March 10, 2013
SUBJECT: Mail, Incoming and Outgoing in a Timely Manner
Here at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison (GD+CP) we have been getting mail only five days a week for more than three decades. Therefore, the recent disclosure by the United States Postal Service that soon it will not be delivering letters on Saturdays, is not news to those of us in Georgia’s State Prisons.
I subscribe to The New York Times (NYT) newspaper and have been privileged to do so for several years. On Monday, February 25, 2013, I was called out of cell number 81, to the G-Unit Corridor. A corrections officer gave me my mail, which consisted of the Feb. 21st (Thursday), Feb. 22nd (Friday), and the Feb. 23rd (Saturday) issues of NYT. The newspaper is distributed locally at a location approximately 70 miles north of this prison.
On Tuesday, the 26th, I was not given any mail. On Wednesday the 27th I was given the Sunday and Monday papers. The Monday paper had not been read or abused—that is to say none of its pages had been separated from the little punch-holes that fasten each page to the one before and after it. The Sunday paper, on the other hand, clearly had been read. It was in total disarray. It was dog-earred, stained on some pages and torn almost in half in three places despite the fact that it arrives at the GD+CP in a sealed, see-through plastic bag which—as of late—has been removed before I get it. I should note, too, that I subscribe to Wooden Boat magazine; it arrives at the prison in a very similar plastic bag, but the bag on the magazine is rarely removed before it is given to me. The reason I bring that point to your attention will become obvious as you read on.
The Sunday paper had an unusual 50-page supplement in it—a women’s shoe catalogue called “hotter” from a company in the United Kingdom. It advertised, “…30% off plus Free Shipping + Free Returns on your first order”. For the sake of accuracy I must note too that pages 48 and 49 offer an ad for three pairs of men’s shoes. There is a toll free phone number followed by “visit http://www.hotterusa.com” instruction as well.
The GD+CP’s mail room has two female workers. I can only speculate, but I suspect that they needed a day or two to browse through all of those pages of shoes. To be honest, I do not care about them (or anyone) reading the papers. However, I do care about the papers being abused and outrageously delayed, which is too often the case.
I am glad that coupons do not come with the International/National version of the NYT I get now. I got tired of complaining about the absence of coupons in the New York City Edition of the paper so I changed my subscription to International/National Editions. That change of editions took place many years ago. It was clear that the coupons were being removed here at the GD+CP. I am hearing from other prisoners that their coupons are being removed, still.
There are a host of suspicious (and occasionally illegal) things happening to my incoming and outgoing mail. Unfortunately, when I bring mail problems to G-Unit administrations (here read G-Unit Manager B. D. Scott, Assistant G-Unit Manager Lieutenant Williams, Sergeant Etheridge, Counseler R Foskey et al), I am ignored, put-off and sometimes lied to. Hence, the reason I am writing to you.
The administrators of G-Unit do not even follow their own DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS’ Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) set forth in Reference Number: II B04-0001 on page 5, to wit:
End-of-week: On the last work day of each week, privileged mail will be picked up at both 7:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. and will be dispatched from the facility/center that same day to the United States Post Office in time for forwarding.
It has taken me personally four (4) years just to get the GD+CP administrators to half-heartedly honor that SOP.
From the highest to the lowest administrators in G-Unit, there seems to be no understanding regarding the importance of time. For example, on March 8, 2013, a Friday, when Officers Thurman and Alford came in to count, pick up the mail, and beat the bars it was 2:33 p.m. not 1:00 p.m. The Friday before that, the officer did not bring in the “U.S. Mail Box” until I complained. My mail to and from the Court is not a priority to G-Unit administrators. No G-Unit administrator is responsible for anything that happens or does not happen in G-Unit. There are staff who work in G-Unit who lie about what their names are! She gave me someone else’s name!
The author H. Bruce Franklin edited a book titled prison writing in 20th century america (Penguin Books) in which a prisoner name Kate Richards O’Hare wrote:
We send our criminals to prison to teach them not to lie and defraud, and the prisoner is forced to live one long lie, and can exist only by becoming party to fraud.
Commissioner Owens, can you fix the Mail problems for us?
Respectfully requested,
Prisoner Brandon Astor Jones
I.D. # 400574 (G3-81)
Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison
Post Office Box 3877
Jackson, Georgia 30233
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