A Nonviolent Movement at Texas Death Row

[Anja]

A Nonviolent Movement at Texas Death Row


The D.R.I.V.E. Movement:
Resources for Education and Action
Prepared by the Austin Campaign to End the Death Penalty

Introduction

What follows is a discussion of facts and strategy associated with the
horrific conditions on Texas death row at the Polunksy Unit in Livingston.
The men warehoused at this unit, aside from being sentenced to death by an
unjust system, are living in conditions that, by any decent standards of
human rights, constitute cruel and unusual punishment. Several of these
inmates have heroically launched a non-violent protest against these
conditions and have been met with a disproportionately violent response
from the Polunsky administration and staff. It befalls all abolitionists
and others committed to justice to stand in solidarity with these brave
men. What follows, we hope, will serve as tools toward that end.



Background

From 1965 to 1999, Texas death row was housed in the Ellis Unit. Inmates
were allowed group exercise time and had access to the same resources as
other prisoners. However, in 1999, the Texas Board of Criminal Justice
(TBCJ) voted to move all condemned male inmates to Livingston. The
official rationale for this decision was overcrowding at the Ellis Unit,
as several death row inmates were sharing single occupancy cells. However,
there was also considerable political motivation. In 1998, seven men
attempted to escape the Ellis Unit and one, Martin Gurule, succeeded
(though he was found drowned shortly thereafter). This was the first
successful escape on death row in 64 years. While a prison board
investigation blamed negligent correctional officers, they also commented
that group recreation and work time provided opportunities to plan such
escapes. The TBCJ subsequently voted to make the move to Livingston.

Life on the Polunsky Unit

After being moved to Polunsky, the men on Texas death row lost virtually
all the privileges they enjoyed at the Ellis Unit. The new facility keeps
the inmates in 23-hour administrative segregation inside 60 square foot
cells with sealed steel doors. They have lost all group recreation, work
programs, television access (some inmates are allowed radios), and
religious services. There are no contact visits allowed at Polunsky,
meaning that the men on death row will never make physical contact with
anyone other than prison staff as they move toward their execution date.
Inmates are only allowed one five minute phone call every six months,
their mail is often censored, the quality of food is particularly low, and
they are given inadequate health and dental services.

The fact that such conditions can have profoundly negative psychological
impacts on inmates is well-documented. Many of these men are losing their
minds, attempting suicide, and abandoning appeals. Such conditions also
set a bad precedent for conditions across the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice (TDCJ).

The D.R.I.V.E. Movement

The Death Row Inner-Communalist Vanguard Engagement (D.R.I.V.E.) consists
of several (approximately seven) men housed on death row at the Polunsky
Unit. Through a variety of non-violent strategies, they have begun
launching protests against the conditions at Polunsky, in particular, and
capital punishment, in general. The following is taken from the D.R.I.V.E.
website (http://www.drivemovement.org) and summarizes the strategy the
inmates have been using:

* Actively seek to consistently voice complaints to the administration
* Actively seek to organize grievance filing to address problems
* Occupy feeding slots when feeding procedures are improperly done (Lack
of sanitation by officers) and when food is improperly prepared (meager,
malnourished portions: under cooked, spoiled) until changed
* Occupy day rooms when there is an act of abuse of authority by guards
(verbal abuse; physical abuse; meals/recreations or showers being wrongly
denied; unsanitary day rooms and showers being allowed to persist; medical
being denied; paper work being denied; refusing to contact higher rank to
address the problems and complaints) and when retaliation (thefts,
denials, destruction of property; food restrictions; wrongful denials of
visits; abuse of inmates) is carried out in response to our grievances,
outside support and collective protest:
*Initiate sit-ins in visiting rooms, hallways, pod runs and recreation
yards (when the above takes place)
*Deploy the use of Polunsky Unit video cameras so that protest may be
documented (which can be accessed by the public)
*Non-violently refuse to evacuate cells when the above mentioned problems
occur. Occupation will persist until change is implemented
*Seek to organize supporters on the outside to write petitions, letters,
make phone calls, e-mail and send faxes to address problems and abuses at
hand (and protests in front of the prison when possible)
*Educate prisoners to intelligently handle cases of abuse, attacks and
oppression

Barriers to Victory

The D.R.I.V.E. movement constitutes a bold challenge to the powers-that-be
in the TDCJ and the Texas state government as a whole. However, these men
face significant repression and other barriers, making it absolutely
crucial that activists on the outside mobilize around this important
cause.

Officials at the Polunsky Unit have reacted harshly to these protests.
When the D.R.I.V.E. activists occupy a space in protest of a fixable
problem, they are often met by a SWAT team and tear gas. Often, when
gassed, the men are not allowed to shower until a number of days after the
incident, allowing the gas to corrode their skin. Other forms of
repression include seizing of clothes, bedding, and other possessions from
cells. A particularly disgusting punitive measure practiced in
administrative segregation units throughout Texas is the food loaf. Rather
than a standard meal, the inmate is given a baked lump of the days
cafeteria leftovers. By all accounts, it is inedible.

Beyond these direct acts of repression, the TDCJ continues to turn a deaf
ear to these protests. Officials are quick to claim that the D.R.I.V.E.
protest has little to do with the conditions on the Polunsky Unit and
essentially amount to nothing more than an anti-death penalty protest.
TDCJ employees are also stubbornly committed to their job descriptions,
drawing a very clear line between the issues they are qualified to address
and those they are not. Throughout the Texas state government, one finds a
number of convenient escape routes for officials, elected and otherwise,
who would rather not address such uncomfortable issues. Diffusion of
responsibility is common practice throughout the power structure in the
state of Texas.

Furthermore, the TDCJ is accountable only to itself. Prisons in the United
States are under no legal mandate to submit to independent oversight,
though most seek some form of accreditation. Texas, however, monitors
itself, meaning that they create their own standards and determine whether
or not they are following them. Ultimately, it is clear that the TDCJ and
the state of Texas as a whole have constructed a system in which they need
only answer to themselves.

Toward Solidarity

So, what is to be done? The anti-death penalty movement has a significant
interest in challenging the horrendous conditions at Polunsky and the
violent repression taking place there. The period leading to execution is
a part of the death sentence and, thus, demands our attention.
Furthermore, any demand for the rights of the condemned affirms what the
state of Texas wishes to deny, the humanity of the people they have chosen
to kill. Solidarity with D.R.I.V.E., thus, becomes an important
intervention in the prevailing discourse surrounding the death penalty.
Moreover, the conditions on death row are symptomatic of a broader prison
industrial complex that is rotten to its very core, both in Texas and
nationally.

The first step we can all take is to build a coalition around living
conditions on death row. The Austin chapter of Campaign to End the Death
Penalty (CEDP) invites all Texas anti-death penalty groups, as well as
other organizations interested in human rights, criminal justice reform,
racial equality, and other struggles for justice to join us in voicing our
outrage at what the condemned are forced to withstand on a daily basis. It
is crucial that we begin organizing and communicating in the interest of
challenging this grotesque expression of state power. If you are
interested, please contact the CEDP at [e-mail].

Both as a coalition and as individual groups, we must put the TDCJ and
Texas state government on notice. Nothing will change at Polunsky as long
as those in power are convinced they can continue in this fashion with
impunity. Individuals worth contacting include TDCJ Executive Director
Brad Livingston, Texas Board of Criminal Justice Chair Christina Melton
Crain, Correctional Institutions Division Director Doug Dretke, the
Correctional Institutions Division Ombudsman, Polunsky Senior Warden,
Lloyd Massey, and elected officials. While most of these people will deny
it, they are all in positions to influence Texas policies and are,
therefore, all viable targets for protest. We have provided specific
contact information in an attached appendix.

Exploiting media resources is also important. Write letters to the editor
to your local newspaper and encourage the editors to cover the horrors at
Polunsky. As our coalition will ideally organize a number of events in
solidarity with the D.R.I.V.E. movement, we should begin building good
relationships with the media now.

Finally, we must work with the men inside Polunsky. Establishing pen-pal
relationships with and visiting the men of D.R.I.V.E. is not only a
welcome reminder to these brave activists that they are not alone in their
struggle, but also allows us to join minds and strategies toward forming a
broad movement that challenges injustice within the TDCJ. If you are
interested in getting a pen-pal and/or visiting a D.R.I.V.E. inmate,
please contact CEDP member Randi Jones at [e-mail].

Conclusion

The conditions on the Polunsky Unit are unacceptable and should concern
all activists committed to human rights. The anti-death penalty movement,
in particular, is well-positioned to challenge an apathetic TDCJ and state
government, joining in solidarity with the man of D.R.I.V.E. and letting
the powers-that-be know that we will not sit idly by as they mock the very
notion of justice.

Appendix: Contact Information

Brad Livingston, Executive Director
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
P.O. Box 99
Huntsville, Texas 77342-0099
936-437-2101
936-437-2123 (Fax)

Christina Melton Crain, Chair
Texas Board of Criminal Justice
P. O. Box 13084
Austin, Texas 78711
512-475-3250
512-305-9398 (Fax)

Doug Dretke, Director
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Correctional Institutions Division
P.O. Box 99
Huntsville, Texas 77342
936-437-2169
936-437-6325 (Fax)

Correctional Institutions Division Ombudsman Office
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
P.O. Box 99
Huntsville, TX 77342-0099
936-437-6791
936-437-6668 (Fax)

Lloyd Massey, Senior Warden
Polunsky Unit
3872 FM 350 South
Livingston, Texas 77351
936-967-8082 Ext. 054

Campaign to End the Death Penalty Austin
C/O Bryan McCann
924 E. 40th St. #204
Austin, TX 78751
309-310-5223
[e-mail]
cedpaustin.blogspot.net

(source: Campaign to End the Death Penalty)