Hate crimes in AZ prisons: Where is the FBI?

 "Dana Seawright was deeply loved..."

Phoenix office of the FBI

February 2012

A little over a month ago I chalked the PHOENIX FBI's old sidewalk on Indianola and sent their agent in charge this letter, along with the complete AZ Department of Corrections file on the homicide of prisoner Dana Seawright. In that file are two eyewitness statements identifying who ordered the hit on him, and one hand-written detailed account of his murder by a fellow prisoner who put his life on the line to identify the actual perpetrators  just to clear his conscience. 

I have yet to receive a reply to this letter; perhaps they are still settling into their new building. A hate crime is a hate crime is a hate crime, though, no matter whether it happens in the free world or in prison - for all we know now, Dana's  killers are already back on the loose. When state and local law enforcement are ill-equipped or refuse to address such crimes - as is clearly the case in Arizona, where hate festers and those who harbor it flourish - it should become the job of the FBI. The least they can do is let us know whether or not they received my challenge and are up to it...this young man's mother is waiting.

 from the AZ Department of Corrections' Criminal Investigations Unit

-------------------

February 9, 2012

James L. Turgal, Special Agent in Charge
Federal Bureau of Investigation - PHX
21711 N. 7th Street
Phoenix, AZ 85024-5118

Dear Agent Turgal,

I’m a local prisoner rights’ activist and blogger who spends  a considerable amount of time working with the survivors of prison homicide and suicide. We need your help. On July 3, 2010, Dana Seawright - a state prisoner at ASPC-Lewis in Buckeye, AZ - was beaten down by the West Side City Crips in what was clearly a gang-related hate crime, both of which would seem to fall under your purview:

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/civilrights/hate_crimes
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/vc_majorthefts/gangs

Dana’s homicide is a cold case at the Arizona Department of Corrections now - it was never investigated beyond their own Criminal Investigations Unit, even though their investigation pointed to the criminal complicity of ADC guards in his beating, and consequently in his death. His mother wrote to your office in November asking you to open his case (copy enclosed), and recently received a letter in reply that the FBI is refusing to do so.

I can’t recall the rationale at the moment - just that I found it unacceptable. Therefore, I’m writing to ask that you reconsider that decision. If your own determination is also a denial of jurisdiction or responsibility, then I ask that you please kick it up to the next level. I‘ll keep going with this as far as I need to - I‘ve already taken the issue to my local cops and courthouse (see my enclosed letter), the DOJ’s Special Litigation office, and a state legislator, and Dana’s mother has been cc’ing her US Senators and US Representative on the matter. Her son’s murder can and should be solved - especially before his killers are unleashed again on the rest of us, if they haven’t already been (enclosed is a zip drive with the ADC’s complete CIU files on Dana‘s homicide).

Dana was murdered for being black and having a Mexican lover, according to the narrative written by the AZ Department of Corrections. I don’t know how that could not be a hate crime. He had apparently been targeted when in prison previously because of having a homosexual relationship outside of his race, according to a former prisoner. That former prisoner wrote the enclosed letter to Dana’s mother identifying who he thought was behind his murder was (she wouldn‘t tell the ADC who that prisoner was at the time for fear he would be killed, too. He is now on parole and is willing to talk.). It was the ADC investigators who uncovered the reasons that Dana was attacked, however. They even told her that “if it’s any condolence, they didn’t mean to kill him. They just meant to teach him a lesson.”

The lesson, presumably, was not to get involved in relationships (he wasn’t just having sex with them, which is more acceptable, I guess) with guys outside of his race. Dana was killed for who he loved, not for who he hated, hurt or feared, as is so often the case in prison.

How a criminal investigator can discover the motive for a murder with enough certainty to relay it to the victim’s mother and yet not know the identity of the killers is kind of hard to believe. I don‘t believe it at all, actually. I also don’t understand why the guards involved weren’t even disciplined, much less prosecuted, when Kini’s attorney found evidence of their complicity in the ADC’s own CIU records (see the enclosed civil complaint - the case is still in litigation). Maybe they would lead investigators further up the chain of command.

I have discovered evidence in state documents - CIU reports of homicides and suicides - that at least two deaths with eyewitnesses identifying homicide suspects in the case were simply not investigated further and were instead classified as something else (one as a suicide, one an accidental death). One - the homicide of Pete Calleros - was particularly disturbing because the witnesses served as lookouts for the gang that killed him. One of the suspects was already released and has a warrant. I recently heard from Pete’s family that the state indeed told them he had killed himself - never disclosing the information about the witnesses. They suspected at the time he was murdered, though, and had their own autopsy done, showing that he resisted being choked to death. I think they will be happy to help in any investigation into ADC’s CIU itself.

Furthermore, a former ADC officer by the name of Gary Bullock has blown the whistle on the ADC’s CIU staff, lodging several formal complaints about how they concealed information and avoided assigning responsibility in the death of Brenda Todd last year because of conflicts of interest. It appears the CIU has little oversight, and can‘t even be trusted by their own people.

In any case, that’s why I’m asking the FBI to intervene here - the state can’t be trusted to investigate itself in this matter - in fact, the Attorney General’s office is defending the ADC and staff against Dana’s mother in her civil suit. We’re also talking about a gang-related hate crime perpetrated against a US citizen who was inadequately protected by this state in the first place. I don’t care that prisoners aren’t considered “victims” under our state constitution - this man and his family were criminally victimized because of race and sexual orientation, and I expect the feds to step up and confront what’s happening in the state prisons here - beginning with the execution of Dana Seawright.

Dana’s mother lives with me, so I see her suffering every day that this remains unattended to, and will not relent on demanding a federal investigation until it is. I’m also getting a lot of mail from queer prisoners these days begging for protection from hate crimes by other prisoners, and not getting it from the ADC despite being victims of repeated assaults. The living need your help, too, and re-opening Dana‘s homicide with some emphasis on his civil rights might help other queer prisoners now.

I will be awaiting your reply. Unless you indicate that it contains privileged material, it will be posted to my blogs along with this letter…which means a lot of people are awaiting your reply, actually. They’ve been following this mother’s efforts to get justice for awhile now.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely,

Margaret Jean Plews

Cc:

Ms. Kini Seawright
Amy Wallace, Esq.
US Senator John Kyl
US Senator John McCain
US Representative Ed Pastor
AZ Representative Cecil Ash
US DOJ - Civil Rights Division
NAACP, Maricopa County
Wendy Halloran, KPNX / Channel 12 News
Stephen Lemons, Phoenix New Times

Limits on free speech at the AZ State Capitol...

Was down at the Capitol yesterday following the announcement that our prisoners and survivors have filed their class action lawsuit against the Department of Corrections; this was the day when I planned to finally lay down one of my murals on the plaza between the two legislatures. Dana Seawright's mother, Kini, joined us. I managed to get the main part of it down - sans the names - before the cops stopped to hassle me. 

Fortunately, there were a couple of cameras trained on me at the time Officer Anderson of the Capitol Police confronted me, and ultimately - after giving me the new list of protest rules- they backed down. While trying to dissuade me from finishing my project he fumbled over what law, exactly, I was breaking by chalking the walk, despite his repeated threats to arrest me if I didn't "take it out there" (gesturing to the city sidewalk out by 17th Ave. and Wes Bolin Plaza, where I usually chalk). My response to his directions was to maintain that the free exercise of political speech is meaningless if we are relegated to places where no one can hear us before we're allowed to speak - for which reason, I refused to take my protest elsewhere, and challenged him to ticket me, arrest me, or leave me alone to finish my task. 

Anderson made sure to let me think I'd been both warned and trespassed, telling me I'm not allowed to return to the Capitol grounds unless I have "legitimate business" to conduct there. I asked who made this decision to ban me, who I appeal to, and who, exactly, determines each time I come to the legislature whether or not my business is "legitimate". As far as I was concerned, what I was doing at that moment was a very legitimate effort to communicate information to my lawmakers and governor. All the information I could get out of Anderson, though, was the name "Joe" - that's apparently who's in charge of the Buildings and Grounds department. 


So, how is it that the guy in charge of lawn maintenance is also the one who determines whether or not my exercise of free speech is constitutionally protected? That doesn't seem like it would fly in court, so I plan to challenge it this spring - stay tuned for that one. Besides, it's hard to take cops seriously whenever they go the whole gamut from being Mr. Nice Guy doing me the favor of cutting me a break by letting me go if I stop chalking immediately, to aggressively posturing and threatening to arrest me if I don't comply, to backing off and saying things like "I'm not going to arrest you because you WANT me to arrest you - I'm not talking to you anymore. We're just going to wash this off as soon as you finish so no one that you want to see it will see it" (Anderson's final answer to me yesterday - after which I finished my mural in peace and took photographs so everyone can see). 

I've had way too many cops try to bullshit me into believing that whatever they say is law that I've learned to insist that they cite the law and apply to me it if they really think I'm breaking it - but to otherwise leave me alone. There's also a big difference between rules or codes of conduct and "laws", and cops like to act as if they can arrest me for the former when I haven't broken the latter. I guess I can be trespassed from a property for violating rules, but I don't think they can outright arrest me unless it's also a violation of law.

Anyway, here's the new list of rules for "ACTIVITY" (read: "Protest") at the Capitol. I think we should have a day this spring to do nothing up there but protest them for trying to silence their dissenters, breaking every rule in the book in the process. Until then, my friends, if you plan to protest at the Capitol, be sure to have someone backing you up with a camera rolling on the cops - and the Buildings and Grounds crew - when they come after you...

As far as I'm concerned, the importance of alerting  the right people to what's going on trumps the need for the Legislature to have an "orderly" sidewalk. As long as this Governor denies the severity of the crisis of violence and despair in the state prisons, I'll keep on trying to get the message across in as many ways as possible. If we have to wait for this lawsuit to be settled before anything at the ADC changes, too many more people will needlessly die. Chuck Ryan and his henchmen all need to go now.

Dear Governor Brewer: Time to FIRE Chuck Ryan.

Many folks wonder what I do with the art I create, and why I bother chalking sidewalks when they just get washed off once I leave. The chalkings are multi-functional: they leave a message for the person or entity whose walk I'm chalking, and when I shoot them they deliver my message all over the world on Facebook and my blogs. I have a really cheap, crummy camera, so I learned to make the most of it by manipulating the colors to make these postcards with. I send them to decision-makers, allies, prisoners, media, etc. to raise awareness and show solidarity and struggle with those suffering the most. Feel free to download any of my art and do the same. I do this all with nothing more complex than the Windows image editing program that came with Vista.

We do still have a crisis in the prisons, by the way. The ACLU is about to sue over medical neglect, but the culture of contempt for prisoners and the pervasive despair and violence behind bars is unchecked. It's a poison that trickles from the top down. By far, those dying are the most vulnerable among us - not the vicious punks or molesters people think are the ones who get it in prison, and therefore don't care about. Those committed to protecting the rights of the mentally ill and developmentally disabled in the community should especially care about what's happening in the state prisons, because that's where so many are still heading.

This is what I did with the mural Kini Seawright and I did yesterday at the Herberger - her son was murdered for loving a Mexican. Brewer needs to be held accountable, too: All these deaths after all, are not only Chuck Ryan's - they're hers - and the longer she leaves him in charge the more culpable she is for the next suicide or homicide of someone's child, mother, brother, or friend in prison.

Anyone who is similarly moved to communicate with the Governor may want to do so in a public forum, so you can't be as easily ignored. 

The address for the Arizona Republic is: 

 Letters to the Editor

The Arizona Republic

P.O. Box 1950

Phoenix, AZ 85001

Letters may also be faxed to (602) 444-8933.Or contact them via the on-line form.

Fight Prison Violence: FIRE CHUCK RYAN.

My friend, Kini, and I went down to the Herberger Theater in downtown Phoenix this morning, and chalked a huge mural on their Van Buren Street sidewalk - which happens to be facing the Arizona Republic Building. We hoped it would get someone's attention there, but they tend to ignore me so as not to encourage my protests. It's okay - we got what we needed and left. I'll catch up with them via the US Mail.

Kini's son, Dana Seawright, was murdered in Lewis Prison in July 2010; chalking a memorial for her son and the other prisons who have died in the custody of the Arizona Department of Corrections under Chuck Ryan and Jan Brewer was pretty personal. We both agree that in order to stop this body count from climbing, Chuck and his henchmen must leave NOW. The poison, the contempt for prisoners and their families, begins there and trickles down.

Anyway, we set out on this morning's mission because this was Occupy 4 Prisoners day across the country. This is how our own small action turned out - it made for some awesome postcards about deaths in custody. 

Thanks to Patty at the Herberger today, by the way, for appreciating what we were trying to do and not washing it up as soon as we left. Sorry to leave you such a big job to clean up.

these were both shots taken of the sidewalk from the roof, courtesy of the good people at the Herberger.

Deaths in Custody: National Day of Remembrance For Murder Victims.

I spent some time this past week combing through resources for homicide survivors, trying to pull together something useful for survivors of prison violence today. I was pretty discouraged surfing murder victims' rights pages. It was the victims' rights movement that successfully helped pass a law in Arizona - and across the country - that even further marginalizes prisoners who are victims of violence - and their survivors.

More specifically, the Arizona Constitution explicitly precludes anyone who was victimized "while in custody for an offense" (or their survivor, if they died as a result) from being covered by any provisions of the Victims' Rights Amendment. How then, can they possibly hope to embrace, assist, or represent families of prisoners like Dana Seawright, Shannon Palmer, James Jennings, and Jeremy Pompeneo - all whom were murdered in state custody this past year. They have long since relegated prisoners to a status undeserving of having equal human rights when it comes to life and safety. The movement left these people behind without any apparent thought.

As a consequence, when Kini Seawright was on the verge of homelessness this year after her son Dana's homicide destroyed her life, the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission refused to provide her with access to any state-funded victims rights' services because she didn't qualify as a real victim. Dana was killed in prison by the West Side Crips for being friends with a Mexican - he was defying the racism and the gangs, not running with them. He was trying to take a class at Rio Salado and wanted to get some kind of counseling for his manic-depression and childhood abuse issues. He was beaten into a coma and stabbed repeatedly for refusing to carry out a gang-ordered hit to prove his racial loyalty. He died four days later.

Dana's homicide case was closed by the Department of Corrections' own Criminal Investigations Unit without any suspects being referred for prosecution - or even being given a ticket for the assault causing Dana's death. His mother has been working actively to get an outside law enforcement agency to re-open the case in light of evidence that guards were complicit in Dana's death. She's also suing the state of Arizona, as well as a number of individuals who appear to be liable for his murder. In the meantime, however, she suffered severe financial hardship and social isolation, for which she is not eligible to receive state assistance designated for helping victims of violent crime in such situations. An excerpt from the e-mail to that effect is here:

-------------------------------------

Sent: Tue, June 28, 2011 8:23:36 AM
Subject: RE: Kini Seawright

I have received a response to my follow up inquiry. After clarification it is ACJC’s position that the compensation program is only accountable to those statutes and rules that directly govern the Compensation Fund. Therefore, under program rules Ms. Seawright is not a victim pursuant to the definition of “victim” in A.A.C.R10-4-101(29). She is a “derivative victim” under ACJC’s rule, A.A.C.R10-4-101(10)(a), however, she is not entitled to a compensation award pursuant to A.A.C. R10-4-106(A)(3)(b) because the victim of the criminally injurious conduct was serving a sentence of imprisonment in a detention facility at the time of his death. Therefore, the prerequisites for a compensation award have not been met in this case...



Program Manager Crime Victim Services

Arizona Criminal Justice Commission

---------------------------

I can't believe that was the intentions of the victims' rights advocates in Arizona who helped get that initiative passed, but that was the consequence.

I've blogged about the Victim's Rights Amendment in the Arizona Constitution before - read my letter to the Arizona Department of Corrections on the matter here. I hope to spend more time getting organized behind a movement to change it. There are far too many families like Kini's being wrongfully punished and exiled under it. Failing to protect victims in custody gives license to law enforcement to use excessive force, and for prisons and jails to mete out cruel and unusual punishment as they see fit, not as the judges ordered. It suggests that toll of violence on one group of homicide victims and their survivors is less important than when it hits the rest of us. The state victims' rights amendment creates a sub-class of citizens whose victimization - usually at the hands of the state - we are willing to not only ignore but actively minimize. It serves to reduce the states liability profile when people are hurt in their custody - including pre-trial detention, when we're supposed to be presumed innocent.

I urge those of you concerned with the civil rights of prisoners and their loved ones to contact your state legislators and ask for help changing the definition of a victim to include those in custody for an offense. The legislature is empowered to extend victims rights to everyone - it doesn't have to go to referendum. Tell your legislator that victims of state crimes matter, too. He or she can be reached at:

Arizona State Legislature
1700 W. Washington St.
Phoenix, AZ 85007


cc your letter to the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Eddie Farnsworth, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Ron Gould, and someone there who might really care: Mesa Representative and Chair of the House Health and Human Services Committee, Cecil Ash.

Finally, if you are a survivor of prison violence or have lost a loved one to it - or simply want to make a difference - please feel free to contact me. My number is 480-580-6807. I'm organizing with families now who want to see an end to the neglect, abuse, and violence now.

PHX New Times: Kini Seawright's Catch-22.

A friend of mine recently reminded me that the most important work of revolutionaries today is taking care of our community members. My community has done just that, for Kini and for me. We are very grateful.





Thanks to Stephen Lemons for this article this week, and to all the folks who have supported us all along...

--------------------

A Kafka-esque Catch 22 Keeps Kini Seawright Off the AHCCCS Rolls, Thanks to Governor Brewer and the State Legislature

By Stephen Lemons

Phoenix New Times

published: August 25, 2011

When it comes to the war on the poor in Sand Land, I have little faith that the cruelty toward the less fortunate evidenced by our ruling Republican junta ever will be avenged.

Governor Jan Brewer, state Senate President Russell Pearce, their puppet-maestro, Chuck Coughlin of HighGround Public Affairs, and all the rest of that ilk have furthered their political careers, in part, by denying the unemployed a federal extension of their benefits and by whacking 110,000 childless single adults off the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the state's Medicaid program, regardless of need.

That's 110,000 for 2012. Ultimately, the number will be more than twice that.

On the AHCCCS tip, this crowd claims the cuts have helped balance the budget. Which is a sad joke. Through gimmickry and tricks, they've rolled over the debt 'til next year, when they'll have to deal with it all over again.

Only the pending November 8 recall of Pearce, a man who has spent his entire career in the government's employ despite his hatred of same, offers promise of payback.

Meanwhile, the poor and the middle class suffer and the state's unemployment rate inches higher. Even if Pearce falls, his legacy and the work of his allies will have done their damage.

One of those harmed by the Brewer/Pearce/Coughlin cuts is Kini Marie Seawright.

Seawright, 45, suffers from diabetes and spinal stenosis/degenerative disc disease. She is in constant pain and has difficulty sleeping at night. Some days, she can get out of the house, but most of the time, she is confined to it. Often simply being on her feet is too much for her.

Until last year, Seawright was gainfully employed, working at Alcoa, and making about $16 per hour. But her world went into a tailspin when her only son, Dana, was brutally beaten down in prison, the result of a hit put on him by the West Side Crips, one of the gangs that effectively control Arizona's penal institutions.

As you might expect, Seawright was engulfed by horror and depression. Visions of her child, whom she last saw on his deathbed at Saint Joseph's Hospital, haunted her. Her work and her health suffered, and she ended up losing her job as a result.

She had an apartment in Chandler with a little long-haired Chihuahua named Joe as her only dependent. Initially, she was able to pull unemployment and was covered by AHCCCS. After paying her bills, she was broke but able to survive, barely.

In May, the Arizona Department of Economic Security cut off her AHCCCS. The reason? She made too much on unemployment to qualify. You know, on $240 per week.

Not long after, the DES informed her that her unemployment was about to run out. That's when I first heard of her situation through prisoner-rights advocate Peggy Plews. She knew Seawright because of a federal lawsuit Seawright's attorney brought against Arizona for negligence in her son's murder.

The attorney is keeping the lawsuit alive pro bono, BTW.

It seemed odd to me that Seawright's unemployment would run out so soon. So I called the DES' spokesman, Steve Meissner. He said he could not comment on Seawright's case but told me he would alert the appropriate person as to her situation.

By this time, Seawright had fallen behind on her rent. Her landlord had been as obliging as possible, but she had to move.

Though Plews is on disability herself and runs her Arizona Prison Watch blog on PayPal donations out of her tiny apartment in Phoenix, she took in Seawright and her pup and began paying for Seawright's medicine, which costs about $250 a month.

To do this, Plews took out loans. Her friends helped out, passing the hat at get-togethers.

After my call, the DES contacted Seawright, telling her the unemployment checks would continue after a brief pause. She eventually received a letter telling her she had $4,044 remaining in unemployment compensation.

That was in early July. When Plews and Seawright informed me of the letter, I figured I'd done my Boy Scout good deed for the year.

I was deeply mistaken. On August 5, the DES sent Seawright a letter informing her that she was not eligible for unemployment insurance.

Get this: because she's disabled. That's right — her doctor will not certify her for work. And since she cannot work or even look for a job, she can't get unemployment.

Meanwhile, Seawright appealed the AHCCCS decision. But the DES told her no dice. Though she'd been without unemployment, she didn't qualify under the new law, passed by the state Legislature and signed by Governor Brewer, axing benefits to adults with no dependents.

I called Meissner back about the Kafka-esque Catch 22 Seawright found herself in. He told me what I already knew: The DES doesn't make the rules; it just applies them.

What about the letter saying Seawright had four grand coming to her? Barred from commenting directly, Meissner could only speculate.

"Sometimes we think something is appropriate, and upon further review by someone else, it's found that it's not," he offered.

Seawright is a proud woman, and she does not want to rely on the charity of Plews or others. Her anxiety level grows higher with each passing day.

"Peggy can't keep doing this," she told me as I visited with her in Plews' apartment. "What really worries me is that she's going into so much debt."

Plews says she believes Seawright's condition is deteriorating. She worries her friend soon will have to be hospitalized for her ailments.

Arizona is a hateful place. I can already imagine the abusive comments this story will draw. I hesitated to write about it for this reason.

Though it's unimportant, Seawright is upfront about her past, admitting she once did time in Arizona's prisons for larceny.

I investigated Seawright's criminal past, which wasn't much of one. In 1999, she and her boyfriend were arrested for stealing seven containers of infant formula from a Basha's, then reselling it to another store.

Total loss to Basha's: $125 and change. For this, Seawright ended up doing a little over three years in the pen.

What makes Seawright special is that when she was released, she stayed away from drugs and got to work. Until her son was killed, she was doing okay.

Her son's demise is a story all its own, one I lack the space to detail here. Seawright's lawsuit alleges that corrections officers were absent on purpose as Dana was assaulted, then were slow to get him medical attention. By the time he reached a hospital, he was a vegetable.

The callous among you will sneer. But Dana was incarcerated on drug violations. He did not deserve a death sentence, which the West Side Crips imposed, according to one version, because of Dana's interactions with a Mexican inmate.

See, the prisons are segregated by race and controlled by race-based gangs. The Arizona Department of Corrections tolerates this, as do many prison authorities in America and beyond.

Still, watching the tears roll down Seawright's face as she bemoans her son's fate might make even a Tea Partier weep.

I urge those with compassion to assist Seawright by visiting Plews' blog (http://arizonaprisonwatch.blogspot.com) and donating.

Seawright is but one person. There are thousands of stories of pain and need, all created by our current political leadership.

I would like to see a karmic vengeance for that leadership. Non-violent, of course.

But I may have to wait a while, 'til those who sit in high places expire of old age or natural causes.

For then, as Elvis Costello once crooned in a song about former Prime Minister of England Margaret Thatcher, I'll stand on their graves and tramp the dirt down.

A piker's revenge, perhaps, but I'll take it.

Deaths in Custody: The Execution of Dana Seawright

Seawright Civil Complaint

(click here)

Dana Seawright's murder last summer at Lewis prison is an "unsolved" homicide, by now a cold case. No one was ever referred for prosecution by the Criminal Investigations Unit (CIU), but looking at their own records now, there's hard evidence that Az Department of Corrections' (ADC) guards were involved. Above is the link to the actual lawsuit filed on June 30 by Dana Seawright's mom, based on the ADC's criminal investigations report.

Please read it through. It's really heavy, folks - and it comes from reports made by the guards and investigators, as well as by prisoners. It alleges that ADC staff willfully let this young man get bludgeoned and stabbed, then watched him slip into a coma as he vomited and bled out without attempting to render aid.





Read, draw your own conclusions about whether or not any of this constitutes a crime against both Dana's family and our community, and please help us get this murder case re-opened. Hound the Department of Justice with me - this state can't be left to investigate itself. The Arizona Attorney General's job is to defend the ADC in cases like this, not to defend our civil rights in custody. This should be a federal civil rights investigation - Dana was murdered under Chuck Ryan's care by the West Side City Crips for being friends with one Mexican and refusing to hurt another, and his guards aided and abetted the real criminals who killed him - then the CIU swept it all under the rug. Failing to even cite a guard for negligence - much less refer them or the Crips for criminal prosecution - sure makes it look like more than just a few bad apples are involved here...





Here's the contact info again:

Jonathan Smith, Chief



DOJ - Civil Rights Division/Special Litigation Section



950 Pennsylvania Ave NW (PHB)



Washington, DC 20530

Tell Cecil Ash we need legislative oversight in the prisons, too:

Rep. Cecil Ash, Chair



House Health and Human Services Committee



AZ State Legislature



1700 W. Washington St. RM 313



Phoenix, AZ 85007



cash@azleg.gov



Phone Number: (602) 926-3160



Fax Number: (602) 417-3151

Grieving Tony Lester: Candlelight Vigil

SURVIVORS OF PRISON VIOLENCE

CANDLELIGHT VIGIL

Monday July 11, 7:30pm

Bolin Memorial Park

AZ State Capitol Complex
17th Ave Crosswalk
(between W. Jefferson and W. Washington)

FIGHT REAL POWER, PHOENIX.
November 14, 2010

Sidewalk art and altered state: The Prison Abolitionist
Original Photo: Robert Haasch

Please join Arizona’s survivors of prison violence
for a candlelight vigil with Tony Lester’s family on the 1-year anniversary of his death.


Your presence would be a message to power
that these lives mattered.

peggy plews / 480-580-6807
prisonabolitionist@gmail.com

SOS Cecil Ash: Please Send Help.

July 2011 Artwalk display
(with Cougar)
1009 N. 1st. St. / Phoenix

This is how easy it can be to help us convene legislative hearings next session on the violence, suicides, and poor health care in the prisons. The AZ House Health and Human Services ' Committee is chaired by Cecil Ash, a truly decent man, and seems to be the best place to hold such hearings. Following Stan's letter requesting this is Representative Ash's response.

I understand that Representative Ash is still focusing his energies on sentencing reform - which we desperately need - but in the meantime people are continuing to die unnecessarily inside. If Ash doesn't want to spend political capital using his chairmanship of the HHS committee (as opposed to the Judiciary Committee), for something directly related to health and human services, then he needs to cultivate another legislator who will do that in the next session that we can lobby.

Until Representative Ash can identify that person for us - or until someone else steps forward to lead the charge on this matter - please keep sending these kinds of letters and emails to him, folks. And send me what you're willing to let me post for others to learn from, as my buddy Stan did for us...

This letter, by the way, was a beautiful gift for Dana's mom on that difficult day. Thanks, Stan, from all of us.

-----------------------------------

From: Stan Hemry
Sent: Thursday, July 07, 2011 11:05 AM
To: Cecil Ash
Subject: Dana Seawright's unsolved murder

Good morning Rep. Ash,

I am a resident of Phoenix for more than 10 years. Today is the 1st anniversary of this young man's death. I writing to draw your attention to the murder of Dana Seawright, who refused to give up his cell in prison with a man of another race. One was black the other, Hispanic. Dana's gang ordered him to prove his loyalty to the gang. Dana was subsequently killed for a fake attack on another man of the same race as his cell mate. 10 of Dana's gang members were given enough leeway within the prison facility to enter his cell and beat him to death for not delivering the beat down ordered by his gang.

Now, I know that this sounds like typical gang activity, but Dana was standing up for the freedom of association. Something the gangs and guards, apparently, do not allow. This type of violently-enforced segregation underscores the divisions that are routinely encouraged within the prison community.

Guards and prison people both manifest the divisions as they see racial tensions played out in tragic ways. Scenes, like the one of Dana's murder while under guard, re-enforce segregation and violently punishes prison people, who do not abide within the artificially-created, racial divides.

Dana's murder is a harsh wake up call to take action to examine what is happening. This could have easily been me, or possibly you, Rep. Ash, given the same circumstances. I would have done what he did and probably be murdered too.

Racially-segregated gangs monitor and enforce divisions among the prison people. Why can't there be a program to gradually de-segregate the prison community? Train the guards to understand that we are all equal in frailty, love and life. Give the prison people adequate mental and physical health care.

If there is any justice left in the system, I hope you will convene hearings into the rapidly rising murder and suicide rates in the Department of Correction. Understanding the circumstances surrounding the tragedy of Dana's death could help to reform the training received by prison guards and lower the tension levels among the prison people.


Respectfully,


Stan Hemry
PHX 85004

--

Contact me if you are an educator and want to screen Arlington West in your school.



-------to contact Representative Ash------



----------reply from Representative Ash--------

From: Cecil Ash
Date: Fri, Jul 8, 2011 at 3:06 PM
Subject: RE: Dana Seawright's unsolved murder
To: Stan Hemry

Dear Mr. Hemry:

Thank you for your email. There are a great many problems in the prison system. You have identified some of them in your email. You are correct, given the same set of circumstances, you or I might have done the same thing.

I am not indifferent or unaware of the many problems in the D.O.C. However, to have hearings this next session would jeopardize some of the sentencing reforms I've been working on for the last three years. Before undertaking hearings on your issue, I need to get some of the sentencing changes enacted. Then I will proceed to look at health issues (both physical and mental) in the prison system. If we could stop so many people from getting in there in the first place, we might have the resources to do a better job with a smaller population.

I will put you on my email list to be informed of our efforts in this area.

Again, thank you for email, and my condolences to Dana's family.


Sincerely,



Cecil Ash

State Representative

District 18

Dana Seawright: Prisoners have families too...

Today is the one year anniversary of Dana Seawright's homicide at Lewis prison. Please contact Rep. Cecil Ash to ask him to convene hearings on health and mental health care, safety, and other conditions in the state prisons through his Health and Human Services Committee:



House of Representatives
1700 W. Washington
Room 313
Phoenix, AZ 85007

Phone Number: (602) 926-3160
Fax Number: (602) 417-3151

cash@azleg.gov

Dana's murder remains unsolved.



"Prisoners have families, too..."
Arizona Department of Corrections (Central office)
1601 West Washington Street / Phoenix (July 7, 2011)

Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2011.

Just found this listed on Open Congress: the Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2011. Here the link to the full version that you can comment on (please do):

http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h2189/text

The bill is just a starter to the discussion about what exactly the feds can do to help improve transparency and conditions in state prisons. I've been hounding the DOJ for nearly a year with my postcards and documentation, but hadn't even seriously thought of contacting US House and Senate members, assuming they'd just say the prisons are a state issue, but this is a promising opening.


This Deaths in Custody thing sitting around the Hill now calls for action. There are apparently no co-sponsors to join Representative Robert Scott (D-VA) on it. We need to:


1. Contact Rep. Scott's people to thank him for putting this out there, and ask them how we can help it get passed. His contact information is:

Official website: http://bobbyscott.house.gov/

Address:
1201 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Phone: 202-225-8351
Fax: 202-225-8354

None of Bobby's bills - or even the one's he's co-sponsored - have successfully passed into law, however, so don't just leave the bright ideas to his people on how to address this.

2. Lobby your own Congress members to PLEASE co-sponsor and push HR 2189. Arizonans: tell members of the delegation about the deaths in Az Department of Corrections' (ADC) custody by suicide and homicide doubling in our state since Brewer/Ryan took over.
The lack of state or local law enforcement response or legislative oversight into the prisons makes our need for federal intervention all the more desperate - I've been pounding state legislators and bureaucrats on this stuff for two years with no results.

Here are the websites for members of our congressional delegation:

US Senator John McCain

US Senator Jon Kyl

US Congressman Paul Gosar, District 1

US Congressman Trent Franks, District 2

US Congressman Ben Quayle, District 3

US Congressman Ed Pastor, District 4

US Congressman David Schweikert, District 5

US Congressman Jeff Flake, District 6

US Congressman Raul Grijalva, District 7

US Congressman Gabrielle Giffords, District 8

Since this bill is in the House, they are the most important members to write to. Here's the snail mail address to give prisoners to write to our US Representatives:

U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 224-3121
TTY: (202)-225-1904


Inform legislators I can show them criminal investigations' unit and administrative investigation reports from the ADC back to 2005 demonstrating the change in death rates, problems with investigative procedures, sloppy handling of crime scenes, and the mis-characterization of at least two homicides (one as a suicide, one as an accidental overdose) despite eyewitness testimony given to investigators at great personal risk.

There has been consistently poor follow-through to prosecution for neglect, abuse, and violent offenses against prisoners, the CIU has blatantly ignored the existence of testimony and evidence that would cast a critical light on the ADC's policies or practices, or or one of their employees deliberate indifference to human life.

I can provide documents and contacts with witnesses as to a number of other concerns about the treatment of prisoners under this administration well beyond what they will ever find on my blogs.

3. Finally, in the course of your conversation with legislators, please remember the family members who survive prison violence, like Dana Seawright's mom, Kini (follow that link and read), who have been denied the same basic rights and protections every other survivor of violent crime has under the Arizona Constitution because their loved one died in custody where you would think their rights would be even more protected, not less).

We need to challenge whether or not the AZ victims' rights statute deprives survivors of crime against persons in custody of their due process and equal protection rights under the US Constitution. Ask our congress members how this can be corrected so moms like Kini aren't being additionally punished for the state's failure to protect their kids, and ask what they will do to help victims like her. HR 2189 is only a small step.

-------------from Open Congress (great resource)--------------

Official Summary: HR2189

6/15/2011--Introduced.

Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2011 - Requires states that receive certain criminal justice assistance grants to report to the Attorney General on a quarterly basis certain information regarding the death of any person who is detained, arrested, en route to incarceration, or incarcerated in state or local facilities or a boot camp prison. Imposes penalties on states that fail to comply with such reporting requirements. Requires the head of each federal law enforcement agency to report to the Attorney General annually certain information regarding the death of any person who:

(1) is detained or arrested by any officer of such agency (or by any state or local law enforcement officer for purposes of a federal law enforcement operation); or

(2) is en route to be incarcerated or detained, or is incarcerated or detained, at any federal correctional facility or federal pretrial detention facility located within the United States or any other facility pursuant to a contract with or used by such agency.Requires the Attorney General to study such information and report on means by which it can be used to reduce the number of such deaths.

------------for the survivors of prison violence-----------

Criminal Damage: Surviving a Death in Custody.

To: Sgt. Mark Schweikert; Detective Diane Rowe
Phoenix Police Department


Attached is more evidence of my crimes, with a witness list for this confession. I'm going to make the most of that tool in the coming weeks and months. You all get to preview what just became my next blog post... I must really have an ego in order to be such an exhibitionist. If I didn't have such a healthy shot of grandiosity, so many people with the power to really hurt me may not be subjected to my constant irritation, but then no one would know there's a problem in the prisons but the families of the dead and the dying.

In any case, I won't wait for the next dead prisoner to come along for me to paint on the sidewalk before I escalate again; I feel like I've failed now with each one. I have to touch base with two mothers and a sister today alone - survivors of a suicide, a homicide, and an apparent overdose on psych meds...they call the latter an "accident" at this point. It's probably the most important yet most painful thing I do, talking to those families...I would guess you can relate, if you've been cops for long. I hate it, but I have to keep letting them know what's going on - they more than anyone want to see change.

The homicide was in Buckeye - Lewis prison. Stiner. It was Dana Seawright - early last July. It was a gang hit, and hate crime (bet the state never called it that, though). "Unsolved" (they know full well who did it, I believe. The gangs run that prison in particular). The killers are probably on the streets again, like one of Pete Calleros' murderers already is. I think I told you about Dana - he was only 26. He was reportedly a self-admitted member of the West Side City Crips, and got caught being friends with a Mexican. They told him in the aftermath of this relationship becoming known that he had to hit a member of a Mexican gang to prove his loyalty - he didn't do a good enough job, though. Dana didn't really want to hurt anyone - he basically faked it, according to both the investigative records and the guards who narrated his days to his mom as he lay dying. For his defiance, Dana was bludgeoned into unconsciousness; his mother took him off life support five days later...


The state couldn't find a single guard to watch that kid's back even from a distance in there, but they had two on him all the time while he was chained to a bed in a coma. What brave public servants we have. Glad they have their priorities straight.

Kini Seawright's life slowly fell apart after her only child's murder. Her health and mental status deteriorated, her attendance and performance at work suffered, and she got laid off from the job she'd been progressing steadily at for years. She made good after prison years earlier herself, but was forced this year to turn to unemployment and AHCCCS, both of which are now compromised by budget cuts. She could be waiting months yet to hear back on her Social Security disability claim - I don't believe she told them about her mood disorder being exacerbated by the trauma of the murder, because her back and legs are such a source of trouble as it is, so she may face more denials and appeals.

In the meantime, Kini just received a notice from her landlord that she has to pay up back rent or move out in five days - which I think arrives on Wednesday. Kini says the guy's been gracious and understanding for a long time, but I guess a few people owe him and the bank is coming after his properties - or is threatening to.

I'm honestly in the middle of trying to vacate my own apartment in the next week or so, and have no idea what to do for either of us. If I had the money, then the answer for now would be easy. But instead I have to ask for help - or rather, she does - which is just inviting more abuse from the state, frankly. When her son died, the Department of Corrections gave her 24 hours to get his body under threat of burying him on prison grounds. They couldn't even help her find the $300 she needed to bring him home.





Crime victims and their survivors have certain rights under the Arizona State Constitution - and privileges under a number of programs we've set up - except for those victimized while "in custody for an offense". I think that was a loophole to let cops and governments off for abusing and neglecting the rest of us, when we're supposed to be the most under their control. So when Kini called the Arizona Attorney General's Office Victims Services people for referrals on Friday, she was ultimately told that she didn't qualify for any assistance as a crime victim or survivor because her son was in custody at the time of his death - he doesn't count as human under the victim's rights' amendment, you see, while entities such as "the state" and WalMart do.

Now, doesn't that just mess with your head, when you think about it? Really. Whatever happened to "the People?" As cops in Arizona, you have more constitutional duty to serve a corporate "person" who has been stolen from - or vandalized - than you do the very real mother of a young man who was brutally beaten down by the West Side City Crips.

That must hurt to think about, if you really care about protecting and serving us.

Dana's homicide was actually a double hate crime, you know. We set him up for that kind of death long before he even went to prison, simply by cultivating that kind of garbage in this fine state - then we buried him by decimating his rights in custody. Anyone who truly hates racism, homophobia, gangs, and violence - not to mention prisons - should be on this "unsolved" homicide, our screwed up constitution, and the way Dana's mom is being treated if you're getting any of what I'm saying at all.

We diminished Dana's humanity - along with Marcia Powell's, Shannon Palmer's, Brenda Todd's, Susan Lopez', and every other victim in custody - by withholding from him and his loved ones the same constitutional rights we grant everyone else whose lives are so shattered by violence perpetrated by not only convicted criminals but also the state officers in charge of their punishment and safety.

Of all places in society - especially a nation which so prides itself on the nobility of its law enforcement personnel and the primacy of order - can we not keep our vulnerable prisoners safe within the confines of the most fortified institutions we erect? We can't even protect the tough young guys like Dana. We owe it to him and his mom to do everything we can to direct the resources we've allocated to assist violent crime survivors in times of need to her now.

That's my SOS to all of you today - beginning with those of you "In Blue", so to speak. It'll be up by the end of the day.

As for the alley - the vandals all running for office have claimed the fences for their ugly signs - the streets I still claim as ours. I'll be here to prosecute tomorrow - help a real crime victim instead today. It can be as simple as making a phone call to a community service agency to make a contact for Kini (she's a Chandler resident, for what's it's worth), or even passing a hat around your office, dropping a Safeway gift card anonymously in the mail, or letting me know if you can lend some other kind of hand (480-580-6807) - of those (hands), I need many.

And please don't take too long to think about it; time ran out for Dana's mom already.


Thanks,

Peg

--

Margaret J. Plews, Editor
Arizona Prison Watch
P.O. Box 20494
Phoenix, AZ 85036
480-580-6807


"Our strategy should be not only to confront empire, but to lay siege to it. To deprive it of oxygen. To shame it. To mock it. With our art, our music, our literature, our stubbornness, our joy, our brilliance, our sheer relentlessness, and our ability to tell our own stories..."

- Arundhati Roy

Arizona Prison Watch
http://arizonaprisonwatch.blogspot.com
Prison Abolitionist
http://prisonabolitionist.blogspot.com
Hard Time Alliance - AZ
http://hardtimehepc.blogspot.com
Arizona Juvenile Prison Watch
http://azjuvenileprisonwatch.blogspot.com