Waupun Brothers Defense Fund, Inc. PRISON OFFICE KARL ARMSTRONG CLAYTON COOK DANNY SHEARS C/O JESSE J. FORD BOX C WAUPUN, WI 53963 MADISON OFFICE WBDF 953 JENIFER ST. MADISON, WI 53703 SEND DONATIONS C/O PARK BANK 2401 S. PARK ST. MADISON, WI 53713 LEGAL INFORMATION MARK FRANKEL 520 UNIVERSITY AVE. MADISON, WI 53703 Karl Armstrong, Treasurer - WBDF Box C (Wisc. St. Prison) Waupun, Wisc. 53963 Representative David Clarenbach 112 North State Capitol Madison, Wisconsin Dear David, November 24, 1975 I've enclosed a paper I did on voting rights for prisoners which Ihope you will include with the hearings you notified the lifers group about. I wanted to get them in earlier but it took awhile to get around to doing it sound familiar? The hearing if it has happened, has not been publicized much in the Madison papers. The Capital Times has been very reactionary on prisoners rights in its reportage of XXXXA Senator Swans hearings & so I guess we can't expect much support from the liberal community this round, in fact it has been downright nauseating. Its good to see you in there plugging away. Sincerely yours, XKarl Armstrong Кая --- VOTING RIGHTS FOR PRISONERS One of the prime issues of the American revolution was that the colonialists were being taxed yet they did not have representation in the government which was taxing them. The principle that no person should be taxed without representation has been a hallmark of American democracy, though many classes of people have been excluded from participation at its inception. Yet there is still a class of americans, prisoners, who are taxed both directly and indirectly and do not have representation. Many prisoners pay income taxes, property taxes, sales taxes and have been denied their voting rights. The denial of voting rights to prisoners has had one discernable effect the further alienation fa of the convicted man/woman from social and political life. It should be noted that those people in society who are denied the right to vote because of criminal convictions are invariably the poor, working class people of whom minority people constitute a proportion many times their proportion of the larger society. Disenfranchisement discriminates not so much on the basis of a person commiting a crime in society (10 times as much property is lost to the white collar criminal) and conviction as discriminates against the poor, the working people, and minority people. It is used as a tool to further oppress those who in the final analysis are victims of capitalist society. The effect of disenfranchisement is to isolate the prisoner further from society. Any politician knows that if prisoners were given voting rights that they would have to become more responsive to their needs and problems. Maybe we would hear less about law and order and see more legis- lation that deals honestly with the economic and social causes of crime. The National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals (1973) concluded the following: "Loss of citizenship rights the right to vote, hold public office, and serve on juries - inhibits reformative efforts. If corrections is to reintegrate an offender in a free society, the offender must retain all attributes of citizenship. In addition, his respect for law and the legal system may well depend, in some measure, on his ability to participate in that system. Mandatory denials of that participation serve no legitimate дирбяк public interest." "Virtually every national group which has examined the practice of disenfranchisement has recognized the counterproductive nature of the practice", so says the American Bar Association acting as amicus curae in a suit before the U.S. Supreme Court. Proposed is legislation which will disenfranchise only those persons convicted of crimes which are directly related to election laws, voting rights, bribery of public officials ect. (Nixon, Mitchell, et. al.) This would mean that prisoners presently confined would be able to vote unless they were disenfranchised for reasons directly related to the aforementioned crimes. Extending the prдox proposal further; ex-convicts should have all --- other citizenship rights restored on their release such as holding public office, the right to sit on juries, and any other right restored consonant with the sort of crime they were convicted of. To sum up, disenfranchisement is a punitive measure that is a weapon used in a class society aby the ruling class against the poor and working class. It is aracist weapon in that Black and Chicano people are greatly overrepresented in the class of the convicted. Finally it inhibits any rehabilitative efforts in that it disallows participation in the political process despite the fact that prisoners pay taxes to the government which disenfranchised their rights. It is time to include prisoners and the convicted in government. What with the rækкx revelations of Watergate it seems that the truly criminal and socially dangerous persons not only are not imprisoned but have kept their citizenship rights. Now thats class justice! --- Karl Armstrong Box C Waupun, Wisc. 53963 State Representative David Clarenbach 26 N. Franklin St. Madison, Wisc. 53703 Dear David, May 9, 1976 Good to get your letter. My friend is encouraged that you are interested in an audit of the corrections system budget. I'm surprised that Mark Frankel hasn't contacted you yet as I asked him to invite you to speak at the demonstration 2 weeks ago. So, I guess the invitation is going to have to come from me. I've enclosed a copy of what I wrote to have put in some of the newspapers in Madison and Milwaukee. There is certain information about transportation that I didn't have when I wrote the article but Sarah O'Brien, Mark Frankel, or Nancy McCall (of Prisoners Union) should have it by now. I would expect you might want to speak about legislative remedies to some of the prisoners rights issues raised in the article. Especially important is how people can go about organizing a prisoners lobby and maybe even signing people up for work in lobbying (that would be done by someone else). But it is pretty much up to you what you want to speak about. Perhaps you might even want to allude to an audit of the corrections system budget if by them you think my friend has something substantial to hang one's hat on. If you'd like more info, I think that Sarah or Mark should be able to help out. Hope to see you soon. Sincerely Yours, Kail Karl Armstrong --- THE PRISON CITY DEMO-MAY 15 May 15th, families and friends of prisoners, and brothers and sisters supporting prisoners rights will demonstrate their solidarity with prisoners in the city of Waupun. At Saturday Noon, in the city park on Madison St., a rally will hear speakers and guerilla theatre tell it like it is in the Wisconsin prison system. From the park demonstrators will parade the few blocks to tWisconsin State Prison and around the prison walls. At the front gates of the prison, demands will be made that the prisonerats redress the long-standing grievances of prisoners and recognise that prisoners have rights that are not lost behind bars. Most people think that the legitimate function of a prison is to prevent the free physical movement of prisoners in society such that further crimes are not committed. Even if prisons could be justified on such a basis, much, much more is taken from prisoners than just this physical freedom. Securing the rights which are taken or denied prisoners is what the prisoners rights movement is about those rights are what the demonstrators on May 15th will demand that the prisoncrats recognize. The demonstration has been planned by anumber of prisoners org- anizations which have been banned by corrections authorities. For the purposes of the demonstration, these organizations have banded together as The Prisoners Coalition. The Prisoners Coalition sees the success of the prisoners rights movement as a means to an end; the eventual dissolution of prisons (as we know them) that will accompany the revolutionary changes in the larger society. The demonstration comes at this time because not only does Waupun have a new warden (James Mathews) but there is also a new Secretary of the Department of Health and Social Services, Nanuel Carballo, Governor Lucey's hand-picked successor to Wilbur Schmidt, the autocrat who, with his relatives and syncophants, ruled the corrections fiefdom for two decades. No longer does Lucey have any excuse for not instituting the prison reforms that his task force recommended a few years ago. The demonstration is also timely because the overcrowding, caused by a decrease in the parole rate, has created a volatile situation for the long, hot summer ahead. Securing progressive policies, programs, rules and regulations from the prisoncrats would go a long way toward staving off the rebellion that even Lucey predicts may happen and is sure to happen if the demands of the demonstration are ignored. Some of the prisoners rights that will be demanded are the following: --- WORK 1. The right to earn at least the minimum wage so that prisoners can help support themselves and their family while in prison and have funds saved for the traumatic re-entry into society upon release. 2. The right to work while in prison at jobs that are productive. Jobs must be available for all prisoners willing to work. 3. The right to work in safe and pleasant working conditions. 4. The right to unionize and collectively bargains as state employees. COMMUNICATION AND ASSOCIATION 1. The right to visit eith whomever one wants without restriction. 2. The right to correspond without restriction and censorship. 3. The right to visit privately with visitors which would allow prisoners to have sexual relations with wives, ect. 4. The right to associate freely with fellow prisoners, collectively petition, and collectively pool resources for the collective welfare of all prisoners. 5. The right to publish a prison newspaper without censorship. 6. The right to engage in political activity. 7. The right to people from the communities engage in activities with prisoners (lectures, ants and crafts, theatre, music concerts, dances) HEALTH 1. the right to eat healthful foods and maintain a diet that is con- sonant with one's religion or philosophy. 2. The right to recreation and exercise on a daily basis with ade- quate and diverse facilities and equipment available for physical education. 3. The right to prompt and professional medical care and preventive health care. EDUCATION 1. The right to educational facilities that at least match those outside the prison with qualified teaching staff. 2. The right to vocational training that will give prisoners up-to- date and saleable work skills. 3. The right to adequate and diverse cultural and social activities which will keep prisoners from social and creative stagnation or degeneration. 4. The right to educational opportunities to attain the personal growth one aspires to and is capable of. RACISM --- 1. The right to be free from racial discrimination by prison author- ities (racial slurs, prison job selection, parole, security classification, discipline, harassment, prison programs, ect.) 2. The right to have a prison staff employed in proportion to minority prisoners (Blacks, Native-Americans, Chicanos, ect.) DISCIPLINE 1. The right to be free from brutal and dehumanizing treatment and harassment from prison officials and staff (beatings, forceable drug injections, behavior modification programs, strip searches, ect.) 2. The right to be free from cruel punishment segregation building. - abolition of the 3. The right to due process in any мæææ hearing in which discipline can be imposedi. e. punishment (an impartial hearing officer, cross- examination of one's accuser, calling of witnesses on one's behalf, representation, if needed, by one's lawyer). These are just a few of the many rights which prisoners demand and which the demonstration on May 15th will demand that corrections officials recognize with changes or abolition of corrections policies, programs, rules and regulations. For those brothers and sisters, friends and families of prisoners /hoa8df8like to be at the demonstration but have no transportation, please contact the Wil-Mar Center, 953 Jenifer St., Tel. # 257-4576. Buses will be leaving the U.W. Memorial Union at 10:15 A.M. and from the Wil-Mar Center foxxжяиди at 10:30 A.M. for Waupun. In Milwaukee, buses will be leaving the United Black Community Council office, (address) Tel. # at 10:00 A.M. and the (another center for pickup on east side), Tel. # also at 10:00 A.M. The buses expect to be back to Madison and Milwaukee after the demonstration before 6:00P.M. Please aall these centers beforehand so that organizers will have an idea of how many buses will be needed. Also bring a picnic lunch and rain gear if it looks like bad weather. Last but not least, bring a pair of healthy lungs so that the brothers inside the walls may hear your support. THE PRISONERS COALITION ALL TRIBES, INC. PRISONERS FOR SURVIVAL THE WAUPUN BROTHERS DEFENSE FUND, INC. WISCONSIN PRISONERS UNION (People wanting to help with support work for the demonstration are urged to contact the Wil-Mar Center in Madison, or the United Black Community Council office in Milwaukee.) --- Karl Armstrong Box C (Wisc. St. Prison) Waupun, Wisc. 53963 Rep. David E. Clarenbach 422 N. Capitol Madison, Wisc. 53702 file: wl Merry Meins (I sent him info) Dear David, October 9, 1977 ho all max no num There have been rumours galore floating around the prison about the determinate sentencing bills in the legislature. The first rumour is that SB 14 has passed both houses and is awaiting Screiber's signature. This is supposed to be a determinate sentencing bill. First, is it true that SB 14 passed both houses? Second, is it a determinate sentencing bill? If either answer is yes, would you send me a copy of the bill or a summary of what is in it if it isntt a determinate sentencing bill. The other rumour floating around is the contents of the determinate яæияingxbill sentencing bill. Assuming a determinate sentencing bill hasn't been passed, then what bills are being considered? Are they AB 828 and 831? If so, are these bills meant to apply retro- actively? Is it true that *iferx men convicted of 1st degree murder get only 5 days a month good time on 15 years? For the determinate ./1st degree sentencing bills under consideration, how much time would lifer have to do with all his good time? Didn't the Wisc. Supreme Court rule that the statute giving good time can not be repealed? I have access to copies of AB 828 and 831 but there are still a lot of questions. Hope you can help out with this. It would be a good idea if a legislative committee came to the prison to explain the bills and --- progress of the bill(s) in the legislature. Best Regards, Karl Armstrong ---