Matthew "Rampage" Lamont - "DAMAGE CONTROL"

"DAMAGE CONTROL"

By Anarchist/Anti-Fascist Political Prisoner Matthew "Rampage" Lamont

A new summertime movie is being released. It's not Lord of the Rings 5, or Terminator 4. It's called "Hard Time" by the California Correctional Peace Officer Association. With the Governor taking the axe to the California prison budget, which has gone nearly $500 million over its budget, the CCPOA is on the offensive. Besides it's ever growing prison empire being discovered, CCPOA and it's client the California Department of Corrections have plenty of other things to worry about. Over the past six months investigations into California's prisons have led to discoveries of corruption, embezzlement, bribe taking, abuse of inmates, and over crowding. It's rare indeed when an investigation actually takes place, but it seems everytime one is launched we always find something rotten. Take for instance the "gladiator fights" staged by correctional officers at Corcoran in which guards would deliberately stage individual fights and group rumbles with inmates and place bets on the outcome. At the same prison guards were placed on trial for setting up inmates in a cell with an infamous rapist, nicknamed the "booty bandit", when they got "out of line." Recently Lancaster prison was targetted behind widespread corruption where guards starved and abused inmates, trafficked drugs, and staged fights. At the same time the Warden in Folsom was fired for staging a racial riot on the prison yard.

Despite that these are factual allegations, the CCPOA claims they are getting a "bad rap", so they've made a video called "Hard Time", a brochure called "In Harm's Way", and are preparing a TV advertising campaign. They've already distributed the video and brochures to state legislators, public leaders, and the media.

Along with this is a so-called "Good Will Effort" to create a program called "Thumbs Up", a program which fingerprints school children to "help police find them if they are missing". Might as well get them early I guess.

"Hard Time" is basically a video which shows the nightmarish prisons system CDC has created. Of course, the nightmare is blamed on the inmates who are described as "animals" by one prison official in the video. It shows footage of riots and tattooed cons with vignettes of officers assaulted on the job.

The brochure called "In Harm's Way" describes the story of Suzi Jones, a guard who was assaulted by an inmate. The incident is blamed on understaffing, of course, instead of overcrowding.

The CCPOA's solution? More prisons, more correctional officers, pay raises, and more inmates. More inmates? That's right. CCPOA opposes the new Bill to kill the Three Strikes initiative on non-violent offenders. In fact, the CCPOA has opposed every Bill that's ever come up to decrease the overcrowded prison population or rehabilitate inmates. The CCPOA has pushed the same line since it's creation, which has created the chaotic nightmare inside prisons today which they are complaining about. They are basically saying "this isn't working," but instead of finding a solution they want to enlarge the size of the problem.

Let's look at the facts. CCPOA claims it's members are victims of the "animals" who are imprisoned. They complain about the gangs, but start their own, such as "Green Wall", a correctional officer prison gang. They complain about drugs, but numerous times it's been found that the staff smuggles in the largest quantities of drugs, weapons, cellphones and other contraband which would be too large for an inmate to smuggle from visits or packages. The scandal in Lancaster was a huge example of this activity. They complain about riots and rivalry, but they stage gladiator fights and racial riots, such as at Corcoran during the '90's. They complain about staff assaults but continually abuse inmates and take away their programs. They complain about understaffing, but oppose any legislation that would decrease the prison population.

The truth is the CCPOA and CDC have been misleading the public and bribing the politicians to blindly follow them deeper and deeper into the quagmire we have today. What CCPOA really wants is more inmates and more prisons which will require more staff. More staff means more union dues, and that's more money for their greedy union officials.

Write to the author: Matthew Lamont, T90251, 44750 W. 60th St., Lancaster, CA 93536. For more info on Matt, visit http://www.breakthechains.net or http://www.abcf.net