A letter to congress as told to Dortell Williams:
The following is a copy of a letter from a man convicted under the notorious Three Strikes Law. His gripping words and experiences represent thousands of others in like circumstances and highlight- in human terms- the injustice of a government turned on its own citizens in the endless and ruinous tragedy called "The War on Drugs".
To Whom It May Concern:
My name is Ronald Emmal and I am a prisoner in the California prison system. During this crisis of prison overcrowding, everyone is wondering why and how.
I am doing 28 years to life for the non- violent offense of possession of a gram of speed. (Meth)
As such, my cell partner and I live in a tiny cell meant for one. That means 200 people in a building meant for only 100. A yard meant for 500 people now holds a crowded 1000. It would seem like cruel and unusual punishment to house a non-violent person in the same cell as a convicted murderer. Its not uncommon to have four or five men shower in facilities made for only two.
High security prisons used to be restricted for violent criminals, but now anyone could end up here doing a life sentence for almost nothing at all. Of course, this ensures that violence continues and spreads. It's like a set-up to fail.
Does the California legislature and the California Correctional Peace Officer's Association have it right and the rest of the world have it wrong? The CCPOA, the prison guards' union has manipulated the system and the people of California for so long that it will take the federal government to now come in and clean it up. The legislature has had over 15 years to fix the problem and it has only grown worse. The Feds have already take over the medical department of the prison. People's rights are being violated.
It's such a mess; I wouldn't even know where to start. I know a lot of lives are being ruined in the foul process. I've been locked up ten years for a small amount of drugs. Instead of the state helping with my problem, they locked me up. Life is now passing me by. My wife has left; my young daughter is now a young lady. It hurts. It hurts my family as much as myself. It should be criminal to manipulate the people of California the way the CCPOA has. It certainly is immoral for all the parties involved. If it were me, the average citizen, doing the manipulating, someone would surely say I was acting criminally.
We need a change and we need it badly.
Sincerely, Ron Emmal. j03367 (CDCR #)
End Note: Mr. Emmal has never received any drug treatment, although ordered by the court, while in custody, and though in for a non- violent crime, he is being housed in a maximum security setting: said to be reserved for the "worst of the worst," according to prison officials. While at Pelican Bay in 1998, where a federal court had to intervene to halt a vicious pattern of abuse of prisoners by guards, he was approached and asked to commit a racist- motivated assault on another prisoner. Risking his very life, Mr. Emmal refused and stood his ground. In 2004, while housed in a state prison in Los Angeles County, he was the victim of a racial riot that left him wounded with thirteen stabbing/ slashing injuries.
The following is a copy of a letter from a man convicted under the notorious Three Strikes Law. His gripping words and experiences represent thousands of others in like circumstances and highlight- in human terms- the injustice of a government turned on its own citizens in the endless and ruinous tragedy called "The War on Drugs".
To Whom It May Concern:
My name is Ronald Emmal and I am a prisoner in the California prison system. During this crisis of prison overcrowding, everyone is wondering why and how.
I am doing 28 years to life for the non- violent offense of possession of a gram of speed. (Meth)
As such, my cell partner and I live in a tiny cell meant for one. That means 200 people in a building meant for only 100. A yard meant for 500 people now holds a crowded 1000. It would seem like cruel and unusual punishment to house a non-violent person in the same cell as a convicted murderer. Its not uncommon to have four or five men shower in facilities made for only two.
High security prisons used to be restricted for violent criminals, but now anyone could end up here doing a life sentence for almost nothing at all. Of course, this ensures that violence continues and spreads. It's like a set-up to fail.
Does the California legislature and the California Correctional Peace Officer's Association have it right and the rest of the world have it wrong? The CCPOA, the prison guards' union has manipulated the system and the people of California for so long that it will take the federal government to now come in and clean it up. The legislature has had over 15 years to fix the problem and it has only grown worse. The Feds have already take over the medical department of the prison. People's rights are being violated.
It's such a mess; I wouldn't even know where to start. I know a lot of lives are being ruined in the foul process. I've been locked up ten years for a small amount of drugs. Instead of the state helping with my problem, they locked me up. Life is now passing me by. My wife has left; my young daughter is now a young lady. It hurts. It hurts my family as much as myself. It should be criminal to manipulate the people of California the way the CCPOA has. It certainly is immoral for all the parties involved. If it were me, the average citizen, doing the manipulating, someone would surely say I was acting criminally.
We need a change and we need it badly.
Sincerely, Ron Emmal. j03367 (CDCR #)
End Note: Mr. Emmal has never received any drug treatment, although ordered by the court, while in custody, and though in for a non- violent crime, he is being housed in a maximum security setting: said to be reserved for the "worst of the worst," according to prison officials. While at Pelican Bay in 1998, where a federal court had to intervene to halt a vicious pattern of abuse of prisoners by guards, he was approached and asked to commit a racist- motivated assault on another prisoner. Risking his very life, Mr. Emmal refused and stood his ground. In 2004, while housed in a state prison in Los Angeles County, he was the victim of a racial riot that left him wounded with thirteen stabbing/ slashing injuries.
posted by K Williams at 5:20 PM
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