US Solitary Confinement: Oregon's Supermax Prison

Hello brother and sister comrades of Australia!

US: Oregon: My name is Cassidy, and I'm a 25 year old anarchist /punk serving 8 1/2 years in prison for shoplifting a pair of socks and assault on a courtroom officer.

I am currently isolated in the intensive management unit (Oregon's Supermax Control Unit) for my role in organising and publicising a strike at the Oregon Correctional institution that involved over 1,500 inmates refusing to eat meals or purchase items from the prison store for 4 days.

This was done to show unity across racial and gang lines and to protest years of inhumane treatment at the hands of the Oregon Department of Corrections and its agents.

My ongoing struggle is to educate and inspire my fellow incarcerated freedom fighters by putting together an international Pen-Pal program, a radical literature library a resource guide for radical prisoners and by combating racism, sexism homophobia and all other forms of ignorance I'm surrounded by.

Please send correspondence, zines, books (direct from publisher) or request for information or donations of funds to my partner Chantel Guirdry c/o Labc Pob 1483 Lawrence ks 66044 USA.

Thank you for your support and dedication and please remember we are winning.

Love and solidarity

Cassidy wheeler # 14282456 osp imu 2605 state st salem or 97310 USA (please note abcmelb are doing a benefit for Cassidy if there any ideas please emal abcmelb)

**THE JAILS ARE THE REAL CRIME!!**
**FOR A WORLD WITHOUT PRISONS!!**

By Cassidy Wheeler posted 15 February 05

Ed: This must be the day Cassidy won the cup!

Two symbols for Cassidy Wheeler.

1. The stars
2. The heart

The stars are our brothers and sisters and the heart is mercy for them all. In solidarity brother Cassidy and good luck.

**THE PUNISHMENT IS THE CRIME!!**
**FOR A WORLD WITHOUT VIOLENCE!!**

Related:

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By the time Jessica Lee Roger was discovered on the floor of her prison cell on Aug. 17, 2002, it was too late. In the 24 minutes since guards had last checked her, she had tied a bed sheet around her neck and, after many attempts over three years in prison, finally strangled herself.

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The Long Trail to Apology
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Shoplifting and homelessness

Shoplifting increased by 7.5 per cent last year, making it the only major crime category to register a significant increase in 2002, crime statistics show.

David Johnson, a 19-year old who spent several years on the streets, and in and out of youth refuges, believes there is a direct link between social welfare benefits and crime.

"If they can't have any income, that's what they will do, they'll revert to stealing. As I was saying before, they're cancelling out all the rent assistance. They're cancelling out all the pensioner's payments," he said.

He worries the perception of more crime will result in putting more police on the streets, which will simply result in more harassment of young people while real crimes go un-addressed.

"It's a chain reaction kind of thing. No payments, more crime. More crime, more cops. More cops, more harassment. It goes back to the bloody payments, basically," he said.

He said he has never been imprisoned, but was given a warning over two counts of petty theft when he was younger.

"I just stole a packet of Tim Tams from the bloody corner shop. I didn't realise the camera was looking straight at me," he said.

For Jesse Karauwan, a former homeless youth who served time for 27 drug and theft charges, the solution isn't dole payments, but providing the young with incentives to find work.

"You get nine dollars or something if you're at [McDonald's] or something or anywhere else. I suppose you're young, fair enough, I mean, you shouldn't make that much more than someone who's older. But like if they gave some incentive for them to actually go and look for work.

"Just say they leave school, school dropouts, instead of just hanging around, collecting the dole, smoking marijuana or whatever they do, give them some good incentive to go and find work," he said.

Attempted thong theft costs $560

A man has been fined $500 after appearing in a northern New South Wales court charged with stealing a pair of thongs.

By Satis Fied 28 March 03

THE RAT: Did you think these kids were just plain bad?

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50 Years' Jail for Video Thefts UPHELD

Los Angeles -- March 5, 2003 -- The United States Supreme Court has ruled that a 50-year sentence being served by a man who shoplifted videos as gifts for his children is not a "cruel and unusual" punishment.

The ruling was described as "barbarous" by campaigners against California's "three strikes law", which imposes mandatory penalties for third-time offenders.

By a majority of five to four, the Supreme Court decided that Leandro Andrade should continue to serve the 50 years imposed in 1995 for shoplifting videos worth about $200 on two separate occasions.

Because he had committed past similar shoplifting offences, he was jailed in 1995 under the state's three-strikes law, which mandates a minimum 25-year sentence for each new offence, making a total of 50 years.

Andrade, who had a drug habit, had no record of violence, and had stolen videos including 'Cinderella' and 'Free Willy' for his children.

"This is simply barbarous", said Geri Silva, executive director of Families to Amend California's Three Strikes (FACTS), an LA-based organization campaigning to exclude non-violent offenders from the effects of the law.

"It shows the absolute inhumanity of the highest court of the land. If that is not a cruel and unusual punishment, I don't know what is".

The ruling came in response to a decision last year by the regional circuit appeal court in San Francisco that the 50-year sentence for Andrade -- and a 25-year term for Gary Ewing, who stole three golf clubs -- were cruel and unusual punishments, and therefore unconstitutional. California's attorney general, Bill Lockyer, appealed against the decision which brought it to the supreme court last year.

The court's decision upholding the three-strikes law was announced yesterday.

The California governor, Gray Davis, welcomed the decision. "This is good for California", said Davis, one of whose main political donors is the group that represents California's prison officers. He said that the law helped to keep down crime rates.

Professor Erwin Chemerinsky, who represented Andrade, expressed surprise at the decision. He said that had Andrade committed rape, not shoplifting, he would have been given eight years rather than 50 because it would have been his first such offense.

The next likely development will be an attempt to amend the law during elections in 2004. Pressure groups, including FACTS, are now collecting signatures to put a proposition to the electorate that would limit the three-strike law to violent offenders. At present, half of those serving three strikes sentences are jailed for non-violent offenses.

"Opinion polls show that people do not want the law to be used for non-violent offenders", said Silva of FACTS yesterday, adding that she was hopeful of collecting enough signatures to put the issue on the 2004 ballot.

Three strikes was introduced after the abduction and murder of 12-year-old Polly Klaas in 1993 by a repeat offender out on parole. The girl's grandfather, Joe Klaas, has joined the FACTS campaign, saying the law should not be used against minor, non-violent offences.

By Duncan Campbell posted 7 March 03

Attempted thong theft costs $560

A man has been fined $500 after appearing in a northern New South Wales court charged with stealing a pair of thongs.

Alfred Hensen of Barkers Vale appeared in the Lismore Local Court, charged with shoplifting.

The court was told he stole the thongs, worth $7, from a Lismore supermarket.

Magistrate Nick Reimer fined Henson $500, with $60 in court costs.

By Sore Feet 14 Jan 03

ED: At Bi Low you you don't pay any overheads like, police wages. 10 cups of coffee + a four hour interview? Less $7 total = $553.00, but if you have sore feet? These thongs were made for walking.

Related:

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