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I wish the world could read this letter so that they could know this:- Solitary confinement
- Withholding mail access and oppressive communication policies
- Law libraries
- Medical neglect
- Price gouging
- Inadequate/inhuman food
- Organizing
- Inadequate law libraries and legal resources
- Inconsistent Covid care
- Addressing Innocent/wrongful conviction claims
- Legal work from the inside
- Seeking a bridge/advocate between inside/out
- Lack of outside recreation
- Retaliation/abuse of the disciplinary system
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fMarch 6th, 2019
Jhody D. Polk
The Jailhouse Lawyer Initiative
[Redacted]
Greetings!
Mr.Polk,
First of all I want to thank you and all of the staff of the NLG for everything that
y'all do to help not only those in the free world but also us that are behind bars.
Your hard work is very, very much appreciated! Thank You, so very Much!
I would like to please join the "Jailhouse Lawyer Initiative". I'm not a law lib-
rary clerk. But I've seen first hand that the inmate's that work in law library as
clerk's are not at all trained to clerk's.
Because there have times when I go to the law library and ask for a certain law
case and the clerk thats attending me can't seem to locate the case. But then I
ask another clerk and yes, he did find the case. Or I go to the library asking
in what book I can find information to a certain for example, the address to a cer-
tain county, courthouse, etc, etc, but the clerk does'nt know what book I can find that
information in?
Here in Texas the law libraries are very inadequate stocked. Like for example here
at the [Redacted] Unit you go to the law library and half of the shelves
are empty. All of the changes that were done here in TDCJ(Texas Department of Cri-
minal Justice)were through the Ruiz lawsuit's. But you don't find any of those
case's in the law library any more. So, we can't challenge TDCJ in court under
those lawsuit's anymore. Because, those law case's were the inmate's #1 ammunition
in fighting against TDCJ in court. IDCJ knows what they were doing when they took
those case's off the shelves.
My expertise is more on fighting the injustice's within the system. Like inmate's
getting written up bogus disciplinary case's,cruel and unusual punishment,such as
inadequate food,no cup's or spoon's when we go to chow,shower wall's all covered in
mold,sink's and shower's not work properly,etc,etc.
I'm on my 22nd year on a 99 years sentence. Our challenges in regards to the law
library is that anybody that files against the supervisor [Redacted] is that she'll
retaliate against them. By having them locked up in Ad-Seg. I know of two people
that she so far has locked up in Ad-Seg. Several inmate's have filed lawsuits
against her and nothing seems to come of it. That's another burden for us is not
only that we got to pay $350.00 to the court to be able to file the lawsuit, but
the legal system is against us. Especially here in Texas.
I wish there was'nt a legal system so biased and prejuidicial against us in-
mate's.I've been doing this for about 17 year's.
Well,I thank you,for your most sincere attention with this matter. I will wait for
your prompt response.
Sincerely,
[Redacted]
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[Redacted]
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TEXAS INMATE ON [Redacted] UNIT ON HUNGER STRIKE
IN AN EFFORT TO EXPOSE STATE WIDE CORRUPTION
As an American citizen I grew up on the notion that I lived
in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. Since my run-in
with the American criminal justice system, that notion has been shattered.
Why is it that in the Land of the Free, America has the highest
incarceration rate per capita than any other nation in the world?
Why is it that America is one of the few civilized countries that
stilllsupports capital punishment? How is it that America's "justice"
system can find enough time and resources for such massive amounts
of prosecution when it has not expanded it's court system in over
thirty years (same amount of courts, judges, and justices yet millions
of more convictions than in the 80's and 90's). Why is it that an
innocent man, such as myself, can so easily find himself caught in
such a trap? While I can't speak for all the states in America, I can
speak for Texas. Since my incarceration, I've become rather educated
in the law. While pursuing my own appeals, I've also assisted many of my
fellow inmates in their appeals and a common thread began to reveal
itself.
In order for a prosecution to commence in the state of Texas,
evidence of probable cause must be presented to a grand jury. In
accordance with state procedural law, a person cannot be empaneled
to a grand jury unless they meet specific qualifications (something
as simple as an expired voter's registration card will disqualify
a grand jury member. How often is your voter's registration card up to
date? ). Without a qualified grand jury reviewing probable cause
evidence and handing down an indictment in a specific case, that
case cannot be prosecuted by a court of law. In relation to the
amount of indictments per year in Texas, this leads us to a statistical
impossibility.
The facts are this: after reviewing the indictment rate in Texas
in comparison to all the registered grand jury sessions conducted
in one year, the average indictment is obtained in less than 2 minutes.
This, as you can imagine, is about how long it would take for a
prosecutor to hand the proposed indictment to a grand jury foreman who
in turn signs off on said indictment without any evidence consideration
what-so-ever. Let's take a look at Harris County for example. In 2018
Texas issued 217,886 indictments. Harris County (Houston) is one of the
largest counties in the state and had the highest crime rate. Let's be
liberal and attribute only 10% of the state's indictment to Harris County.
Harris County "grand jury" convenes, at most, two eight hour days a week
(16 hrs );)50 weeks a year, for a total of 800 hours per year. Ten
percent of 217,866 state-wide indictments divided by 800 hours comes
out to 27 indictments per hour. (217, 886x10%=21, 788.6/800=27.2).
One hour divided by 27 indictments equals an average of 2.2 minutes
per indictment. Even if we were to be MORE liberal and attribute only
5% of our state-wide indictments to Harris County, we still only get
an average of 4.43minutes per indictment.
In 2020, these numbers became even more non-sensical. While the
global Covid-19 pandemic reeked havoc on our nation, our courts shut
down for a solid 6 months. How, then, did Texas manage to hand down
over 209,000 indictments while Americans were not even free to spend
Independence Day with their family and friends?
You may be asking yourself, where were the defense attorneys in
all of this? Unfortunately, it's not uncommon to hear the following
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"joke" being recited amongst Texas lawyers: "The grand jury will indict
a ham sandwich while they're out to lunch." This joke, however, is not
funny to a child who grows up without a father because our justice
system has valued him no more than a ham sandwich.
You may also be asking yourself, what's the purpose of skirting
the law just to increase incarceration? Aside from prosecutors banking
their re-elections on high conviction rates, the answer is money.
All of this mass incarceration has led to modern day slavery that cannot
be ingnored any longer. There was a time when people traveled far and
wide to take people against their will and force them to make us money.
When that was stopped, we simply made it acceptable to enslave our own
people... we just had to put them in cages and call them "criminals."
It did not take long to figure out that the more we convict, the more money
we can make. Today, this country has more slaves than it did 200 years ago.
While this certainly shatters the notion of the Land of the Free,
what about the Home of the Brave? Is no one brave enough to stand up
against mass illegal incarceration and modern day slavery? Well, in
recognition of all my innocent and wrongfully convicted brothers and
sisters steadfast-yet-futile attempts at obtaining proof from the state
of Texas that each conviction was obtained only after a proper and
lawful grand jury indictment (ie., not "rubber stamped") and obtain the
complete records in their case in order to pursue and perfect their
appeals properly, I, [Redacted], have decided
as of May 11, 2022 to go on hunger strike and vow not to eat again
until this matter is settled. I am not suicidal and I value my life,
however, I am willing to do whatever it takes to achieve transparency
in our justice system. In John 15:12-13, Jesus says, "This is My
commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater
love has no one than. this, that one lay down his life for his friends."
Many of my peers have litigated the issues above extensively in
their post-conviction appeals. I personally brought these issues up
in a federal lawsuit against the state of Texas. The Texas state and
federal courts have treated my requests for the complete record in my
case and proof by way of record that the State is following its own
procedural law as if they were the ravings of a madman. I ask, then,
why not just produce the record and shut the madman up? Many people
in our history were looked at as "madmen" when they stood up against
tyrannical governments and systemic corruption, only later to be viewed
as heroes of our past. Am I a madman? Or am I a brave man? Please
investigate the matters explained above and find out for yourselves.
I have filed a petition with United States Congress requesting a
congressional hearing and investigation into these matters (delivered
to congress on monday, January 31, 2022 via certified priority mail.)
After receiving no response from our own government, I filed petitions
abroad with the following entities: The World Court in the Netherlands;
The United Nations in New York; The European Court of Human Rights
in France; The Vatican; and the Queen of England. Why these entities?
I urge you to read the article published by The Marshal Project on
03/17/22 about a man named Daniel Magee whom which a Scotland judge
refused extadition to the State of Texas after deeming the Texas
Criminal Justice System as inhumane in comparison to the rest of the
civilized world.
As this matter. requires a bit of urgency, I need your help in
being my voice to the outside world whereas, in here, they will do
their best to keep this from getting out. Please remember, this is not
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about me! This is about our state, our country, and our citizens.
I'm doing this to restore the lives of the innocent and the wrongfully
convicted. I'm doing this to prevent you or your love ones from being
accused of something, then indicted without cause, and then joining
the over 90% of citizens who plea out to a conviction out of fear of
the enormous sentencing guidelines in Texas. Please spread the word
wherever you can. Time is of the essence. If you would like to help
you can start by contacting [Redacted] - producer at 20/20 ABC News,
office #[Redacted] email: [Redacted]; "The Epoch Times"
newspaper, Mr. [Redacted], Editor in New York @ www.TheEpochTimes.com
or call his office; The Marshal Project @ themarshalproject.com; your
local congressman; journalists; or otherwise anyone you think will help.
Contact the U.S. Congress and ask them to recognize my petition or
otherwise look into the matter.
In the meantime, I will not eat until congress has taken action
or until a serious advocate steps up to champion this cause. Instead,
I shall rely on God, my Father, for all my nourishment as I fight this
battle. Contact me with your story or support.
[Redacted]
[Redacted]
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May 22nd,2022
Jailhouse Lawyer Initiative
C/O Mr.Tyler Walton Esq.
139 MacDougal St., B22
New York, NY. 10012
Dear: Mr.Walton,
Greetings! First of all I want to apologize for taking long to write
back to you to let you know that I did receive your newsletter for the
month of April. Along with the Module: Legal Research and Legal Writing.
Thank You, so very much! It is very helpful information.
In this letter I am going to point out some of the many, many, issues
that on a daily basis violate both our Civil and Constitutional Rights.
1) If we attend a law library session we are not allowed to go to the
restroom. Because, if we do go our session is terminated;
2) Per legislature law guards and all staff are suppose to eat what we
inmates eat. Well, us inmates are literally fed food that only would
normally be fed to animals. While the guards and staff are fed BBQ Ribs,
Beef Steaks, Chile Relleno (stuffed bellpeppers),Enchiladas,Chicken Fried
Steaks,etc,etc,with dessert everyday. Our meals consist mainly of grilled
Bologna or Salami, Casseroles (that usually have no meat whatsoever in it),
Pot Pies (that also have no meat in it) that look like dog food, Corn Dogs,
and they love to feed us canned BBQ Beef that's very, very, sweet (to which
hardly any inmate will eat. And those that eat it is because what can
we do we are hungry.
3) Guards and ranking Guards that beat up inmates usually get promoted
to a higher position. And if they do get demoted it's usually for about
6 month's to a year.
4) The retaliation is very, very, very, bad for filing lawsuits in the courts
or for filing grievances against any staff or employee of the unit. What
I've noticed about here at the [Redacted] Unit is that more than half of t
he staff and employees that work here theya re either related or are
lovers,boyfriend and girlfriend,etc,etc. Like for example, I know that
right now this administration is very mad at me for the lawsuit that
I have pending in the courts for discrimination. Violating my 14th Amend-
ment Constitutional Right-Equal Protection Clause. For deleting all of
the spanish channels from it's t.v. programming.
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They are very, very, short staffed that in the building that I live in
for example it's suppose to be three (3) officers assigned to work here.
Well, lately it's two officers in uniform and the third one is one dressed
in white. Yes, an inmate. He be doing or acting exactly as an officer.
Doing the duties of an officer. While the other two guards stay in picket
(control) room all day long. Sitting in the A/C. And they'll even summon
the inmate and send him to do the duties of an officer-guard. In other
words slowly but surely Texas is going back to it's own bad ways of using
inmates as what they used to call "Building Tenders." To which were out
lawed in the Ruiz lawsuits against TDC.
5) And the grievance process is a joke. Always the same vague and lame
response that there, "ain't any evidence to substantiate my allegations
of staff misconduct. No further action warranted by this office." I've
filed grievances against officers for stealing from me commissary bought
items. And well, you already know the response. The grievance process
needs a complete overhaul. An Independent Oversight by a personnel that
have nothing to do with TDCJ. The Unit Grievance Investigators sometimes
refuse: to process certain grievances with the false pretense that it's
ungrievable or inappropriate. And/Or that grievable time has expired.
And they never investigate grieved issues as per the Offenders Grievance
Operations Manual.
6) There are pipe leaks all over the building that to be fixed. Especially
here in the building that I live in. But supposedly they can't be fixed
that because the agency TDCJ lacks the funds to fix every single leak.
Really? Their budget is very tight. I don't see how. When I don't get
paid to work. I'm worked like a hebrew slave!
7) I serving a aggravated sentence, don't qualify for the good time,
work time, I'm doing flat time. Which means that I'm doing day per day
sentence. So, because of this reason I would rather prefer to get paid
for my labor. But TDCJ is profiting financially from my free labor.
Therefore, making it unlawful that I be slaved the way I'm being slaved.
Well, these are just a few of the issues for now. I will write some
more later. I'm sending you a letter from an inmate who's on hunger
strike. If you could please share this with other organizations that
might of help to him and all of us inmates. Thank You,very much for all
you do for us. It is very much appreciated!
Sincerely,
[Redacted]
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December 24th, 2022
Jailhouse Lawyer Initiative
c/o Tyler Walton Esq.
139 MacDougal St., B22
New York, NY. 10012
Greetings, to all of the staff a the JLI! I wish everybody a very
Happy and Safe New Year.
First of all I would like to please say is that I Thank Y'all so
very much for all of the modules of information that y'all have sent
me. Information that have greatly helped me with the two (2) lawsuits
that I have pending in the courts. One of them, I'm sueing the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) for discrimination under the 14th
Amendment-Constitutional Right "Equal Protection Clause." Because in
this unit and some other one's they have deleted all of the spanish
channels from the unit's t.v. programming. So, far I'm in the stage
where it seems that I'm going to be going to trial? Because that's what
the State is asking the Court for and they have already send a list of
the witnesses that they'll be calling to testify. I've asked the court
twice to appoint me an attorney, especially if I go to trial, but the
court refuses to do so.
The State had filed a "Motion To Dismiss" but the Court ruled in my
favor, saying that my lawsuit would moveforward. : ) The only argument
that the State had in asking the court to dismiss my lawsuit was that
I was barred by the Statute of Limitations. I counter attacked it with
telling the court that, A statute of limitations doesn't apply to an conti-
nous racial discrimination. And the court agreed with me. I also mentioned
what the Constitution say's, that it and the Federal Law are the laws
of the land. And any law or Statute that goes against these two laws
is void. This lawsuit has been ongoing now for about a year.
My second lawsuit is against [redacted] I'm waiting on a response from that motion.
On this case too the court refuses to appoint me an attorney. Here are the case
number's to both lawsuits: [Redacted] and [Redacted].
And as of now, a friend (who's also a Jailhouse Lawyer) and I try-
ing to file against the Major that's in charge of the food service be-
cause of the way that he's feeding us. Way under the calorie count that
were supposed to get, and they are not in variety, quantity, and nutriti-
onal. But the staff are being fed Pork Chops, Chicken Fried Steaks, Che-
ese Burgers with French Fries, etc, etc. While we inmates get fed Corn
Dogs, Bologna, Salami, Beef Roll, watered down Beef Stew, Beef and/or Pork
Casseroles that hardly have any meat in it. For our Thanksgiving meal
we didn't get any stuffing, macaroni & cheese, olives, sweet pickles,etc.
Last Years Christmas and this past Thanksgiving meals have been some
of the nastiest meals that I have ever been served in 25 years that I've
incarcerated in TDCJ.
And upon information and belief that according to this kitchen-Major
[redacted] I deserve to be fed the trash that he's feeding me. And that
his officers-guards deserve all of the good food!
From the bottom of heart, I want to say Thank You for all of the mod-
ules of information that y'all have been sending me. It sure has helped
me alot. Thank You! Please make sure to seal y'alls packages real good
because the mailroom is opening them up and going through them. And re-
sealing them to make them look like they never been opened.
NOTE: Please include me in the Future Cohorts of the Pen Pal Program.
Thank You, so very much! I think I'll close for now. God Bless!
Until Next Time.
Sincerely,
[Redacted]
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[Redacted]
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July 18th, 2023
Jailhouse Lawyer Initiative
C/O Tyler Walton Esq.
139 MacDougal St. B22
New York, NY. 10012
Greetings, to everybody there at JLI! I hope and pray that my letter
will find everybody doing well and in happy spirits.
I am in receipt of your issue (newsletter) #8 for June 2023. Thank
You, so very much for staying in touch. People like you, are what en-
courage me to keep fighting against this corrupt system. because to be
honest sometimes I feel like giving up. Due to the fact that some us
that litigate guffer a lot retaliation. Like for example, my cellmate
(cellie) went without an I.D. for about 6 or 3 months. It took his dau-
ghter countless phone call's to I don't know how many different pers-
onnel until finally about two week's ago he got his new state issued
I.D.
I recently was transfered to the unit that I currently been assigned
to ([Redacted]) because at the prior unit (Redacted]) I was in fear for my
life, death threats that I was receiving from gang members. Supposedly,
they have a program called P.R.E.A./Safe Prisons. Let me tell you that
it's a 100% laughing JOKE! Because, they tell that in order for them to
be able to help you, that you need to be straight forward with them in
detailed information. But the only thing that comes out of that is that
everything you tell them, they will relate all of that information back
to the very same inmates that are after to get you. And they are very
adamant in releasing you back into general population so the wolves can
come get you. And all they got to do is play dumb that they didn't know
anything about it. And if families try to sue them immediately claim
immunity under the law's. The very Administration conspires with the
gangs! So, how is the agency YDCJ to Rehabilitate inmates? When they an-
courage inmates assault other inmates. Which means that are committing
federal crimes on State premises.
I always look forward to receiving your newsletter's because they are
very, very, helpful and I'm learning a lot from them. I'll never get
tired of saying Thank You !!! For everything that y'all do for all of
us that trying to fight against these injustices that we suffer while
incarcerated.
I don't remember if I already mentioned in a prior letter that I
partially won my lawsuit that I had filed against the I.R.S. for the
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stimulus money of the $3,200. I've been awarde only the $1,800 plus
$144.24 of interest. They didn't or don't want to award me the $1,400
of stimulus money because the U.S. Attorney General keeps lying to the
Court that I filed for part of the stimulus money back in 2019. When I
never did such thing! It didn't go into effect until 2020 when Congress
approved the first check. So, why, would I do such thing? And the court
is accepting this lies without even asking that documentary evidence to
be submitted to prove that what he's saying is true!
And my other lawsuit in regards to [redacted] The State just filed
their Summary Judgment. So, as of now I'm working on putting together
a Motion to object to the States (defendants' ) Summary Judgment.
On two prior letter's I had mentioned that I did wanted to join your
Pen Pal program. Please, enlist me in the program (Pen Pal). Thank You!
Oh, before I forget. Now I'm having trouble with TDCJ depositing the
$1,944.24 into my account. If there's any information that y'all can
help me with in regards to this matter as to what I can do to force them
to release this money into my account A.S.A. P. please let me. know. Thanks!
Well, I think that I'll close for now. Until Next Time. God Bless Al-
ways !!!
Sincerely,
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December 18th, 2023
Tyler Walton, Esq.
Jailhouse Lawyers Initiative
Bernstein Institute of Human Rights-
New York University of Law
139 MacDougal St, B20
New York, NY. 10012
Dear: JLI,
First, I would like to wish everybody a very Safe, Joyful, Peaceful, Happy
Merry Christmas and New Years !! Best wishes in the coming year. God Bless
Y'all, Family, and Friends!!!
In the past I'd written about two or three different letters asking that
I please be placed in y'alls list for the Pen Pal program. But until this
day I ain't received a response in regards to that matter. But, if for
some reason I was chosen not to be matched with a Pen Pal, please let me
know and I'll stop being a pests about it, ha, ha, ha. : )
I'll never get tired of saying Thank You, for all of the hard work that
everybody at JLI put into helping us that are incarcerated. Especially
to volunteer time and work.
If you published the following information in y'alls next newsletter,
can it please be published as anynomously from the [Redacted] Unit?
Conditions of Injustice: (1) Inconsistent Health Care: I've trying to see
the optometrist doctor due to the fact that my eye glasses are broken and
without them I can't see. I see everything blurry. This medical need has
been going on since this past April 2023 and it is now December 2023 and
still nothing. I filed a grievance but to no avail. And every time I'm
scheduled to see one of the P.A. 's all they tell me is that I'm scheduled
to see the optometrist but that he/she don't know when or for when I'll
be seeing the optometrist? (Medical Neglect! (2) Lack of Outside Recrea-
tion: It's very, very rare that we are given outside recreation. December
15th, 2023, was the first time in about three weeks that they called out-
side recreation. (3) Inadequate Nutrition: The food is very,very,very,bad
as well. Like for example, also on December 15th, 2023, for lunch we were
fed, A very thin Pork Patty (it is cut so thin that it almost looks like
if were being fed a round sheet of paper), one scoop of kidney beans (its
basically more water than beans), one ounce of white gravy (instead of the
two ounces), mashed potatoes, and two slices of bread. But the officers
are fed food such as, at times, Cheese Burgers, fries and all of the tri-
mmings. And supposedly they can't fed us inmates wholesome meals that
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because of a budget cut? So, they say? (4) Price Gouging: Prices in the
commissary have sky rocketed so much that there's hardly anything to
really buy. Like for example, the bag of coffee is 4.5 oz's and it now
costs $4.50 when it used to costs $2.00. And the bag used to be almost
all the way full to the top, but now it's only half way full.
(5) Grievances: Some grievances are never answered. And the ones that we
usually do get back answered are the ones where we are not "warranted any
further action."
I also want to update y'all on one of my lawsuits that I had told you
that was pending in the District Court. It was dismissed with prejuidice.
It was the one that I filed against TDCJ for discrimination for [redacted].
And from what I understand the judge dismissed it basically for the simple reason that I didn't do a
thorough investigation as a free world lawyer would of done. And That's
because from the very beginning I asked the court to appoint me an att-
orney to which it was denied. Even the courts are against us. I now see
why some inmates give up. I who doesn't have the same resources available
to him as a free world attorney does have at his disposal was used against
me. It seems like its a corrupt system all the way around.
If y'all know of any Pro Bono lawyers that might be able to help me in
regards to this legal matter and with matter that one of my brother's who
was also incarcerated here in TDCJ system [redacted]. it is bel-
ieved by myself and some family members that he was murdered by TDCJ C.O.'s
correctional officers) and [redacted].
medical staff refer that information or their information to me so I can
please contact them. I truly appreciate it very much! Thank You!!
The reason that I ask that some of this information be published anyno-
mously is for security reasons.
Sincerely,
[Redacted]
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