As time has permitted, and circumstance demands, I find myself wondering. With COVID giving an overwhelmingly unjust advantage to prosecutors that allows them to forego court rules, delay indefinitely for “COVID-like symptoms” or close contact, that allows a person to be held indefinitely while awaiting the opportunity to present their case before a judge, that…
As I’ve been sitting in the belly of the beast, it has been a whirlwind of new discoveries. None have been more impactful than the pressures of surviving financially while incarcerated in the MDOC. Through time, unaccountability, and privatization, they have mastered the ability to force prisoners to survive on the most minimal amount of…
Today I bring you another case where the injustice system has worked to keep another Washtenaw county parolee behind bars for over a year after he beat his case. Yes, after he beat his case in a court of law, Armani Shabazz, MDOC #860854, is still waiting in a prison cell a year later, awaiting…
I just read a recent article wherein there is a lot of talk about giving the 1.5 million dollar stimulus fund package to the low-income housing area in and around Sycamore Meadows: “the Green,” for long time members of the community. As those of you who know me can imagine, I was very pleased and…
The world is experiencing the pain and suffering of this pandemic. Businesses are forced to close due to sickness and being understaffed, supplies are in high demand due to shipping shortages, hospitals are undersupplied, overcrowded, and understaffed. Basically everything is experiencing lack and limit, distress and difficulty, as we strive to maintain and survive through…
[Submitted by Friends of H.H.] We can all take a deep breath, avert our gaze, and rest easy. Washtenaw County now has a progressive prosecutor—Eli Savit, whose platform claims that (1) coercive plea bargaining, (2) over-prosecution, (3) prolonged pre-trial detentions, (4) aggressive prosecution of drug possession charges, and (5) racial inequity are things of the…
On May 18, Ypsilanti City Council voted to go over budget and hire 3 armed YPD officers and 1 YPD records clerk. The vote was split 4-3, with those opposed expressing concerns about adding to the budget deficit and lack of time for public input, including via the council’s own Police Oversight Commission. On June…
Another week has gone by and H.H. is still in SMHU. We need to keep the pressure on to show the MDOC that WE DON’T GIVE UP. Conditions in the Egeler segregation unit continue to be cruel and inhumane. H.H. hasn’t had clean clothes in 4 weeks, continues to be cuffed whenever he leaves the…
After three weeks, H.H. is still in SMHU (segregation) which means we need to keep calling to get him out. After a confrontation with a white supremacist, H.H. was sentenced to 30 days Loss of Privileges (LOP). Instead of LOP he was put in detention in the Special Management Housing Unit (SMHU). This means lights…
I sit in a cell that is right above the COs’ desk in my unit. It provides me a unique opportunity to hear the psychology of staff in their thought-to-be-secure area, in their conversations with each other. The reason I write about this is because hearing their conversations, I witness first hand what the caste…
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