CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT

MDC Brooklyn has been up to its usual petty abuse of power (no dental- it's too hot, no doctors, unedible food cooked weeks in advance, illegally opening up inmates legal mail, etc.). Then it got worse, much worse. As the weather turned warm we felt it getting hot and hard to breathe in our cells. Then as it turned hot outside the conditions grew worse. It got to be well over one hundred degrees, with no air in our cells. You see MDC is a sealed building, and the ventilation system is broken. When the ventilation system is down you can't just crack a window. There is no air at all. People are fainting. Men are throwing up from the heat. The older men wait everynight to draw their last breath. To breathe is to sweat profusely.

It's nuts...in the United States of America, in the city of New York, in the borough of Brooklyn, men are being treated like this.

Last week we met with members of the administration to discuss ways to help improve our conditions while the vents are broken. These suggestions were reasonable, and would not have compromised security in any way. Our ideas were met with torture. We were locked-down for 3 days, and forced into our cells until we no longer had the strength or courage to air our grievances. Legitimate issues met with abuse; that's the mentality of MDC Brooklyn. They abuse the inmates, the visitors, the lawyers, and they abuse all of their power.

To all of the professional, courteous, compassionate officers who must follow orders, please remember what happened at that prison in Iraq (Abu Ghraib)... only the soldiers who were following orders went to jail for torture. Not the brass, never the brass. So when you lock us in our 110 degree cells, if you think it feels wrong it's because it is wrong. It is torture!

Weaker than Yesterday,
Thomas Gioeli

ACCOUNTABILITY FOR ALL INCLUDING RATS, PROSECUTORS, AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES


Daddy wrote this letter for me to post last week... the ventilation system has been down for about 3 weeks so far. Six men passed out on my Dad's floor in one day alone. My mom and sister visited today and said the heat was completely unbearable on the first floor, so I can't imagine what it's like for the inmates higher up. It's even unbearable for the men and women who work at MDC. Please share with anyone who will listen. Something must be done.
-MG