawless impunity, then the tensions and antagonisms of such a social contract will only grow. But if questions are asked and accountability demanded     Then the citizenry of Virginia will have the benefit of "equal justice for all".

The 5/16/18; Free Lance-Star editorial on Solitary Confinement in Virginia was it's irked response to the 5/10/18; ACLU of Virginia Titled, Silent Injustice: Solitary Confinement In Virginia.  By which the ACLU called upon Governor Ralph Northam to ban its use in Virginia.

For whatever reason, this call by the ACLU irritated and irked the Free Lance-Star hence the editorial and that tired, worn and stale reactionary narrative with antebellumnesque retorts like"

• "Those who are in solitary had to earn their way there. It is incarceration of last resort". Or [Those] who chooses to do bad things or make bad decisions simply because they are inherently bad people" or "The ACLU is free to make its case.......despite the publics lack of sympathy for how those they see as the worst of the worst inmates are treated".

Are intended to be well-reasoned points, a contribution to the question of solitary confinement, which in 1890 the U.S. Supreme Court in the case In Re: Medley 134 U.S. 160 declared "an infamous punishment" and in 2018 Porter v. Clarke et al 1:2014cv1588 [Virginia case] ruled that solitary confinement violated the 8th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.

Had the Free Lance-Star been intellectually honest and not indulged in colloquial distortions, it would have quickly realized that the ACLU's report spoke of and detailed criminality by prison officials.

Prisoners are not sentenced to prison to be assaulted and battered, their testicles crushed by prison guards or denied outside exercise, showers, and meals or framed with contrived and fabricated offenses and lied on to extend the imprisonment by prison officials or entombed in solitary confinement or restrictive or administrative segregation or whatever euphemism used by prison officials in effort to conceal the true nature of the detention which in turn exposes the fact that prison officials are well aware that something is inherently unjustifiable and abjectedly beyond the pale with the detention and the "incarceration of the last resort" apologetic dismissal of it by the Free Lance-Star editorial is all the more insidious.

What the FreeLance-Starr editorial doesn't tell us is prison officials are not a law unto theirself, despite the fact certain Virginia politicians have attained speculative power by enabling that myth. But Virginia prison officials [as all other prison officials across the nation] are firstly subject and subordinate to the U.S. Constitution then as it relates to Virginia, The Virginia Constitution and Virginia Law-code 53.1 and lastly Virginia Department of Corrections [VADOC] Standards, Procedures, policies and Practice Nothing in the U.S. Constitution, Virginia Constitution, Virginia Code 53.1, VADOC Standards, Procedures, Policies, and Practices permits prison officials to operate and behave in a manner the ACLU Silent Injustice Report describes prison officials at Red Onion State Prison [ROSP] has.

When the Free Lance-Star editorial speaks of [prisoners] earning "their way" into solitary confinement or "because they are inherently bad people". It is a divisionary red herring intended to distract from the fact the ACLU's report detailed ROSP officials criminality and instead reframe the issue as the ACLU wants to coddle prisoners whom society has no and shouldn't have no sympathy for. It also reveals the extent and level to which that reframing narrative is divorced from the fact, prison is a legal construct and regardless of the fact prison officials behave hypocritically and lawlessly underpins prison and imprisonment.

First of all, no one is in prison because they are "inherently bad". People are imprisoned because of a violation of a criminal code, then the subsequent conviction under law and imposition of sentence. There are all sorts of "inherently bad" people in Virginia society and some very well could be on the Free Lance-Star editorial staff. So framing the issue as a simple bad and good contrast is insidiously naive and biased towards a specific and particular worldview that has nothing to do with the questions raised by the ACLU's report.

Prison Reform has never been about society's lack of sympathy for prisoners. Prison reforms instead, is about the work to hold prison officials accountable for their lawless behavior and the ACLU's report made that sternly clear with a damning indictment against ROSP and VADOC officials. But instead of the Free Lance-Star pointing this out, it chose to pull out all the stops in defense of prison officials ignoring the likely probability that statistics generated by VADOC and ROSP, used by the editorial were plausibly spurious.

ROSP which is signaled out by the ACLU report because it is Virginia's primary prison for solitary confinement is subject to and subordinate to the legal authorities listed earlier, U.S. Constitution et.al and more immediately VADOC Operational Procedures.

The Practice of indefinite solitary confinement of prisoners by ROSP officials is subject to a couple of U.S. Const. Amendments, specifically, the 8th Amendment, Prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, due process under the law and equal protection provisions. It is also subject to Article 1 Section 9 prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment and Article 1 Section 11 Due process under the law and equal protection provisions of the Virginia Constitution, also protections against ex-post facto punishment. Also VADOC Operating Procedures [OP] 861.1    Offender discipline or punitive segregation or solitary confinement Local OP 830 A-Step Down Program or Administrative Segregation or Solitary Confinement and OP 830.1, OP 830.2     Facility classification management and security level classification   both deal with mechanisms for due process under the law.  

What all of this, the above show is there are specific procedures or legalities governing the practice of Solitary Confinement which ROSP systemically violates. The consequences of the violations are what the Free Lance-Star and its partisan brethren have typically dismissively characterized as "harshness" of prison that is to be expected and there is no public sympathy for its amelioration. While opportunistically ignoring that they are endorsing lawlessness while claiming to be against it. at the most pivotal intersectionality of all the contradictions of the social contract laid bare     Prison. Which is another revelation that the historical antagonism of those who want to under cover of law behave extra judicially while exploiting that same law to subjugate others is the quintessential issue.

If the Free Lance-Star's editorial staff are interested in the practice of Solitary Confinement, the due diligence responsibility is to maximize a qualitative understanding of it and to also recognize that VADOC and its ROSP officials have a vested interest in its either pro or con  narrative that is diametrically at odds and not apparent in its pronouncements of reform.  Yes, there has been a decrease in the number of prisoners held at ROSP C/Building which is the primary Solitary Confinement Unit. But there are a number of reasons for that, which one obviously being it isn't serving the current 1998 ROSP narrative. Since its opening in 1998 ROSP has lurched and morphed a new reason for its existence every 5-7 years. But that is not the point, the issue is the systemic violations ongoing at ROSP Solitary Confinement. which the ACLU-VA exposed in its report and the Fredricksburg Virginia Free Lance-Star saw fit to ridicule. 

*Note*

By William Thorpe is confined in Solitary Confinement at Red Onion State Prison.

Prisoner Israel Copper VA's Red Onion State Prison Previous Victim of Assaults Settled Out Of Court But Still Remains At Same Facility To Continue to Be Victimized & Retaliated Against

When someone’s behavior is not compliant with the law, or they are acting in a way that threatens safe and secure incarceration or is contradictory to decency, honesty and so on, disciplining is necessary for everyone’s safety and well-being to quote Peter Garrett who has written articles for  Around Corrections, the Official Newsletter of the Virginia Department of Corrections. Note We are NOT talking about Prisoners here but prison officials and guards. The following letter from Prisoner Israel Cooper shared by Mr. Shaheed Omar exposes Virginia's highly dysfunctional Correctional system where the Virginia Department of Corrections claim disciplining is relatively rarely needed in the Department. Could it be they allow said prison guards to unlawfully mistreat prisoners?

By Israel Cooper
Collaboration Omar Shaheed
vapac

Jeffery Gardner Warehoused at Pocahontas State Correctional Center Expressing Prisoners Plight

A former Senator once noted avidly before his colleagues (quote) " The Public cannot tour the prisons and interview the inmates". (unquote)  However, the "inmates", as well as their families and friends can" share their experiences with "vapac" [Viginia Prisons Accountability Committee]. Here we amplify the prisoner's voice in society so both sides are presented. The following submission: The reality of prison life by Prisoner Jeffery Gardner confined in Virginia's Pocahontas State Correctional Center expressing the prisoner's plight. Note he has some interesting elements open for discussion. We at "vapac" give thanks to Mr. Gardner for sharing his experience. *Note* Click on pop-out icon for larger view,
By Jeffery Gardner Confined at Pocahontas State Prison

Shouldn't Delegate Wendy Gooditis Also Care About Virginia Prisoner Suicides

Are we to infer from the omission of the prisoners (jail and state prisons) from 

Del. Wendy Gooditis House Bill 569, dealing with suicide transparency. Which was signed into law by Governor Northam on 3/19/18? That the Commonwealth of Virginia doesn't care and isn't concerned with the prevalence of prisoner suicide who, need it be pointed out were not sentenced to die by suicide in its prisons?

If laws are expressions of societal-maturity, order, and development shouldn't the consequence of its violation, prisons become that nexus of Governmental transparency and accountability? Yet there is this understanding-perversion of the very reason laws exist, to begin with when it comes to prison.

The Daily Press in a recent story on the 1/7/18; death, alleged suicide of Jordyn Charity, a prisoner barely out of his teens, in Solitary Confinement at Red Onion State Prison (a prison that has high rates of suicides in its Solitary Confinement units) exposed the incredulously above the law realities of prison officials as it concerns prisoner suicides. 

As the Daily Press succinctly put it: "The General Assembly must increase DOC oversight especially when prisoners die within the state's prisons".

By William Thorpe #1033929

Held in Long-Term Solitary Confinement at Virginia's Department of Corrections Red Onion State Prison.

Virginia Wallens Ridge State Prison Guards Exhibit Racist, Unprofessional Behavior Towards Prisoners Claims Sanctioned By Warden and Assistant Warden By Shiva Bhairava

The following letter was shared with Virginia Prisons Accountability Committee by Prisoner Shiva Bhairava confined at Virginia's Department of Corrections Wallens Ridge State Prison submitted by advocate Shaheed Omar. Per Institutional Operation Procedure 135.3. The PURPOSE of This operating procedure ensures that all Virginia Department of Corrections staff and service providers understand and comply with requirements to act professionally and ethically, and to respect the privacy of fellow employees and individual offenders. As prisoner, Shiva Bhairava states in his letter violations of his and other solitary confinement prisoners Civil rights. As Mr. Shaheed states in his cover letter to varied entities, There is a ongoing pattern over the years of racist, unprofessional conduct by named guards who are in violation of these policies and directives, rules and regulations, protocols and procedures and they are supposed to be disciplined accordingly. Examples of the prison's guards behavior are as follows contaminating and messing with Prisons Common Fare Diet/food trays that which is court ordered to be handled and served by Special Sanctions, racial slurs, (example "N****er I will stick these Common Fare up your A**, you Damn Muslims don't deserve to eat") (Mr. Bhairava claims to not be Muslim) it has been brought to our attention that allegedly kitchen supervisors have taken away gloves from kitchen workers as well and then there are the incessant threats. This degrading treatment of prisoners is dehumanizing but then add to the torturous treatment of these men locked in solitary confinement, sleep deprivation. the jamming on doors all night long by a Wallens Ridge Officer named Galliher. Mr. Shiva states that "No wonder prisoners are forced into insanity and are committing suicide! Officer Galliher states that This psychological Warfare is sanctioned by the Warden and Assistant Warden Combs etc..please read the following "Prison Alert" In his own words. *Note to enlarge click on pop-out icon
By Shiva Bhairava Confined at Wallens State Prison Narrative by Shaheed Omar and vapac

Related articles

• Red Onion State Prison Obstucts Prisoner Complaints While Touting It's Reduction (vapac.blogspot.com)
• Recent Memo to Red Onion State Prisoners Held In Solitary Confinement (vapac.blogspot.com)
• Red Onion State Prison Food Violations (vapac.blogspot.com)
• Veteran facing deportation moved into solitary confinement amid ongoing hunger strike (stripes.com)
• 'Punish a Muslim Day' spurs defiant pledges to #ProtectAMuslim (euronews.com)

Fighting The Wind Mills: The Don Quixote Aspect of Prison Reform In Virginia By William Thorpe

Irrespective of measure of dictatorship and totalitarianism in any system, it's reality resolves on accountability      To whom and how.

The prison system any different and within the Virginia prison context we find the same relative question of accountability, to whom and how.

To the extent reform of the Virginia prison system is pursued and desired by conscientious politician  lawmakers and reform advocate allies the only aspect of its reality that is of any significance is the accountability metric   To whom and how

Despite the obvious antagonistic fulcrum of prison, meaning human beings not wanting to be imprisoned but society demands that they are. There is a contradiction that requires a purity of accountability, from the imprisoned to society and of society to the imprisoned which is a relative factor of the tyranny of the social-contract that places the onus squarely on society through its government function of maintaining the prison system. That does not behave asocially, compromising the very right it is exercising with imprisonment in ignoring whatever logic and reasons the imprisoned might have had for the offensive behavior that resulted the imprisonment.

Yet what we find within the prison context, of which the Virginia prison system and its Virginia Department of Corrections isn't exempt is: Society, Virginia society to be specific its government through its prison officials and employees operate its prisons squarely and unapologetically in a manner violative of the rule of law which permits the practice of imprisonment in the first place.

So what we encounter as the brutality barbarity and ahumanistic conditions of prison that commands efforts of reform advocacy are specific results of violations of the rule of law and it's mockery of that accountability    which Virginia society, as its metaphorical pound of flesh, demands of its imprisoned while simultaneously averting its attention from the lawlessness of its prison officials and accepting the prison official narrative that those facts necessitating and commanding efforts of reform are integral corollarial harshness of prison.

The supremacy of United States Law, when compelled to legitimize itself through the federal court's system has had this dance with prison accountability with the doublespeak sophistry of not involving too much with the prison question assigning that prison officials are the ones who know what is best for prison. Despite the acknowledgment that the reality of imprisonment, its practice is an experiment which comically negates the very supremacy of United States Law.

The issue, however, is not as clouded and distorted as the schizophrenic nature of the prison narrative, from punishment to rehabilitation would have us think. Because as soon as accountability is formulated transparency and not this stylized veneer, this speculated facade of civility and it's resulting socio-hypocrisy, we now struggle against. It reforms prisons and introduces the necessary transparency. But as we assert that accountability, the socio-contract can only collapse into the might is right speech of which the feeble minded and insidious minded among us ascribe to mythical evil, suiting their own suppositionary ends. Thereby enabling that one-dimensional simplistic pursuit of some humans beyond reproach while others are perpetually reprobated, while excusing its existence among Virginia prison officials, who under the privilege of executing societies interest of maintaining a prison system, abuse and misuse the organized violence of the Virginia citizenry and taxpayer, within the operational logic of violating the very law that permits their very own existence.

What I have attempted to underscore is prison reform in Virginia is wholly circumscribed by the extent accountability and transparency can be demanded of the actions of prison officials who have perfected that contradiction and hypocrisy of the "pot calling the kettle black" to which the prison reform imperative in Virginia due to its nature while imploring compassion for prisoner, is always on the defensive. The state of Virginia, its society, and government, per virtue of its social-contract, defines it's social and political-economic relations, with regulations and proscriptions. The mundane misconceptions and suppositions underpinning the social-contract are in turn conveniently and easily exploited by its prison officials who in the quest to ignore the rule of law redefine the Virginia prisoner as a sub-human and what lawless attitude ignores is: imprisonment is not a judgment on the fact of anyones humaness. But instead, imprisonment is simply the result of a conviction of a violation of a law and only the application of the due process of law can result in a loss of life and the relative circumscription of one's liberty which prison officials have the social and political privilege of upholding.

If prison reform is Virginia isn't to become an indulgence of fighting windmills there has to be the uncompromising insight into the measure and its politics of accountability of the Virginia prison official and I have shown that.

By William Thorpe who is in Long-Term Solitary Confinement at Red Onion State Prison

Related articles

• Accountability, Prison Reform Advocacy and the 13th Amendment (vapac.blogspot.com)
• What We Are About (vapac.blogspot.com)
• Charity, The Human Condition and Ill-Health (wwwapropos.blogspot.com)

Kashaun Ricks Describes Assault by Virginia Red Onion State Prison Correctional Officers

The following letter was submitted by Shaheed Omar a prison activist on behalf of Red Onion State Prisoner Kashaun Ricks confined at Virginia's Red Onion State Prison who suffered brutal attack by prison guards followed by the indifference and neglect by medical staff in collusion with their henchmen (women). This letter was also sent to the many claimed Media outlets, prison reform advocates and VADOC Prison officials. Vapac gives voice to issues prisoners are faced with in prison highlighting Virginia prison issues and experiences. This being the case of his civil rights violated by prison officials citing unlawful actions within the U.S. Constitution. We at "vapac" demand Accountability and Transparency


By Kashaun Ricks submitted by Omar Shaheed

Related articles

• Red Onion State Prison Food Violations (vapac.blogspot.com)
• RED ONION STATE PRISON AND IT''S FOOD SERVICE SCHEME: IMPROPRIETIES AND VIOLATIONS BY FOOD OPERATIONS DIRECTOR (vapac.blogspot.com)
• What We Are About (vapac.blogspot.com)