In this letter you wrote, “I still believe that if people were aware of what is being done in the name of justice, in their name, they wouldn’t sit or stand for it.” How did you maintain that sense of hope while writing these letters?
I put in several law library requests. From what I gather, prison officials do not have to provide procedural safeguards when labeling or designating us members of an STG. So the fact that I am not a gang member means absolutely nothing. According to the United States Supreme Court, the Constitution does not require an STG designation be preceded by due process protections. No opportunity for rebuttal.
The consequences for designation as a STG are only two noncontact visits per month of one hour each. No leisure time activities. A minimum of two cell searches per week. Out-of-cell movement cannot exceed a total of one hour per day. Ineligible for food packages. Restricted from sending electronic messages. Restricted to five telephone calls per week of fifteen minutes each. Unable to be classified to work or self-help programming.
The question remains why prison officials would go to such lengths to prevent me from expressing my opinion that educational, vocational, and counseling programs would decrease violence and increase chances for successfully cutting into the nation’s 70 percent recidivism rate? STG designation is being used as a cover to shut down independent voices.