Where: Fife House (490 Sherbourne St., 1st floor)

Mike Larsen (co-managing editor of Journal of Prisoners and Prisons; Criminology Professor at Kwantlen University) will join us via Skype to give an introduction to abolitionism, and talk about the idea of ‘carceral abolition’ as a framework for thinking and action in opposition to the expanding prison industrial complex.

Kyisha Williams’ film Red Lips [Cages for Black Girls] will be screened (kyisha is a radical, Black, queer, high femme, ma’star. she is a sex positive, vibrant, survivor, fighter, writer and film/video maker. kyisha is also a community organizer and support worker who does work within Black/queer/trans/racialized/criminalized/HIV+/HCV+ communities.)

There will then be a panel discussion featuring:

Simone Davis (Simone teaches American Studies and Ethics at the University of Toronto, and works with the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program. She’s coordinating Inside-Out’s emergence in Canada.)

Dave Blow from Circles of Support and Accountability (Dave is a pastor who has served with the Mennonite Central Committee for the past 4 years. Circles of Support and Accountability is a program that works with men who have reached their warrant expiry to help them reintegrate into the community)

Arti Mehta- Arti helped organize the Community Accountability Learning to Action Group for Two Spirit, queer and trans folks in Toronto that began in November of last year. The reading group is committed to community accountability and transformative justice principles as a strategy to build safer communities and end the prison industrial complex.

Free!
Fife House is accessible.
ASL interpretation available.
Refreshments will be served.
Artwork and 2011 PJD t-shirts will be for sale, and given as gifts for being a member of Rittenhouse

1)  CX officers punishing inmates for assumed rule infractions or “being disrespectful” – even if the guard caused the verbal altercation.  This is in violation of the “informal resolution” option – which needs to be agreed on by both the CX and the inmate.

2)  I saw a man get pepper-sprayed while unarmed and already secured in his cell.  The guard called him a “skinner” (a sex offender) and when the inmate retaliated verbally the CX drew his spray and sprayed the inmate for approximately 10 seconds.  He was left for about one hour before being taken to health care.

3)  A good friend of mine has a rare blood disorder.  He swells up in various parts of his body including his throat.  One night this happened – his throat was closing and he had to use his epi-pen.  He alerted the CX at 3 a.m. of his issue – he did not get medical attention until 5 a.m. – at which time he used his 2nd and last epi-pen.  On the way to the ambulance he went into anyphylactic shock and had to be rushed to the E.R.  He almost died due to the negligence of the staff – had they taken any longer he surely would have died.

4) I saw a Native inmate ask a CX for permission to go to the kitchen and too seek employment.  The CX responded with a rude and racial remark which sparked the inmate to in turn make a remark to the CX.  Both were in the wrong however the CX then shoved the inmate against the wall and clamped one hand around the inmate’s throat for at least 15 -20 seconds – he then forcibly locked said inmate in his cell for “being disrespectful”.  These types of instances happen often and are rarely reported.

5) Health care employees, nurses and administrators often give CXs medical information about inmates without or directly against inmates’ permission or wishes – such as medications, disease/infections or things said under patient/doctor privilege.  Often this leads to inmates being treated with indignity due to HIV or Hep C presence – and inmates being cut off or severely restricted in their use of needed medications -due to their being narcotic or addictive in nature.  Doctors are told not to prescribe certain meds although they are endorsed by the  C.S.C. drug formulary – this told to me by a kind nurse.

6)  During a recent lock down inmates were kept in their cells – denied all telephone access including legal calls and not allowed to shower for 4 1/2 days.  This then led to 1 or 2 inmates being disruptive and 1 lit a fire on the floor of his cell.  CXs entered the unit and put the fire out.  However they sprayed the beds and walls of the other inmates who were peaceful, destroying artwork, personal photos and documents – punishing all for the actions of one.  This is also a common practice to punish everybody rather than trying to investigate and target only those responsible.

7)  In late 2010 or early 2011 an inmate was murdered by other inmates during a brief riot.  What is not known is that it was gang-related.  The administration allowed two rival gangs to be together in general population rec yard – then as tensions grew over a week or two the CXs became aware of the problems arising but did nothing.  The things came to a head and violence popped off resulting in several non-gang members (generla population inmates) being assaulted with metal bars, weights, knives and other weapons.  One man died due to multiple stab wounds.  When the “innocent” inmates ran to the guards for help – enraged gang members hot on their heels – they were met with a literal wall of pepper spray.  The man who was stabbed and died laid on the floor for at least 20 minutes bleeding out before any medical attention was given.  He was pronounced DOA at the local hospital.  A CX later related to me in private that they (the CXs) knew it was happening and yet did nothing to prevent it so the gangs would be “locked up again”.  He felt bad because that decision led to an inmate’s death.   A 2 -year sentence turned into a death sentence for him.

8)  When a complaint or grievance is filed against a CX for the aforementioned instances or others the inmate (myself included) becomes the target of harassment, searches, threats and intimidation to withdraw them, and when I or others refuse – the admin people just deny them or list them as groundless of frivolous.  Sometimes a complaint is investigated by the same staff member who is the subject of the grievance.   The grievance system here is a farce at best.

9)  Inmates requesting to go to church or religious meetings are frequently denied because of employment status or ethnicity – even when proper permission is given (a written movement pass).

10) If cell power is knocked out for any reason it is often a week or so before it gets turned on -leaving inmates in darkness most of the day (no windows in cells here).

11) Double bunking inmates together despite the cells being way too small (in violation of their own regulations), and not performing compatibility assessments, as required in the Commissioner’s Directives re: inmate accommodation.  Then they use single cells as a privilege to be awarded – the proverbial carrot on a stick.

12) CXs and V & C (Visiting and Correspondence) use the ion scanner to screen incoming visitors for drugs.  However these machines create a lot of false positives resulting in inmates not being allowed visits – even though the machines are NOT to be used as a stand-alone method to turn away a visitor.  Some people travel hours or days to visit loved ones -and then are turned away with no compensation or detailed explanation.  However, CSC refuses to use the ion scanner on its own employees.

13) Last but not least CSC does not issue enough cold weather gear.  In the prairies it often dips below -30.  The thin nylon gloves and polyester hats are not up to the task of warding off frostbite for inmates employed in outdoor jobs or stuck in the rec yard for an hour.

Finally, yes we are criminals and we are serving sentences.  However we forfeit our freedom but not our rights or dignity – to take those away is inhumane and ultimately leads to angry men and women being released back into society.

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/1107414–women-see-the-other-side

Once a week women from Waterloo’s Wilfrid Laurier University go to prison. They pass through a razor-wired fence twice their height and enter an austere brick building, a federal prison for women in Kitchener called the Grand Valley Institution.

These are no Florence Nightingale-minded do-gooders. These women are locked up to learn. They are among the first in Canada to participate in a remarkable program that brings university students and prison inmates together to study in a post-secondary class.

The Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program allows those in prison who never dreamed of going beyond high school to achieve that seeming impossibility. It is rehabilitative, character-changing and confidence-building. It has been shown to reduce crime and violence.

It also engages regular college students in a world they may only have encountered through TV or film and deepens their understanding of social problems. It pushes them to work for changes in their communities to reduce crime and recidivism. Inside-Out is a program that should be emulated in prisons across the country.

When the students arrive at Grand Valley, a prison housing 189 women, they lock up their valuables. Books and papers are placed on an x-ray conveyor belt. Identity cards are shown and they make their way to what looks like an ordinary school room to meet their classmates, women imprisoned for theft, fraud or drug offences.

It is a novel idea, mixing students from essentially middle-class backgrounds with those behind bars. It was introduced to Canada by Simone Davis, an English professor who taught at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts and is now at the University of Toronto.

Davis taught Inside-Out classes in the U.S. and found it deeply gratifying. Prisoners begin to have hope; they see the opportunities for a new life after they are freed. “The students from the outside who might have thought every inmate is a thug are also transformed,” Davis says. Stereotypes are busted.

The program was founded in 1997 by Lori Pompa of Temple University in Philadelphia. She was inspired by an idea from Paul Perry, a man serving a life sentence in a Pennsylvania state prison. Inside-Out, headquartered at Temple, is now offered by universities and colleges in 35 states with about 10,000 students participating in classes ranging from anthropology to English literature. It is being emulated around the world.

Many argue that prisoners are behind bars for good reason and should pay for their misdeeds. Why allow them the privilege of a university education? The benefits, though, can be enormous. Studies conclude that inmates who receive education are less likely to return to prison. “School failure in childhood and adolescence is widely accepted by researchers as one of the most persistent precursors of later adult criminality,” says a report by Correctional Service Canada.

One U.S. study found that completing post-secondary education could reduce the likelihood of reincarceration by 62 per cent. Davis argues it has a ripple effect. Prisoners who are educated become leaders inside and help mitigate violence and conflict within the institution, and re-enter the community with greater ease.

At the same time, students who visit prisons for shared classes are enriched by mixing with those who have grown up poor and fallen into criminal activity. “I’ve learned so much about women in prison and the issues they face,” says Kim, an “outside” student starting a master’s degree in social work at Wilfrid Laurier.

Students use only first names and do not share backgrounds or histories unless they choose to. “Outside” students are not allowed to ask “inside” students why they are behind bars.

The first session is often difficult. “I was afraid of being judged,” allows Nyki, a woman from inside. “But with every subsequent class I started feeling better.” Students all worry about being judged, whether they are from inside or out, says Wilfrid Laurier social work professor Shoshana Pollack, who led the first class at Grand Valley.

“The ability to share voices, being on equal ground, building trust and listening to each other is important,” says Victoria, a student who returned to university after being away for a few years.

Lorraine, an inmate, evolved from feeling shy to being unafraid to speak her mind. “This course has been a journey rich in laughter and tears, heart-stopping leaps of faith,” she said. “In a short period of time we got over assumptions we had about one another and we got on to learning.”

Together the students struggled with texts, including the poetry of Maya Angelou; they wrote essays and are creating the first women’s think-tank within the Inside-Out program. In the U.S., think-tanks are made up of prisoners and teachers and are responsible for training Inside-Out teachers.

The program is slowly taking root in Canada. Wilfrid Laurier and Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Surrey, B.C. launched it this year. A Ryerson University philosophy professor will teach at the Toronto East Detention Centre next year and instructors at U of T, York, the University of Ottawa and others have expressed interest.

The Harper government’s omnibus crime bill is set to swell the prison population. That’s following a flawed U.S. model, which scholar Ernest Drucker has labelled a “plague of prisons.” In order to stop that plague, rehabilitation must be taken seriously. The Inside-Out program is a commendable solution, helping to push aside the bars of social inequity that lead so many to prison in the first place.

http://tpcp-canada.blogspot.com/2011/09/are-provinces-and-territories-ready-for.html

Date:  Saturday, December 10th

Time:  3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Location:  Starting at St. James Park, Toronto

145016162268008

keep-canada-safe

Tell the Senate: Don’t rubber stamp the Crime Bill

Update & New Action: Thursday Dec 8, 2011

On Monday, Prime Minister Harper’s Conservative MPs voted for the cruel Crime Bill. That night, the NDP, Liberal, Bloc and Green MPs stood together against the bill, and many of them were wearing “Safer, not meaner” buttons in solidarity with our campaign.

Now, the struggle for Canadian justice moves to the Senate. The Senate’s job is to provide a “sober second thought.” Senators are appointed for life, and free to make their own choices. They can review the evidence, change the bill, and force another vote.

Every day, opposition grows as Canadians learn more about the Crime Bill, but Prime Minister Harper is putting enormous pressure on Senators to rubber-stamp the bill quickly so it can pass before Christmas. There is only one thing that can balance the scales: a massive public outcry from Canadians like you, right now.

Send an urgent message to the Senators that represent your province, asking them to rise above partisan politics, look at the evidence, and make Canada safer, not meaner.

Together, you are taking on the strongest force in Canadian politics: a newly elected government with a majority of seats working to pass a core plank of its election platform on a hot-button issue.

And, thanks to your messages to your representatives, your letters to the editor, your local actions, and your phone calls, we have helped shift the national conversation decisively against this bill in a way that no one thought possible just a few months ago.

Catherine Latimer, the Executive Director of the amazing John Howard Society of Canada, just wrote about this shift:

“Organizations like the John Howard Society, which have been lampooned for simply advocating for effective, just, and humane responses to the causes and consequences of crime, sense a change in the winds. More and more people have been persuaded by the evidence and are speaking up for a more effective, fairer, and less mean approach to achieving our shared objective of reducing crime than is proposed in Bill C-10.” [1]

Don’t let anyone tell you that this is over!

On Tuesday, Newfoundland’s Justice Minister spoke out firmly against the Crime Bill, saying it has not been properly studied, and the actual costs will be “astronomical”. [2] On Wednesday, Grand Chief Derik Nepinak of Manitoba’s Assembly of Chiefs, called a national press conference to say that the bill’s mandatory sentences would continue the legacy of residential schools, and must be opposed. Nepinak said that “instead of investing in jails we need to invest in healing.” [3]

The Manitoba Chiefs are calling on our Senate to provide the sober second thought that our country so desperately needs. Let’s join them.

This action is about checks and balances. Remember that every time you write, every time you speak out, you give people the courage to join you. You give people courage to speak truth to power. And we are so grateful to you, because to change the world, we must first change the conversation.

It’s time to speak out, and ask your province’s Senators to rise above partisan politics, look at the evidence, and make Canada safer, not meaner.

WANDA WHITEBIRD
(Wanda Whitebird does support work with incarcerated Aboriginal women and is currently at the Women’s Outreach/Support Services of Ontario Aboriginal HIV/AIDS Strategy.)

SK HUSSAN
(Hussan is an organizer with No One Is Illegal Toronto and is a G20 conspiracy defendant who recently had his charges dropped.)

MANDY HISCOCKS
(Mandy is an organizer from Guelph who has had quite a few run-ins with the law and is about to start her first jail sentence. Strangely enough, she’s more nervous about public speaking than about serving time.)

JOAN RUZSA

(Joan Ruzsa has been the coordinator of Rittenhouse: A New Vision since 2000. Rittenhouse is an agency that promotes abolition and transformative justice through public education and direct service. Joan also works at PASAN (Prisoners with HIV/AIDS Support Action Network) in the Youth Outreach and Education Program.)

Attempts have been made to shatter our movements. Since the 2010 G20 meeting in Toronto, the legal system has kept many silent, unable to speak about their experiences of repression. Join us on December 11 to hear from those charged with conspiracy at the G20 and those about to go to prison.

As the federal government prepares a massive expansion of the prison-industrial complex through its Crime Omnibus Bill (C-10), it is important that we understand the impact of imprisonment on our communities and movements, and build bridges between the many parts of the anti-austerity struggle in order to organize more effective resistance and solidarity.

At the same time that militant labour unions have seen their ability to strike taken away, public sector workers are being laid off and services are being cut by Ford, McGuinty and Harper, there is a massive influx of money in to building prisons and immigration detention centres, passing crime bills, further policing and criminalization of sex workers, drug user, queer people, poor people and indigenous and racialized people. All of this while Canada builds war ships, buys fighter jets, opens up foreign military bases and gives massive subsidies to oil and gas companies.

We must ensure that we keep the voices of prisoners among us when we organize. Two publications that maintain this priority are 4strugglemag and the Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners Calendar. The goal of 4strugglemag is to have political prisoners contribute to contemporary political discussions. 4strugglemag is edited by Jaan Laaman, a U.S. anti-imperialist political prisoner. This magazine is sent to over 500 prisoners free of charge, supported by outside subscribers. The Certain Days calendar is a joint fundraising and educational project between organizers in Montreal and Toronto as well as three political prisoners being held in maximum-security prisons in New York State: David Gilbert, Robert Seth Hayes and Herman Bell. This event will be a fundraising and subscription drive for future issues of 4strugglemag.

Join us on December 11th, 2011 for an evening of food, conversation and support as we celebrate the release of the 20th issue of 4strugglemag and the launch of the 2012 Certain Days calendar.

6:00pm: Food will be served, opening ceremony by Wanda Whitebird
6:30pm: Panel Discussion
Door: $5-35 sliding scale… (no one turned away for lack of funds)
@The Raging Spoon (761 Queen St. W., Toronto)
—————————————————————————————-
The space is wheelchair accessible. We acknowledge that no space is fully accessible so please get in touch about any accessibility issues jolitical@gmail.com.
Children are welcome but venue limitations do not allow for a separate childcare space.

Pros&Cons is a group of federally sentenced inmates at CFF – a federal prison in the Montréal area – that brings together individuals serving time for their involvement in the drug trade, as users, dealers, traffickers, manufacturers. The group discusses the effects of the drug trade, as well as the criminalization of drugs and drug use. The group was initiated by people serving time at CFF. For more information, contact Liam at travailderuenuit@cactusmontreal.org or 514 562 4450. The following article was written by a Pros&Cons group member.

Shared spaces, confused lives

I always considered that I ran a clean business, where the guys working for me didn’t have the right to use, had to appear clean, and be above the average. Until the day where everything changed and I found myself at Bordeaux prison  in the C wing with 180 other inmates, where at least 150 were junkies.

2006, the year where I had to share my life and my space with misery, suffering and despair with these roving bodies who would fight for the butt end of a cigarette on the ground or in the ashtray. I saw the misery and hopelessness in their faces. In the beginning I felt a kind of pity toward them, mixed with a vague sense of guilt about the actions that brought me to this place. I was still in my reality though; I didn’t feel like a criminal. I was living a certain contradiction because all of these people – who I had tried so hard to avoid, because of their addictions, contributed to my above-average lifestyle. These people paid a part of my travels and luxury cars. Now, I eat in the same place as them, wash in the same place as them, and sleep under the same roof. At first, I was disgusted to have to share the same space with these junkies; I was afraid to catch their diseases. I was afraid and had pity for them at the same time. I didn’t understand them, I never took the time to listen to them or to understand them, I didn’t trust them, I was sure that everything they told me was a lie – a search for pity to get a quarter for a good price.
They chose their lives, I didn’t force anyone to use, I was indifferent to their reality. But at the same time I realized to what extent they depended on the drugs that I imported and sold. And how I too was dependent on their dependence and disease to maintain my own standard of living.

Finally, I came to realize that my business wasn’t all as clean as I had thought, not because of me or how I ran it, but because of the negative repercussions it brought about…

Inmate number C9847
Federal Training Centre FTC (CSC)

Espaces partagés, vies confondues

J’ai toujours considéré que je menais une business propre, où les gars n’avaient pas le droit de consommer, devaient bien paraître et être au dessus de la moyenne. Jusqu’au jour où tout a changé et que je me suis retrouvé à Bordeaux dans l’aile ‘c’ avec 180 détenus dont au moins 150 étaient des junkies!

2006, l’année où j’ai dû partager ma vie et mon espace avec la misère, l’angoisse et le désespoir avec ces cadavres ambulants qui se battaient pour des «butch» de cigarettes à terre et dans les cendriers. Je voyais la misère et le désespoir dans leurs visages, au début je ressentais une certaine pitié envers eux, mélangé avec un soupçon de culpabilité face aux actes qui m’avaient mené à cet endroit. J’étais encore dans ma réalité, je ne me sentais pas comme un criminel. Je vivais une certaine contradiction, car tout ces gens que j’avais tant évités, en raison de leurs dépendances, avaient contribué à mon style de vie au-dessus de la moyenne et avaient payé une partie de mes voyages et voitures de luxe. Je devais maintenant manger à la même place qu’eux, me laver à la même place qu’eux et dormir sous le même toit qu’eux. J’étais dégouté de devoir partager tout cet espace avec des junkies et j’avais peur d’attraper leurs maladies. Ils me faisaient peur et pitié en même temps. Je ne les comprenais pas, je n’avais jamais pris le temps de les écouter ni de les comprendre, je ne leurs faisais pas confiance, j’étais certain que tout ce qu’ils disaient était du mensonge et qu’ils cherchaient juste à faire pitié afin d’avoir un quart à bon prix. Ils ont choisi leur vie, je n’ai pas forcé personne à consommer, j’étais indifférent à leur réalité. Cependant, je me suis rendu compte à quel point ils dépendaient de la drogue que j’importais et que je vendais et que j’étais aussi dépendant de leurs dépendances et maladies afin de maintenir mon mode de vie.

Finalement je me rends compte que ma business n’était aussi propre que je le croyais, non pas à cause de moi ni de ma façon de faire mais plutôt en raison des répercussions négatives qu’elle entraîne…

Détenu no. C9847
Centre fédéral de formation (SCC)