SEG HELL

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Our prisons are filled with mentally ill people, most of them sitting in perpetual segregation. This happened when we closed our mental institutions and did not provide alternative treatment clinics. Because  we also do not provide the Department of Corrections  enough money for adequately trained staff or  treatment tools,  a New Bedlam has arisen. On this webpage we will be describing general conditions and letting segregation prisoners speak of the unspeakable conditions in which they live. Because we have a unique position in that so many prisoners write us, we will also be posting specific cases and have decided it is imperative to gather this information for more formal presentation in an effort to get americans to fight for rehabilitation tools in prison and  funding for our communities and people at risk. .

One prisoner's description of Seg Hell

You can write to prisoner in special need. We offer email support and PO Box. Email for suggestions of who to write or go to one of these blogs: noone to care friends for  inmates

"Animal in a cage" by Darren Morris   This depicts a man in "observation status" .The prisoner has confided in a guard  or health  personnel that he feels he might harm himself. He is stripped naked, put in a cell without matress, left with camera on 24/7. Besides drugs, and a few minutes of counseling at the cell door, this is usually the only "treatment " for prisoners with suicidal thoughts.  Artist Darren Morris is a survivor of these horros. View more of his art, his story

This man calls guards "pigs" and never uses first person. Here he describes well the conditions in seg hell.    "While placin us in this cell some inmate upstairs was bangin on his sink and toilet real hard soley to harass other prisoners. It sounded like he was in our cell poundin our sink and toilet (both metal) with a hammer. About  minutes later they cleaned out cell 4 ( we're in cell 3), and moved an inmate from upstairs in cell 4. As it turned out, the inmates in cells 2 and 4 spend all day-every day bangin on their neighbor's walls ( ours included), their sinks , toilets, and doors and yellin' out their doors 4- the- sole purpose of keeping us prisoners awake, to annoy prisoners, and to prevent prisoners from having conversations. The tripped out part about this is that the pigs encourage these cranks to do it. Every dude they've put in cell 4 has been suicidal. The last dude was eatin' his feces at the sgt's urgin. He attempted suicide then the pigs ran run in on him and moved him. The bro they have in here now has a history of suicide.      We believe the pigs moved us to this cell to thwart our endeavors to litigate effectively. It's been extremely rough on us to focus on said endeavors vi a forced lack of sleep and incessant noise from said prisoners. God willin, we shall overcome!"

New: Lorenzo Balli a prisoner in perpetual segregation, is writing a blog for us . Be prepared for graphic descriptions of the torture that is solitary confinement in US prisons.

Testimony of segregation prisoners MY EYES CLOSE

new: articles on seg, solitary, mentally ill , Supermaxes news articles: study of metnal health in US minortites and mental health care Blog of writings and poems by prisoners in the subject of solitary torture: working in isolation-guards view: solitary timeline

Advocacy blog about ten years ago , in  a lawsuit against the supermax prison in WIsconsin, the judge rules that severly mentally il priosners could not be housed in the supermax. We were all happy. These prisoners , however , were simply transferred to other prisons and ended up in seg hell there, where there is no monitoring and conditions are arguably worse because the former supermax   gets closer scrutiny. Here is part of a lawsuit complaint from a prisoner in CCI , who was one of these transfered from WSPF , the former Supermax, because of severe  mental illness. IT is hard to read as  it graphically describes conditions and impells us as a society to do change the way we do criminal justce in this society. This man has filed his suit andis loooking for  a lawyer.

Jeff Poff has been out of seg for a couple months and is doing well after a long struggle. He is now writing a book to help maintain himself. Blood of a Slave, Hart of a King

Steven Stewart is one of our most needy prisoners friends  He was alot of fun to visit but his time in seg has drained him of much. A cheery note would help here. He is not well in mind or body. Steven Stewart #148599 WSPF, PO BOX 9900; Boscobel, WI 53805

: To my mind, Nathan Gillis is a very courageous man. I  met him when the supermax in Wisconsin was first opened.He was a seriously mentally ill prisoner and found himself in "behavior manangement " alot- that is naked in a cell for rule infractions. he has become a voice for prioners, a sane and wswise man. We will have his story soon but here present the decsion on a lawsuit he is currently pursuing. He is committed to making life tolerable for himself and his fellow prisoners. he is now in seg for "lying about staff" . We belive this is similar to another case, where he told us the  story of a beating of another inmate to- we alerted authorities but   - we could not prevent the retaliation and months oin seg for "ltying".  Documentions and story coming ,. Here is the court's interim decision on  lawsuit against seg cncondtions.  He is looking for a lwyer to represent him in the final leg of this suit.

Shannon Grifith is in MI.  He is mentally ill and is protesting his treatment. he is also kind and interesting, very aware and a fine poet..   He would love to hear from you Shannon Griffith #165268 Marquette Branch Prison(MBP);1960 US Highway 41 South; Marquette, MI 49855

here is court testimony by a psychiatrist who testifies he was ordered to change Brian locke's diagnosis form manic depressio to something less eiorus so he sooculd be transfered to WSPF. We have found eveidence elsewhere that diagnosis are routinely changed regular basis to fit budgetary and spacing  needs. .

How Long I’ve been buried alive in a stone tomb I’m trying to find a ray of light seeking illumination from the moon Every night I’m chipping at the walls, but only in my mind I can’t sleep because I hear sounds echoing from past crimes Nothing but distant images penetrate my eyes Like Galileo with no telescope to see the stars in the sky At times I just lay down with my head beneath the blanket A frustrated way to escape because I hate it My thoughts are of the world but me it never mentions All it does is spin and witnesses the tension Every night when the sun hides from the beauty of the stars I relax to meditate and my mind drifts through the bars Every night I leave my cell and enter into the unknown It’s a bit of a relief but it’s no place like home. How long until I’m not alone? WSPF Prisoner

Brian Locke's Incredible Story He is manic depressive and in prison for multiple misdeameaners. He is in the most isolated condition and trying to make his way our to ewhere he can have property. Included here is news article about his plight, court transcripts Good news: as of January Brian has been transferred to the " transitional unit-" a little more property.-we hope he can make his way to general population and out. .

Shaun Matz  often finds himself in the observation status described above- he cuts himself. He states he loses his way and cuts himslef to prove to himseft he is alive - there is so little stimulation here or productive activity posssible. The staff thinks he just tries to get attention . He now has a close penpal in one of our group and is trying very hard to keep himself safe. Click to view his blog

"I have cut my throat with razors, glass and metal and wasn’t suppose to live through any of those incidents. My arms are so scarred I don’t even look human any more. And yes, I do get teased and laughed at quite a bit by staff and other inmates. However, they don’t understand that the only way I feel alive or human is when I can see the evidence of my mortality flowing from my veins and the only way these people here respond is by stripping me naked and putting me in a cold cell but then a few days later putting me back on the tier declaring me “OK”. But I’m not okay, Ms Swan and I don’t know how much more of this I can take. The doctor cut off my anti-psychotic meds and everyday I want to cut myself but because these people will use it against me to keep me locked in here I try and resist the urge. I don’t know what to do any more."    Shaun Matz

. "Those seg units are not right. I understand that if I do something wrong, I should be held to answer for that.         The place usually smells of urine, and I do not mean the gas station bathroom kind, this is the kind that when I first smelled it, I got sick, partly because it is usually fused with other smells, body odor from guys that have not washed in a while, and at times fecal matter. There is an endless attack of noise, banging and yelling, but if I take out my hearing aides to escape the noise, then I do not get fed. There are no real programs to deal with the needs of the mentally ill, the staff do not know how to deal with us and often times they do things to intentionally make it worse and sometimes it seems unintentional.       They cannot make an accurate diagnosis of what is really wrong, because they see so many people they just give you pills and send you on your way, and they will change that diagnosis to suit their needs. I had been in a single cell for nearly 14 years. When I got here as a way to get even with me and punish me, they took my single cell status and doubled me up.         I was fortunate, I was blessed to meet people that helped me brake the cycle. I have been stable for about 3 years on medication. Darren Morris, Artist: