Stuck in New Bedlam: 2019 experiment :Introduction and Email Newsletter Number ONE

click here for newsletter #2

Did you know there are people in Wisconsin prisons who have spent not just months, but decades in solitary confinement?
Will you help us spread the word about this torture to build a power base to push for abolition of long term solitary confinement in Wisconsin?

We invite you to help us with an experiment. We are intending to gently introduce average Wisconsin residents to a real horror in their midst- the over use and abuse of solitary confinement in our prisons. We are part of Forum for Understanding Prisons (FFUP) a non profit that has worked for nearly 20 years with people who’ve suffered long term solitary, spending months and years, 23- 24 hours a day, in a tiny cell. Our goal is to help them keep their psyches intact by connecting them with the outside world, while also building a groundswell of advocacy for real change.

Even though most of the civilized world recognizes that solitary confinement over 15 days IS torture, Wisconsin uses solitary as its main solution for its overcrowding, high guard turn-over, and drastic therapeutic and understaffing problems. While other states reduce or eliminate solitary confinement, Wisconsin is increasing the practice daily.

Over a third of Wisconsin prisoners have serious mental health problems and as there is no mental health treatment beyond the name inside our prisons, solitary is the exquisite answer. The DOC uses lockdowns, or “modified movement” and keeps solitary cells full for minor infractions as a way to handle staffing problems. Long term solitary is also used to retaliate against and repress those who defend themselves, whether through litigation or political organizing. Are there really dangerous people in segregation too? I’m sure there are, but what we often see is that violent people, those who attack or extort other prisoners, are kept in general population.

We are coming to you because we need help spreading the word to Wisconsinites who know little about prisons except what they hear in the news. Our experience has taught us that we need to build a powerbase larger and stronger than the present few existing prison activist groups. The election of Governor Evers gave some hope. They know and care about the issues that underlie the Department of Correction’s failure to fulfill any part of its mission to rehabilitate prisoners and keep the public safe. They also have the power to act since the DOC reached its present state of dysfunction and corruption mostly through executive orders and rules that avoided oversight or public scrutiny. Reversing course doesn’t require the legislature. Unfortunately, the Evers administration needs to be pushed to act to heal the system. That push takes people power. Will you be part of a movement that gives the administration the political courage needed to do what is right?

We ask you to accept regular short email newsletters that will introduce prisoners now held in solitary – they are writing their stories, composing poems and drawings for this project. The writing is for them, it helps them ground their frustration and feel less alone, but it is also for you. Reading these stories will educate you and give you the tools necessary to fight against torture. This is a terribly difficult and painful subject and most people look away, but if you join us in this work, witnessing and advocating for people, what we think you’ll find is that along with the pain is great joy. For people in solitary are often hungry for someone they can trust, someone who respects them and will witness with them. We will be suggesting letters and emails as we go along and ask you to give us suggestions on how to do this newsletter better. Our job is witness and bring people from isolation out to the light. We must finally join with the other states and nations and end long term solitary confinement in Wisconsin.

In future email newsletters we will introduce Some of Wisconsin’s solitary prisoners and suggest ways you can help us bring an end to long term solitary confinement in a wise and healing way. We hope you will contact us with suggestions on how we can improve this effort and let us know if you can find a space in your life to address this issue. We are well aware of how busy we all are and how many issues plague us. As our outreach worker Ben Turk, said in disappointment after an idea sharing visits a legislator: “He said that things are not happening because Evers is afraid of republicans, and republicans are afraid of the most conservative radio talk show hosts. Basically: everything going on in this state is based on fear, and the only people that are scary are fascists, so they're getting what they want.”

We hope that with your help we can overcome that fear with the power of love, compassion and understanding.

In future these email newsletters we will introduce some of Wisconsin’s solitary prisoners and

We end this invite with an Washington Post op ed piece by Barack Obama at the end of his post as president in 2016

The Washington Post

Opinions

Barack Obama: Why we must rethink solitary confinement

By Barack Obama January 25, 2016

In 2010, a 16-year-old named Kalief Browder from the Bronx was accused of stealing a backpack He was sent to Rikers Island to await trial, where he reportedly endured unspeakable violence at the hands of inmates and guards - and spent nearly two years in solitary confinement.

In 2013, Kalief was released, having never stood trial. He completed a successful semester at Bronx Community College. But life was a constant struggle to recover from the trauma of being locked up alone for 23 hours a day. One Saturday, he committed suicide at home. He was just 22 years old.

Solitary confinement gained popularity in the United States in the early 1800’s, and the rationale for its use has varied over time. Today, it's increasingly overused on people such as Kalief, with heartbreaking results - which is why my administration is taking steps to address this problem.

There are as many as 100,000 people held in solitary confinement in U.S. prisons - including juveniles and people with mental illnesses. As many as 25,000 inmates are serving months, even years of their sentences alone in a tiny cell, with almost no human contact.

Research suggests that solitary confinement has the potential to lead to devastating, lasting psychological consequences. It has been linked to depression, alienation, withdrawal, a reduced ability to interact with others and the potential for violent behavior. Some studies indicate that it can worsen existing mental illnesses and even trigger new ones. Prisoners in solitary are more likely to commit suicide, especially juveniles and people with mental illnesses.

The United States is a nation of second chances, but the experience of solitary confinement too often undercuts that second chance. Those who do make it out often have trouble holding down jobs, reuniting with family and becoming productive members of society. Imagine having served your time and then being unable to hand change over to a customer or look your wife in the eye or hug your children.

As president, my most important job is to keep the American people safe And since I took office, overall crime rates have decreased by more than 15 percent. In our criminal justice system, the punishment should fit the crime - and those who have served their time should leave prison ready to become productive members of society. How can we subject prisoners to unnecessary solitary confinement, knowing its effects, and then expect them to return to our communities as whole people? It doesn't make us safer. Its an affront to our common humanity.

That's why last summer, I directed Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch and the Justice Department to review the overuse of solitary confinement across U.S. prisons. They found that there are circumstances when solitary is a necessary tool, such as when certain prisoners must be isolated for their own protection or in order to protect staff, and other inmates. In those cases, the practice should be limited, applied with constraints and used only as a measure of last resort. They have identified common-sense principles that should guide the use of solitary confinement in our criminal justice system.

The Justice Department has completed its review, and I am adopting its recommendations to reform the federal prison system. These include banning solitary confinement for juveniles and as a response to low-level infractions, expanding treatment for the mentally ill and increasing the amount of time inmates in solitary can spend outside of their cells. These steps will affect some io,000 federal prisoners held in solitary confinement - and hopefully serve as a model for state and local corrections systems. And I will direct all relevant federal agencies to review these principles and report back to me with a plan to address their use of solitary confinement.

States that have led the way are already seeing positive results. Colorado cut the number of people in solitary confinement, and assaults against staff are the lowest they've been since 2006. New Mexico implemented reforms and has seen a drop in solitary confinement, with more prisoners engaging in promising rehabilitation programs. And since 2012, federal prisons have cut the se of solitary confinement by 25 percent and significantly reduced assaults on staff.

Reforming solitary confinement is just one part of a broader bipartisan push for criminal justice reform. Every year, we spend $8o billion to keep 2.2 million people incarcerated. Many criminals belong behind bars. But too many others, especially nonviolent drug offenders, are serving unnecessarily long sentences. That's why members of Congress in both parties are pushing for change, from reforming sentencing laws to expanding reentry programs to give those who have paid their debt to society the tools they need to become productive members of their communities. And I hope they will send me legislation as soon as possible that makes our criminal justice system smarter, fairer, less expensive and more effective.com

In America, we believe in redemption. We believe, in the words of Pope Francis, that " every human person is endowed with an inalienable dignity, and society, can only benefit from the rehabilitation of those convicted of crimes." We believe that when people mike mistakes, they deserve 'the opportunity to remake their lives. And if we can give them the hope of a better future, and a way to get back on their 'feet, then we will leave our children with a country that is safer, stronger and Worthy of our highest ideals.
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Contact us, let us know what you Think ! pgswan3@aol.com . We would love your suggestions and feel free to let us know if you do not want any more of these. Future editions will feature writings and letters from prisoners stuck in solitary.

Each newsletter will also have suggestions ( letter, call templates) on how you can help us pressure our Governor and others in power in Madison to fulfill their promises and join the rest of the states and nations that have or are ending solitary torture.

Editors: Ben Turk and Peg Swan

contact us through: pgswan3@aol.com

Forum for Understanding Prisons ( FFUP) a 501c3 is non- profit working with prisoners and their families. We correspond with prisoners and do what we can to help them survive their ordeals intact while using the information they give us to help change this most unjust system.

Donations cans be madethrough our gofundme site(https://www.gofundme.com/prisonforum) or by addressing check made out to “prisonforum” and sending it directly to FFUP by mail: