Kocked Up During Covid

Midwest Books to Prisoners s an
all-volunteer S0L(c)(3) not for profit book
store and organization based in Chicago. Our
‘goal i to directly support inmaes by
furthering their educational goal. Since
2004 we have been accepting reques's from
‘any and alincarcerated people, and mailing
them reading material that corresponds to
their areas of interest free of charge. As our
name suggests,our focus is on providing.

Ison books to people incarcerated n the
Midwester United States (Indiana, linois,
Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio,
Kansas, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, lows, and Michigan), but we also send.
books t inmates n al federal prisons, and we do our best to meet requests from.
pisonersin other areas when we can.

‘We accept requests for reading materias from any and alliamates, and send them
books, magazines, or othe print media witin their areas ofintrest frec of charge.
‘We also accept donated extbooks, novels, magazines, and other print materals, and
rely o these donations o fulfill requests from inmates. f you have books you would
ke to danate, please drop them off a the Community Center door at

Anyone can wrie (0 us to request books, e of charge!

Midwest Books to Prisoners
1321 N. Milwaukee Ave
PMB #460
Chicago, linois
60622
In is eter to the Hebrews, Saint Paul tells us to “remember those in pison
a5 though you yourself were with them, and thosc who are mistreated 2 if you
‘yourslves wer sulleing.”Ionate ae members ofour community, and st Midwest
Books to Prisoners we belive that radical change begins with helping the most
valnerable among s, Incarceated people are deprived of many of their most basic
‘human rights, including the right to cducation. Many prisoners have very ftle
formal cducation and as a result are lacking many of the skils that ransite to
conventional employment. This means they ofen face obsiacles beyond just
criminal records upan release, which, in tu, aises their chancesof etum o prison.
According to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy,only 16% of inmates who
receiveltracy asisance in prison will b e-inarceraed, compared with 70% who
receive o ltracy training, Rescarch continuously shows that when taxpayer dollars
80 towards social spending and are invested in cducation,incarcerated people are
et able 10 buid fullfves for themselves afier being released, instead o being
sucked back into the prison system. On average, i costs $25000 of taxpayer money
et year to house Just one adult, and the ost of housing juvenile offenders s nearly
double tht.Iavestng in the fuures of inmates s not oly the most compassionate
approach, it s also the most practcal one. Inmates want o ear. Our goal s o help
incarcersted peopie futher heir edocation throsgh reading and independent study,
making it possibl for them to build new and beter lves for themselves sad their
families once they've been releasd.

This zine was inspired afler receiving o many stories flom people
incarcerated of the outrageous and inhumane conditons they have been forced to
endure duc 1o the covid pandemic. Many of the people cumently have very lte to
0 support on the outside and often thir stories fal silent. Who cares what people
incarcerated are facing during 2 global pandemic? Unfortunately, not many in the
vast society do. But we do. We at Midwest Books to Prisoners wanted 1o ry to
‘ampliythese voices and stories. We want peopie (0 know what i's been like inside:
various prisons and jils during covid.

Afterocarly a year, people incarcerated arestill having 1o live in fll ockdown.
conditions. Lockdown in prison is mean 1o only be temporary in naure, (maybe a
day or two when there is “threat” o the prison). But even e minute of lockdown
is torturous 1o those Who are forced to endure it. Having 1o live in lockdown
conditions for over a year s abusive. I’ traumatic. These are humans that heve
been stripped of every bit of humaity they had lef. No libray, no chow hal, no
rec, 1o yard, no proper hygiene, no cleaning supplies, no fresh air, o outside, no
movement, no exercse,allduring s pandemic.

1 saw some ignorant people comparing the covid resirictions states were.
imposing in the outide world to living in prison and I was fuming. That i really
‘what inspired me to ack for these people's tories and share them with you. These
are the people society wants to throw away and make voiceless. But they have
important storie society needs t hear. Can you imagine being locked ina cage and
only fed PB&Y sandwiches three times a day for month? With no access to anything
0 oceupy your mind? No one can imagine this, but unfortunately millons of people:
i this country know exactly what that s like, becavse they don't have any other
choice. They have had o endure tha for months on end.

Some people might respond with the typical, “but then they shouldn’t have
gone to prison” nonsense. First, this zine does not exist 10 explain why that is
ignorant. And this couniry i facing another type of epidemic—locking up those
impoverished, those who struggle with mental iliness, and those that re people of
color. But aiso, the vast majority of people incarceraed will be released. The
curent system, and especially the system during the pandemic, is severely failing
everyone. People are geting released n far worse situationsthen they were prior o
being Jocked up. Not oly are they now trsumatized, but they have lost o much, if
ot everything they had. They are sigmatized and labeled for the rest of ther life,
5oits significantly barder,if not impossidle 1o get a job on the books. Landlords.
won't ren 10 them. They didn't have opportunity 1 beter heir education while
incarcerated. They canna qualify for even food assistance. Plus, many are decply
traumatized from ther time incarcerated. Yet ignorant people in society wonder
why recidivism rates are 5o high. From the time they are arresicd, they are always
fighting an uphill batte for simple human digity. These are just a few of their
stories

People’s names have been omitted when asked because of fea of retliation
from prison offcils. A big thank you to all of the volunteersthat helped create this
zine by typing and editing allthe contributions. Here's to amore just world without
cages!
Hello,

1 hope this finds you allin as good health and spirt as can be during
these times. | am wiiting today about my experience as an incarcerated
individual during these times of COVID.

Inthe beginning, |t was kind of weird to see a the things about COVID
in the news. The virus had not yet hit the prison 'm in. Movement and
‘everything was continuing as normal. | would see the stories of store shelves
being empty, people being hospitalized, businesses being shut down and not
think much of it The virus firt started affecting me one day when | calied my
sister who has 3 chidren and she was worried about finding a store to
purchase food for my niece. Hearing my sister say she was scared of what
‘was going on resonated with me. It sent thoughts of worry for her. As the
virus started spreading more rapidl, I worried for other family members.
Having a grandma on oxygen at home worried. Fortunately, up unil this point
she has been COVID free. My nephew and sister ended up getting the virus.
Fortunately, all they had to do was quarantine at home and were ok They
‘didn't need any further medical attention.

After a few months the prison began seeing cases here and there. |
believe 9 was the initial number. The urit was shut down and there was no
further spread through the institution. During the intialtime though you would
see comectional officers just siting around with no mask on. Now this
frustrated the inmates as we know the only way the virus would be here is
through Staff because they leave and come back. They stopped our Visits
with our family and loved ones. We weren't allowed to see our famiies for
‘worries of spreading the virus yet offiers were showing no regard. | can't
say all because some did wear masks but this was frustrating. They did
eventually startvideo visis. In the beginning of the COVID lockdown we were:
‘only allowed showers twice a week and could not do our personal laundry.
This was again frusirating as they wanted us to be hygienic and do our part
1o stop the spread but we could not shower regularly. To go with this section
here on the overview of the lockdown, because inmate workers were not
allowed in the kitzhen for approx. 2 months, we were fed peanut butter and
jelly for lunch and dinner or just bologna sandwiches (nowhere near our
recommended calorie count).If you would reportthat you were feeling sick
or having symptoms the instittion would quarantine you to_restrictive
housing (the hole) with no personal belongings o anything. So this
discouraged people from saying they had symptoms so they could avod
isolation. Thus they remained in the unit with healthy peopie. The National
Guard would come to do testing once every 23 weeks. The results woukd
take 2-3 days to come back so if You did have the virus you were again st
inthe unit and risk spreading it We share a bathroom 0 you have 150200
Inmates per unit with 2 bathrooms containing 3 stalls with toilets, 6 sinks, and
4 urinals, There are 4 soap dispensers in each bathroom which ran out of
508p a couple times, sometimes for a few days. They would put small bars.
‘about domino size in the bathroom that everyone had to share. All movement
‘was eventually stopped. When movement was going again only those who
had tested negative previously were allowed to work. So thers who had
testod posiive felt punished as they had to stay locked down in their cells all
day. To sum the COVID lockdown up, it has been frustrating for many
reasons. And not being able to see family and loved ones makes it harder.
As far as health care, they did have nurses come to the unit probably.
once, maybe twice a week to ask those who had tested positive a series of
questions and check their vitas. | personally did not test positive for the virus.
1do know muliple inmates who did. Some are stil experiencing after effects
2 couple months later. | do know a couple of inmates also who were taken
out o the hospital and were worse than others. | do know that f you were
experiencing extreme symptoms and an ambuiance was called. | would see
them coming and going quie frequently out of my window. | do not know
anyone who has passed away but heard there were a couple. Someone
also reminded me that during our 2-3 month lockdown we were only given 2
Paper face masks every 2 weeks. These were not made for proionged use.

When it comes to handling the situation, | have done my best to keep
hope inthis going away soon. | try to remain postive. | continue to read,
draw, and lsten to music. | an't e, | have felt myself mentally siipping n my
thoughts and actions. | usually try to catch myse in these moments and try
10 remember we are al going through this. We all are missing familyoved
ones. We allare tired of being stuck inside. It doesn' help that recreation s
ot allowed right now, which s an outiet to releve stress and frustration for
2ot of guys. Now that the vaccine is more available, myseif and others are
hoiding hope for the future. This situation has most defintely changed a ot
for many of us.

m sure | lef some things out as this has gone on for @ year now. This
is most of what has been happening here during COVID. Things have
‘gradually been opening with the number of positive tests going down. | do
Know that out of approx. 2200 inmates here 900+ have tested positve and
those are only confirmed cases.

Thank you for taking thetime to read this. | would alo like to thank you
for everything you are doing 1o help those incarcerated. This is not a place
for anyone to be. And thank you for helping to shine the light on positive
conduct and brutaity.

Tyler M. Wisconsin Department of Corrections
Hey! How are you all doing? | would fist ike to thank you for althe good
work and services you put out and for wanting to hear my story. Thank you for
lending an ear and your time. My nameis Mohammad . and fm 26 and currently
incarcerated at Lawrence Correctional Center. According to the daly intitutional
channel, which is un by the institution, as of 2-5123, there are 303 officers who
contracted the virus; ol but 5 have recovered, and 956 inmates; al but 6 have
recovered, Back towards the end of March s when things started to change for us
here at Lawrence. They immediately put 2 stop to outside vistation, walking to
the chow hall, and our day room time was reduced to 30 mins a day. Each cell

‘would getone phone calland shower a day. Also we niow go to commissary once.
‘2 month. Surprisngly, they have been good on providing us with caustics to clean
our cells. We get a cur of soap and bleach mixed just about every day. I the
beginning months the nurses would walk around the decks checking our temps;
anyone who registered a 99 degrees or higher wouk receive a COVID test. Thisis
howthings st Lawrence were being ran forGuite a whileuntil around Decermber
m quessing the way they were running things wasn't working because on the 16
of December, Reditus Labs were testing inside the institution, twice per week.
They stated that this would go on until they registered zero positvetests for two
weeks. Another thing they 5ad s that f a indvidual does test postive, after he
recovers and gets put back in population, that individual wil ot need to get
retested for atleast go days. Not sur i that's standard procedure but a ot of us
‘guys ind that o be odd. Most of the complaints coming from us brothers stems
from the offcerslackadaisical approach to our safey. Alot of the officers would
walk on the deck with their mask on thei chin, ot it would only be covering their
mouth leaving theirnose exposed. When confronted about this we're sualy met
with a smart-ass respanse such a5 “You are the inmate. Just make sure you are.
following the rules and you'l be okay. Like HELLO you dunce, you offcers are the
ones who are most ikely bringing the virus (other than nurses) into the facly.
They either don't think about it or f you ask me, they simply don't care.

So about 3 weeks 3go, | woke up on @ Monday and I instantly knew
something was wrong. | couldn't quite put my thumb on it though. | had zero
symptoms and didn't feel sick 1 ustfelt of. Later on i the day | took a nsp, and
et me tel you, when | wke up, 1 felt DESTROYED! | had a raging Incessant
pounding inmy head and my body fel ke | was carrying a thousand-pound book
bag. 1 got the porter’s attention and told him to inform the offcer that | need to
speakwith Wim. Five minutes later,the officer comes tomy doorand el himhow
1am fech
minutes laer he comes back and tells me that the nurse said that | an't have
COVID because | just got tested 3 days ago and my result was negative. Its
probably just a ittle fever”. replied thatthat s a very inadequate response 3nd
that | needed medica attenion. Ether send me to healthcare or have 3 nurse
come to my cell and check me out. At the very least come to check my tem. The
offcer said he would make more calls, and i the meantime lt him know if my

‘and he tells me he will make some calls and see what he can do. 30

‘condition gets worse. At this point s 12:30 p.m. and by 1:30, felt worse. | pushed
my emergency button, which s in every cell. It sends a message to the offcer in
the office that there s an emergency. | promise you | pushed that button no less
than 100 times and for an hour straight, to no avai. By this time, 2:30,Fm freezing
andliteraly ripping sweat.Ihave long hair and no exaggerationit was soaked. So
1 grabbed my tablet and sent my sister two lengthy detailed emails explaining
‘everything that has transpired and that f she receives the emails before | can cal
hertomorrow o alldown here ot Lowrence ad raise hell. s ad, but st fthe
ime, theonly wayto et things doneis tohave ourloved ones apply pressurefrom
the outside. o forthe res o th day,jstay n bed bundied uptrying to sieep
the day away. My ceimate dd suggest that | shouid ry totalktothe offcr that
works second hift, but by his point id' fee ke talking to anybody. My body
ftt ke crap.t it know whether € wanted to b hot o cold and all | wanted o
dois stay inbed and not move. | decided that | would deal with the pain and bear
it for one day, then tomorrow when | come out, il callmy family and when they
cllup here, Fm defintely going o receive medica atention. S0l woke upthe next
day around 8001 brushed my teeth, washed my face, and put my shoeson, ready
for my phone cal, and that's when it bt me: | did feel anything at il No.
symptoms: headaches, body aches, sweats al gone. | fet like | was back to
operating st 100%, | et like my normal elf, My celmate and | figured the nurse:
was right;probablyjusthad a e fever. | sweartwas crazy how| went osleep.
and it hurt to move and to skeep the night through and miraculousy healed by
moring. 5o | dropped the whale thing about my family calng down here and
enjoyed the restof my day. The next day, Wednesday,the Reditus Labs came to
my deck and tested vaal Here we go, the mament of tthis a st upon vs. The
next da, Thursday, around 330 .. theofficer comes o my cel and informs my
cellmate and | that we bt tested positive for COVID and to pack ourbelongings.
We're being moved to 6 house (the quarantinefpositive house). § hovse was
basicaly being ranthe same a everyother house. Each cll comes outfor 30 mins.
Aphone calland a shower. Obviousl the Reditus Labs weren' testingin 6 house
being that we were il positve. | was tod tha | would have o spend two weeks
6 hovse, then | woukd b reeased back to general population. shoukd mention

that the nurses were coming on the deck every day, checking our temps and
xygen evels. On my 13" day | asked the nurse fit was safe to send me back to
regular population the next day. | thought that we should have to produce a
negative test result, then be let back out into general population. The nurse
informed me that that was uncalled for because the virus would run ts course by
two weeks and that | couldt infect and spread the virus. So here | am now 3-4
weeks since | tested positive and | am doing and feeling great. 1o not get tested
when the Reditus Labs come on the deck and am told that | won't need to for at
least 3 months. Not sure why that is? The nurses recently went door-to-door
asking every individual if they planned to get the vaccine. | replied in the
affiamative and asked which company would be supplying the vaccine. Let me tell
ou; iflooks could il 1 wouid be dead two times over. | got her message: just be
happy you're getting the vaccine. think it's safe to say that she dicnt have an
‘answer to my question and 't this day, every nurse | come across tells me they
‘don't know where the vaccine is coming from (Modema or Pfizer.) Maybe that's
something you can find out. Well that's the end of my story. | hope | was able to

give you some insight on how things are being ran and that you found it to be
informative & enlightening. Once again, thank you dearly for taking the time to
listen to my story. Wish you al the best.

Sincerely,

Moharmmad, linois Department of Corrections
Hello,

Covid-19 pandemic begins to invade the states and the prisons.
Here at FCI Elkton in Ohlo we had our 1* death from Covid-19 and
about 20 cases as I recall. Our population at that time was
overcrowded. Over 1800 prisoners, at a facility designed for about
1200. Not only was the units full, but 5o was the SHU (special housing
unit/hole).

Visitation was the first thing stopped, as well as all outside
volunteers. This affected me the most because, I was waiting on my.
17 visit ever from my 18 yr. old niece, she was planning to come the
end of March 2020...se are now a year later and still no visiting.

By mid-April they began *swab” testing us. I being high risk due
to my COPD and other issues was one of the first groups. [ *tested”
positive and was moved to the chapel for quarantine purposes. Mind
you, the gym visitation room, chapel and education were all
designated for this purpose. So no recreation, no religious services,
1o education, no library-all were closed to us. Even the dining hall no
longer allowed us to sit and eat. We picked-up our meals in Styrofoam
clam shell trays and retumed to our units. Unless you were in
quarantine-then your meals were brought to.

Health Services stopped doing “sick calls” and we now had to
rely on a guard to make a decision on whether we needed healthcare
ornot.

Having been moved to the chapel, we didn't have our property
at first and the shower was “mocked” up in the handicap toilet stall.
With no access to reading material or anything really we mostly slept
and ate. During this time I never experienced any “symptoms”. After
2 weeks were moved to a “Unit". 3 Units became quarantine, while the
visitation room was kept for those going to half-way houses (which
most were put on hold or delayed) and home.

Another two weeks and our unit and two others that had
become quarantine units became general population units (we were
never tested a second time yet told we were now “Covid recovered.

All the other units then became quarantine or isolation units.
All these new Covid (+) cases had to be tested 2, 3, 4, up 10 5 times
before being cleared.

Commissary (store) was dropped to $50.00 a week and
constantly out of stock of items common to our needs in here.
Finding ourselves without job, and many indigent this became
stressful

Hobbycraft items were not allowed to be ordered because the
‘money comes off your allowed commissary and these staff members
didn't want to deal with orders anyway. People who had In-Unit hobby
craft authorization began running out of materials, and did not have
access to recreation to obtain anything they may have had out there.

Flash Forward 2 months-Hobbycraft allows guys 10 pick up stuff
from lockers. One hour recreation yard per unit. Visitation starts back
with limited days per unit and dictated by staff when and who would
be allowed. Most people moved back to original housing units. Still
walking to chow hall and bringing Styrofoam trays back to unit to
eat.
Still very few inmates working.

FEMA tent put on basketball court takes weeks to set up and
becomes quarantine for the guys getting out. Portable showers and
restrooms were brought in for them. After the “inspection” of that
situation, they removed the portable trailers and brought in Port-a-
Johns and only allowed showers every few days at another location.
‘They had no phone access.

They closed the original units for quarantine AA, CA, EA and
again moved people around.

Just this month February 2021 they increased the spending limit
t0 5200 a month, and allowed a very limited hobby craft order from
only Blick Art Supplies. What we are allowed is also very limited and
‘mostly only the more expensive items (they also charge an additional
30% on top of the price). Any order comes off your commissary
allowed balance.

We no longer walk to chow-hall for lunch, it is brought to the
Units. Breakfast and dinner we walk over to meals). They don't want
us possibly to intermingle with other units, (when the administration
is here during the day).

Healtheare is virtually non-existent and the over all care-level is
sub-par to the point of being dangerous at times. When I arrived here
before Covid they took me off of Meloxicam (for arthritis) because
“they don't give that here” and was told to buy Tbuprofen. I'm on other
‘medications for asthma, COPD, high blood pressure which “state” not
to take Ibuprofen with these medications-and then they got the
dosages wrong. Yeah not the best care in the BOP.
‘We are in open-cubes and while the courts forced this facility fo
decrease the population we are still overcrowded and its receiving
more transfers into the facility. Our Covid situation is not over by any
‘means, any time [ leave my cube I wear a mask. But masks do not
prevent Covid. Many guys who tested positive here wore masks
religiously so don't think masks make you safe.

The vaccine has been offered to staff, essential workers and
those 65+. The rest of us???

Who knows when or if we'll be offered the vaccine.

I'm in no way complaining. But the conditions which we are
forced to deal with in here are quite unreal. Fresh air is shown 1o be
good for one's health, exercise as well, but we are allowed so lttle of
that. Even being socially distanced while outside they force guys to
wear masks, if you don't, you go to the SHU (hole). Anything healthy,
productive, or beneficial to our health and well-being is denied to us
or made nearly impossible to obtain, with prices having a 30% mark-
up. What you would pay $100 for I way S130. Can people send me
drawing paper? No. Can people purchase crochet hooks, yarn and
have it sent from an approved vendor? No.

‘Why? Because it would not allow the facility to gauge 30% of the price
for their own coffers.

You would think that to keep guys busy and not “idle” they
would do everything possible to allow us these items to occupy our
time and "keep us out of trouble".

Ican understand a slight *fec” for Hobbycraft program however,
Unit Hobbycraft items are used in the Unit, not at recreation
Hobbycraft areas. We don't use the tools or other equipment out
there. Plus, we can't use it during this continued Lock-Down.

As for eating the Unit(s). don't mind it but not every cube has.
adesk to sit at to eat and every cube has two inmates and no chairs
t0 sit on. Tables in the *TV" room can only manage, at capacity, about
1/3 of the Unit population, but we are not allowed to sit next to cach
other (social distancing). Even though we have all been in the Unit
together for months without anyone getting sick from Covid. So, it
would be nice to sit down at a table to eat, haven't done that
personally in almost a year.

‘Yes, something needs to change here, but it is likely to remain
this way for another year. If it ever changes back to something more
normal. We are at a “low” ot a "VSP" but being treated like higher
custody.

Thanks for listening-hope this has given you a sense of what it's
been Iike in her over the last year.

James P, Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Dear Inerested Partis,
T am writing this t0 el the story of COVID in my prison Elkion, in Lisbon,

Ohio, We've been locked down since April 1% 2020. I witethis in

ebruary.
‘When this al began, we (the inmates) were kept in the dark. No one would confiem
whether or ot COVID had reached the compound. I ad. St they kept the detils
from us. We were denied recreation and began t0 go 1 the chow hall (0 pick up our
fo0d. We mixed regularly with kitchen workers and staf. Then people strted geting.
sick, A close personal fiend of mine eventually “fell out” and never returmed to the
‘compound. He passed away and the only way we found out was when his named
appeared inthe local news. | was devastated. While this was going on alarge number
of us experienced tota loss of smell and taste. At this poin, it wasn't listed as 3
‘Symptom of COVID. This was within the first two months. There was no sick call
10180 get checked out. T experienced light-headiness, nausea and had problems with
‘my eqilibrium. Around this time the video made by an inmate had gone viral so
the Natonl Guard were on site. [ decide to get the unit offcer o let me go to
medical. | needed to be scen. I just wasn't feeling right. Our units only have one

officer. Six officers fortwelve unts. | have 1o w

with uncertainty, for the officer
0 come 10 my units side. When I saw him I asked 10 g0 to medical. He asked what

‘was wrong. nformed him of the sbove mentioned. He asked f 'd be akay to walk
the compound because h radioed medical check time out. tod him 1 don'tthink
50", He told me to walk across to medical. Now, they were sl serving chow to
other units, ol him [ wasn' sure T could make it without faling. His esponse was.
1€ you drop, I'lljust radi it in.” Yeah, he said that. So | ambled with a shuffing
uncoordinsed past peope who may or may not have been nflcted, that | may or
ay not ave inflected. | get to medica eveatually (without fallng) and am told to
vait i the witing area. Nurses, safl, . are walking by aloag with members of
the National Guard. We were smack dab i the middle of the worst pandemic ever,
and these women ar Jss concened with the health and well-beingof the compound
than they are with the “cute men” s they giggle sbout t. Yes, mesnwhile my heart:
‘was hammering my ribs and two other gentiemen are witing. One of them I kaow,
he's hooked up o an oxygen mask.He tels me “T'm going tothe hosptal pease tell.
Ot (rickname of an iomate we both know). As 1 rte thi, I'm almost postive
was the st it on the compound o see him. He did i the hospital. Wel, they
decided o give me & chest x-ray to Took for fud. | explain o the women my
concemns. She does my vital signs. Normal pulscox, bettr than normal blood
presure, 9.0 temp and a pulse of 137 bpm! She reaks out about that, my x-ys
come back and no COVID, She thinks | might be dehydrated. I've made a habit of
drinking & water bottle or more a day. 360z water botle at that too. We waited

awhile. She takes my vital signs, and everything is sbout the same. My pulse i 141,
and 1've only bee sting down, | mention tis becsuse I asked for my medica
ecords here and thei offcal document say my pule was 107 and 109, As an
nmate am scum f soiety. | know s hard 0 belevebut I'm ot fbrcating tis
And sine 's my word aganst thee, s by defauht | was eventally ol 0 g0
ack o the unit, agai | s, “Whatif] " Her response, "I you dro, we'l adio
it can'cmake that p. The same wordsas before, | eveatallyretumed o normal

health. 1 then asked the warden for a compassionate release, via emal,

‘ve done
40% of my time and was lsted as “a isk” due o the fact thatI've had preumonia
atleast 4 times since coming here, combined with severe asthma. 'm the only one
I've encountered inmy 8 years of incarceration who has a nebulizer machine. | was
denied my release. Then the compound received tests. Months afer losing my
taste/smell | was declared to have COVID. They moved me 0 another unit with over
100 positive tet resuls. Ask just about any inmate here we've ALL had COVID.
‘They didn’t have tests for a while and you can't always trust the resuls, They made
a few “isolation: units, they never reated us. We received NO medical of any type
other than what we were already taking forchronic care. We were leftfor weeks in
other units (o cohabitate with other people who may or may not bave COVID, Now,

those who tested positive and who had false positves were all in the same living

space, This inevitably exposed EVERYONE 1o COVID. How? Well,the inmstes

have COVID, officers were exposed they now expose everyone else. They then re-
tested everyone who was postive 2 weeks ater. Those cleared moved fo other uits.
Months of uncertainty for us all. We are al jaded and cynical because sacity has
forgotten us, We were recently given recreation. 2 wesks ago, they liftedthe S0/week
spending li
delusion that my story will change anything. The ACLU lawsuit gave us a glimmer

i, 11's been over 10 months and we are il locked down. 1 have po

of hope that was crushed. I sincerely hope my freedom won't come from death in
this prison. | have § more years o go. Will my family ever see me agein?
Sincerely,

Anonymous, Federsl Bureau of Prisons.
My name is Timothy O'Donnel. At the beginning ofthe year 2020, not
only i a virus find its way into alof our fves, but a man, who was
handcuffed, died after an offcer of the law pressed his knee into his neck
whil he pleaded forai. This event srked demonstrations of protest all
over the world.In Chicage, IL a man allsgedl set poiice car ablaze
during the protest thatturmed into a ot with much antagonizing coming
from the riotpolice. | found myself incarcerated in Chicago's downtown
federal prison calle the Metropoltan Correctonal Center. Dus to the fact
that | undergo Methadone treatmen, | must reportto a clinic ouside o the
prison once a month. You must quarantinefor 14 0 26 days anytime you
take a tp oulside of the pison, 80 nstead of moving me i and out of
quaraniine every fourieen days. | found myseifin situaton that foroed me.
o complete lockdown although 'm il technically innocent uni proven
guity. Monday thvough Friday, | am on a 23 hou lockdown schedule where
forthat haf hour | am ableto shower, make 1 fteen minute long phone
call,clean the cell, exercise or make legal emals n the computer foom.
‘Saturday and Sunday’s | st in'a 128 cel that | share with another inmate.
Never do 1 move offthe quarantine floor where | wouid be able o attend
church senvies, psychology meetings, access 1o exercise equipment, etc
For a year | have had to make sureto stay on top of who comes into
contact with me by wearing two masks and taking advantage of the anti-
bacterialdispensers. Everyday coud be the day | come into contact with
Covid-18 via inmate or guard. Now that ime has passed, the guards have
relaxed to the caution nesdad to be safe from this virus. More times than |
count when 2 guard i rushing to complete his dally tasks to run home by.
ot putting o isher masks to go intothe celis and check on the condion
of the rooms. It only takes a second o catch Covid019 and guards are in
constant contact of the inmates, not to mention passing our food to us. Yes,
there have been mulile outbreaks of the virus, throughout the Summer
and Winter of 2020. fve sat next to an inmate that was wheezing fo air, not
‘wearing his mask, in an elevator going o the medical flor to acquire
medication. Psychologically, it has been not only depressing, but extremely
disturbing how this virus has been handled in the B.0.P. Many staff
workers n the medical unt have quit working here out offear of catching
‘Covid. The worst part s how the inmates are treated, not only do we feel
like society's rash, butthe staff reat everyone like lepers n such a chidish
way. Social distancing Is a complete joke in the faciity, there s just no way
You can distance the inmates, the soluton is o just stay in lockdown.
‘Commissary has been few and far between and these limitations just
create more aggravation among the inmates. Hopefull the vaccines will
‘give us some kind ofleverage, but most of our hopes are low atthe
moment, Waking up to sounds of inmates coughing and wheezing, banging
and yeling out of frustration to no avail and making sure to stay cautious of
Who Is noar me unti something else happens is ust how s going fo be for
awhie.

Sincerely,
Timothy O'donnell, MCC Chicago
“THE STRUGGLE" is Iiving breathing entity but without the energy of loyal
dedication and honest participation the struggle will eventually stagnate.

Truly befieve i is my obigation to ail the prisoners who don' have the
platform to speak their truth. Also to those of you who've spent countess
‘years/hours on the frontine in the trenches of socialjustice. Thank you for
the passion.

12m housed at ADX in Florence, Colorado, fm sure that most of you know.
of this monstrosity, | find myself in the crown jewel of the federal industral
prison complex. Psychological warfare on the highest level. 23 & | super-
max, single cel detention, minimal to no human contact. Most of the
prisoners n this facilty wil never leave the nside of the walls.

Fim sure all of you have witnessed of read about the people who refuse 1o
Social distance or wear a mask. as i there sn't a pandemic for this prison
‘population. Most of the facilty stlffit that description. imagine my thoughts
when a correctional officer shaws up to my cell door with my food not
‘wearing gloves or a mask.or when I being escorted to recreation and the
€O, doesn't have gloves or mask on. My thoughts are all over the place. In
my mind its only a matter of time before 'm showing symptoms! The
prisoners rely on the faciity staf for everything: food, mal, recreation,
dleaning supply, laundry. law ibrary. phone, viitation, razors.

The only way covid can enter these wals is through staff and if they are not
practicing proper precautions the prison poputation i itting ducks. _Staff
feeds us breakfast, lunch, dinner, they escort us to recreation, then you 2dd
the simple mundane acts of everyday supermax ife, medical, law fibrary,
visitation, phone. showers. The outcome s predictable.

No doubt we did have an outbreak but what happened next made no sense.
Those who had been exposed or actualy Contracted the virus were moved
into our unit. Let me point out that ADX has two empty unit, so why did the.
aaministration decide to move the prisoners 1o a void free unit. To
quarantine does not mean to isolate around people who have not been
exposed which s exactly what happened. | won't speculate why this
happens, | just know that it was a reckless decision.

Sothere 1was inmy cel, feeing hefpies s | observed medica staffwesring
full ersonal protecive equipment (PPE] monitoring the prsoners daly. n
my mind there wasn't a question if | would catch Covid, but when. S0 the
range of emotions ran high and low. | became anxious, desperate. afraid,
sad, depressed, constant mood changes, my siress level went through the
Foof. Then add the interruption of my daily routine: o recreation, showers
only three times a week, hot food every 48 hours, visiation cancelied, no
laws library, no phone calls. Fortunately, | have yet to catch Covid. Medical
Started giving us Covid tests and the staff are wearing gloves and masks. No
‘one has died that | know of, but | wouldn't know.

Sincerely,
Anonymous, ADMAX Fiorence Federal Bureau of Prisons
Covid-19 Broke me!

Hello,

I'm a transgender female in a male prison and I'm n a prison that's infected.
With Covid-9. It been hell, 1 have been locked down like 23-1 for over a
‘year because of Covid-19. My mental health disorder has risen and dropped.
Due to Covid-19, ' not allowed to go yards and mental health groups. They
‘barely clean these cells, no they don't clean the cells or the showers where I
am housed, at M.T.C. (Modified Therapeatic Community). The CO's give us
very lttle bleach an a towel. CO's wear gloves, black unsanitary street gloves,
instead of latex to pass out our food. 1 have gotten sick 3 times duriag the
Covid-19 pandemic. don't know if it was Covid-19 or not because CO's nor
the nurses don't tell who has Covid-19. My next door neighbor had Covid-19
‘and nobody told him he had it until he ask one nurse, and the purse said he
tested positive 0n 1/22/21, but said he is good now because it been over 14,

days. They kept my neighbor next to me while he had Covid-19 and has
interacted with all of us. It's been very scary in here. The windows are

plastered up for the winter and no correct ventilation inthis cell ouse, which
s the North house. Itis not fit for nobody to livein.

‘They have since moved me, but did take the first Modema. It's kinda scary.
0z CO's are saying yall gonna die. After we got the shot my arm is still sore.
Ttook the first shot on 3/2/21 and have to wait 28 ays before the second.
People don't even wear Ngs mask or none; It scary cause you don't know.
who'has it

Cee Cee Williams, linois Department of Corrections
Hello,
How are you? 1 hope this letter finds you well and safe. | wish to extend my
sincere thank you for all you do to help people inside prison and outside. |
beleve that the hate and oppression of certain people has gone on far too long.

Here at Grafton Correctional Institution a lot has happened, and 1 am
writing thi letter knowing that if someone of this nstitution discovers that |
‘wiote a letter to tel of what Grafton has done, there will be retalation. Each
and every day, we are locked down inside the unit. Temperature and oxygen
levels became the norm every morning. When I started showing a few symptoms.
and told the people 1 was not feeling well, they gnored it because I still had my.
sense of smell and taste. I siept for three days and even had wrote to medical
that I needed cough medicine. | never received medication but was finally called.
to medical and they did the same temperature and blood oxygen check and
hecked my blood pressure. The nurse told me | did not have covid and sent be.
back to the block to suffer without any medication. As | slept for three days,
‘when I woke, | had to force myself o drink water and eat a slce of bread. | had
o appetite and had told the nurse such. | never received a covid test or was.
able to see a doctor-only the nurse. S0 | was eft to my own means. Luckily, |
i not have a more severe case. At meals, at first we only went to meals with
our block, then the meals started getting delivered to each block, then we.
‘walked to pick-up our meals from the chow hal
1 have been wearingthe same shoes for over a year and a half, and the.
qartermaster stopped giving out shirts, socks, towels, and washcloths and we.
now have to purchase these items from commisary. But pison obs only pays
1P 10 524.00 2 month if you ae a level and nota portr. We hav to purchase.
o own pain pills, cold meds, etc.aundry soap, body soap, shampoo,
envelopes, and such and th prison work pay has not ncreased even though we
have to buy these items now. Most pecple think the prson supplies this to
everyone, but they don't ( have included a commisary sheet 50 that you can
see theprices-attached below.) Now most male pisoners pay childsupport from
the $24.00 3 month, 50 they receive $15.00. To be dectared indigent, you have
0 ave less than $12.00 a month. 5o the pison will oy give you 3 hygiene kit
1f you have less than $12.00. You have to buy your own tofet paper.

Cond coused visis tobe stopped and we started toget video viis for 15 minutes.
at cost 1o our family of $3.50 per vist. We also stared geting 3 free five
minute phone calls a month. 1 knew 2 pecple who died, B and Rivers. As for
Ranling covid, it i hard at times, you have to find something to do. | kit and
crochet and read 19 books n 2020. We had more ights than previous years and
they stopped puttng people in the hole (egregation) because it was being used
forcowid quarantine. The mal system has now sarted copying al our mai and
Keeping the orgials for 30 days. When we had vists,the instiution lamed our
vistors for brnging indrugs. 50110 visits orvolunteers allowed inthe prison due
10 covid-you would have thought o drugs. o now it was our mafl that we were.
geting drugs in. Nope-tis corection insttuton loves corporal punishment.
People made alcohol 5o they took away sugar packets. People were smoking tea
bags, 50 now you cannot buy tea. No punshment of indviduals, Just punish
everyone.

‘When covid came, th institution shut down all programs. 1 you were &
person that needed Victims Avareness o receive parole, well, 10 program 50 10
parole. The only program that was not stopped was thesex offender program.
BUt1am not n tha program, nor would | 0o something ke that

recently started having vison sues. Now it cots s $2.00 o see medical
or the doctor. That 1 days of work for us. When | was called to have my vison
checked, the nurse had me read the chart. One eye was 20/15 and the other
Was 20130, 1 was told that since it was only one eye o buy reading lasses off
commisary (which 1 cannot afford) and they would not refer me to the eye
doctor, but kept my 5200,

Recreation has been shut down. No workouts. The chapel wa closed-—no.
retigous services. We Just exit. People in pison during covd meant to fust
breathe. Ifyou have a problem, oh wel, we will wait unti that problem 1s severe
then we might lookInto It We are stuck n our uni or cohort. We could only
have contact with our own unit, no ther peaple. However, a the warden sad

i1 a town hall, f the inmates got covid, It was because it was brought in by staff.
We see differen staff working different unitsalth time. Instead of havig the
same staff work the same unit, to minimize. exposure, they send stafl
everywhere and stl infect us, but stil restrict everything. It seems (ke the
institution was making sure we would get covid. There vas no real safety
measures. No one enforced mask wearing. The guards were not wearing masi.
People would walk around theblock (especially the younger guys) with no mask.
on, exposing us lder and vulnerable peaple to covid. And they dida't care.

Life inside has been mare dfficult due to covid. However, | am grateful
1050l be alve and that my case o covid id not st long. Though st have,
trouble with breathing when | walk o the chow hallwith the cold weather that
causes me to cough mare.

sicerely,

‘Anonymous, Ohio Department of Corections
How are you doing today?
‘Things here are getting outof control As you know, we have been locked
down for about 10 months now because of covid-19 and in those 10
months, we have not left our unit, except to et a grab and go breakiast and
unch, ifwe are not locked n our colls for a covid outbroak (ike we are ight
now). We also goto laundry and commissary oncs every two weeks. We
40 NOT have access to the library or any education. No book carts have
been sent around to the units in ten morihs. The only books we get to
read are the ones out famiies send us through the mail and programs like:
[Midwest Books to Prisoners]. The books we do get we pass them around
10 each other 50 we have some thing to occupy our mind when we are
ocked in our el for 23 o more hours each day. Some people don't have
‘money to order anything for themselves, including books. And now the
prison s taking away our abilty to even order books. What are we
supposed o do al day, every day? How are we not supposed to lose our
minds?

Sincerely,

Anonymous, Federal Bureau of Prisons
“lncasceaton During Cond”

On Febravy of 2020 1 got sick ke nevr before. 1 was bed rden for two weeks.
soingin and ot of consciousness. My emise body 1 lad no ppesie and |t styed
e waiing for by body o it offwhat | hought s che . Covid wasnt ven ahought
ack then, bus e few monthsof watcin dis virs wreak o acsoss the workd Lam
confident e somehow comractelcovid tat e Februr.

st heard bt oviddough CNN, bt ' sl pay e aention o, hisking
it would b somedbing ke HIN here people would st sick, et et and move on wilh
e lives. 1t vt undl Mach 10 when the NBA shut dow s sezson due 1o coid
concemns when it it me *This is something diffeeat’. The NBA generies, and s
nundreds of illios (1 ot ilions) of dolls o a season, o i they are shuting down
(o profis ncome then soveding Ui s i 1o happen. | immedisely gt on the
hone and wared ll my Faiy bting them know 0 bunker down cause s oing 0 gt
liecray ouere. 1o s keeping rack o e viruss desth ol irough CNN polls.

I her, o March 12, 2020, viss were canceled uni foher noice. We were
W devasaicd. No more se

outamily or riends. No mre social contact like hugs o
el Risesfom our kids. Ereryori was upst. Allwe e et now was oo 15 e
i viss week 0 see our loved oves, bt he Kosks are 50 mesed p that alf dhe time:
we canmot hear vl ous vsorsar sying o the sreen sl piclated. A couple of days
e e et prison went on quaraatine lock down and we were stuck in oo celsfor 23
ey Thisis the same wresment 1 we were nsegregaion. We had no recreaion,
o b ibrar, o Chiaplin senices, 0o valking 0 the chow bl and we were oy able (0
come out or da roomn wice 2 day for 30 mimses each o idher use the phooe or shower.
Tharwasiv

During dis e, the heakd cave it wasbecoming overwhelmed with cone cases,
50 0n Apel 1 my v wnit which bl 52 two man cels were al 0id fo pack p because
our buikding wouldbe used 25 2 quareine it where ansone who cachs cord woukd be
sentthere. Outuni was uprooted and we were all satered 10 dilerent houses where the
Vs wasalveady being s from peson t person ad increasin e clances of s getong
it Atthe same tme, corectional offcrs,murses,counselor, and any person employed by
e insiution were NOT beingforced to weas masks!

The adminisraion stopped ou family and frcnds from coming nto the prison fo
s, stoppect us from going 1o ecreson,law Hbary, sehoo,etc..in orler 10 keep us e
froms caiching covid but faled horrendousy becaus tey were the cariers who got us
sickanc causedlves 0 be lost ll because they couke'sdo sometbing s simpl 5 wese 2
fcemask from the very begineing.

Hwast unl people started dying when officers sated wearing frce masks, but
‘w110 profect us from themnot T was 1o protect themseles from usand they woukd et
e known (00! Mosds e we wou eveatually b Gven one fce mask per weck t wear
for ourscives and woud have © hav it on upan coming out ofthe cell o ls we'd be wrien
a discipinaey ieket. Tt was e comical v v secn some officersyellinga¢ innaes 0
It o i fce masks aver thee noses, et they won' even have onc on themseves.

(Covi i very siagle it inthe compousl and it seemed ke everyone conaced
the virus bt o one would et the sl sbot it nclding mysell when | contracied iyt
i i e Noversber, Wiy would we ot 1l yo might sk? Wel, when one ges
sick you dont know i the veus or not and by the me i it you you're 100 weak f0 do.
uythingbutayn e 1 you el ofice that youre sick, el el you 0 pack upall your
Droperty and be aken o & diflere uni where you'l ave 1o unpack and st there for w0
weeks. And dat's all you'll be doing-siting Uere. Being in the quarantoe uni docsnt
mean you'e being Gven any special cae o even given cold pils,no. I you want Tylenl,
‘you sill Bave to it hesleh care and wit & weck o be seen by 3 nuse and then aother
week for your Tylesol 1o asive. By then you'sealscady ot of quarantine. Aflr o weeks
f being on quaranine, whether you'e il ik or ot you're geting moved bk o the it
you came from. Tt defeis the purpose of even lving auaranine unt i fected pecple
are coming back out and infectng he rest of s, 1 coukd g0 on forever over he lack of
common sense the dministrason s, but I nd i here,

Being incaceraed for ver 20 year, | am use 10 being on lock down, . most
eople out there aen't so o May of 2020 1 posted the following *Lock Down Tips”
“Tips for the Zombie Apocalypse” on my Ficcbook boping 1o bing sk o those who.
o the same fory'al. 130 included my covidreconls wivch 1 kept.

resd t-masbe i
Siacerd,
Juan H. linois Depariment of Corrections.

(Corona-Vius Updtes.

31020 1200 case 8 37 demtha. NBA st cown 5 s
1620, 5700+ e &.105 Gead g US
32120, 21,00 deced .26 doxd

4120 78,000 iected §1.135 dead

520 186,014 deced 8 3852 dend
/1420, 1.158.341 loced & 67,698 doad
71220 2,625,828 decie & 128,084 deac.
772020 3773723 fectsd & 140,536 dead
101820 7533976 fectd 8 21142 doad
111820 5,885,503 feced 8 237618 dead
1272620 18.725.322 ricied § 329752 desd
* 2621, 27,757,600 ieced &.488.103 dead

Locksoun Tos

1. Justbecause you et 6o anyting a1 day dossnl mn you can ki showed. |
‘wont merkion any names, ut 45 person knows who | am taking abot

2. Pk up 8 hobby. | st sarid rawing whie n the hle d now s pasion of i,
A 5, inge watzhing The Foster” & not 8 hobby

3. Do ot overeat To ome, beingfocked up forong prods of e makes them anous.
s iy 105 et eeings 50 tht okl down

4. Exercel Workingout ot leat 20 mises ovry day il make your body (e
Remember, cnce o ock down avaryon s §ong 5 be lookng for & new Sancha 80
o ou weh & kar body

5. Try ot o ki your spouse orwhomeve i n oo i you ha maybe hing ou
. v Vo v up ckd s wh v i he
myset.
Hello T will share sbout the conditons in here, regarding covid,but | am aeid of
recaliation. 1 will share what it wss like in here during the covid pasdemic. For many.
‘months, we were confined to our cels. For the firt two months, we were not abe to
come ut of ur cell except for sbout 15 minutes, hree days 3 week, t shower only. We.
line in two man cels, room spproximately 14 fectlong by 6 feet wide, with 3 double
bunk, 1 sink, 1 toilt, and 1 ltle table. There i a “trap" o slot n the door of the cell
about 1 foo wide by & inches wide,aad sch day,thre imes 8 day, officers would unlock
each slotand feed us brown paper bags. We e the same thing each day; ¢ lte cartons
of mill, s litte bag of cereal (smal portion for like a chld) and an apple—that w
breakfast. Lunch sed dinner were the same thing evry day. For two morith, for lunch,
we gotfou alices of resd, s prtion of peanut butter, el two slices ofbologaa and one.
s of checse. Same thing fo dinper, Atr those first two months, thy started leting
10 of st 3 time, every two days, for one hour, 1 shower, use the phone and the
computers. Al fderal prisons have five or six computers in each bousing unit which
inmatescan use to ook up notice o the bolltin, e-rmai tal and lso family and friends,
tht i for those fortunate enough to bave fmilies and fiends out there. | don't have any.

ARerthe firs two months, the prison commissary sarted maldng weekly visits o
ach housing uni, but the only items iamates could purchase were over the counter
medicine £ 30 inmate was i, he would have to submit a “sick call” rguest, but they
were only desing with emergencies. As another inmate put it “you would have (0 be
dyin o be seen by medical stff” We were all given masks which we were equired to
‘wear outside our celsbut not while we were inside cur cls.

Then for three o four months, the bag lunches they gave us improved a e but
ot much. No hot meals were served for over six monthsl Afer six months, they
extended the time we could stay out of our cells rom one bour 10 90 minutes, and
increased the number of inmates out rom 10 t0 20t ime. [nmates sarted gecting sick
and eventually they wouldget medical attention which basically meant moving from thels
housing snit to another bosing unit which had been ermpty and al the nmates who got
covid got moved to that unit fo two or three weks. 1 had covid: 3 mild case of #,
eventully more than hlf the prison popuation got covidand when it reached its worst
it about cight out often inmats got it Al medical treatment was stopped due 1o
‘s and they were only attending t0 emergencies—which there were few. This fclty
herei the worst s far 1 their medical treatment and heaihcare, tha 1 have seen and |
have see quite few. There wereinmates who according to medical safl ad ( be taken
o outside hospitals because they got very sick with covid, ther organs began (o shut
down. 1 heard there were two deachs but medical stff would o conlem or deny it Tt
was bad. T am gratefl that | did not et very sick and only had mild caseofc.

Sncerey
Anonymous, Federal Bureau of Prisons

Helo, 1 tied puting my personal quaraniine experience into words, but couldnt
make the sory interesting. How do you convey the monihy gind of waitng to
catch the virus or wailing 10 get the vaccine?. In January. Menard Correctional
‘Genter stated tesing guards and inmates twice a week withthe rapid covid test
Inmates who were infected wefe moved to the south cell house and isolated unti
they had two negative tests. My cell house. the west, was covid lean by January.
31 February 13" the imate workers had a serious fght 5o we've been ona level
one lockdown sincethen. No movement except for sick caland ane shower once
‘aweek! All movement was with hands cufied behind back. Not fun.

‘The tactcal feams shook down (searched) our cell on February 16" and
took everything, even our pens. So | had to ind a pen 1o even bs abe to write his.
‘and share my story.

The Friday beore Chestmas, | went o sea the docto because of a very
sore hrot. The doctor sidhat he i see much wrong with my tvoat bt stuck
wo coton swabs way up my nose for & covid e, The quic fet came back
‘negative and the second swab was sent to a lab up north for the more accurate
test. Even though | tested negative, the doctor decided to stick me in isolation for
fourteen days. The "waiting to see f you're sick” gaflery is in the segregation wing.
o1 2 North. Fihy, iy clil Fiat mttesses. You's aone in the coll betind a
‘sealed up front with only a meal siot to receive meals and medications. They forgot.
aboutme inthere and keptme or 18 days. Meanwhie, my sore hroat progressed
int 1 blownsius nfecton. thurtustto swalow watr. | weighed 195 pounds
going in and was down o 175 pounds afterhose 18 days. | was dfycrated and
Weak rom ot eatng. | never 6 find out whether that second fst carme back
posiive o negatve becaus they don' el you. When | got backio my od gallery,
oka said that | looked ke the walking dead.

WM, Hinis Department of Corrections
My Covid Story

Since covid-19 has strted and spread throughout the Michigan Department of
Corrections,the prison system and ofice of lega affais has llegaly stopped all
Taw library, cal ot itineraies, and check outs, thus violating our right to access
the courts. Some of us have deadlines that canniot and will ot be met because of
the MDOC's biatant violation of a constittional right. Covid-1g s continving to
bespread by saff to pisoners who are cearyisoated from the public because the
prison administrations are not following security protocol and precautions by
restingthe COs on the regulr o taking the temperatures of the staff o see i they.
have high temperatures. The prison wiltestonly once fa person has covid-19 and
‘once they've got a positive case they never test that positive person again, but
instead places that person in administrative segregation for fourteen days and
then et them out into general population to contaminate everyone else.

Who hasthisuirustaken from me? My father Anthony WrightSr. died from covid-
25 whil in prison in the MDOC because the staff at his prison didnt take his
symptoms srious. 1had o lose my motherto covid-13in Decemberf 2013 when
the goverment didt know what to asify covd as. | sufer from parancia and
chronic depression but the COs make my symptoms worsy by degrading me and
sayingthings suchas*Covid-s9 i the black people’s cursel” and " hope covidtakes
care of the black problem.*

Sowhathas covid-29 done to me while've been incarcerated? It stolen my joy!
s ruined my peace of mind. Ithas taken my family and it has shown me just how
fow onthe socialladder am. My namels Jonathan Summers and 1am Michigan

Prisoner.
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