IOA,

You know, — months ago when I first got locked up in Durham County Jail I would hear other inmates complain about the jail and I would say that it wasn’t that bad. “It’s jail, it’s not supposed to be summer camp.” I would hear other inmates complain about the mail and hear them say that the jail was tampering with their mail. I would shake my head and laugh at their unfounded paranoia. — months later, things have changed.

Durham County Jail seems to basically do whatever the hell they want to do at any given time. I recently found out the sheriff, and ultimately the jail, is a “constitutional office that doesn’t answer to other arms of local government.” So basically it doesn’t matter that we all know the indecencies and crimes they are committing—it’s basically: “What you gonna do about it?”

I’ve worked in food service most of my life and know that in restaurants, at least, the food is to be served at a certain temperature. I don’t know if jail is like prison where they also have a certain serving temp, but here in DCJ it is being served cold. Numerous inmates have told me that when they worked in the kitchen that the food would be ready but would sit an hour, hour and a half until they were finally sent upstairs to serve. When your grits can be held up like a popsicle—something isn’t right!

Correct Care Solutions…the medical company that is subcontracted out to the jail—should be sued, arrested and imprisoned. I’ve physically witnessed them give incorrect inmates another inmate’s meds. Certain meds they will pass out by putting them into a pill crusher and dumping the powder into the inmate’s cup. They do not empty the pill crusher out or clean it. What if the next inmate is allergic to the previous meds that were crushed?

I have heard of an inmate who was seen by medical for a filling that fell out where the cavity underneath was not fully removed. A sick call was filed by this inmate last year and it was never handled. Another person had a skin rash and was given meds to no avail. They said the rash would need to be treated by an outside dermatologist. But guess what? No dermatologist has been to see him. The policy is if you aren’t dying, then it’s not an immediate concern. I kid you not.

As you may know, inmates had been corresponding with and receiving books from Internationalist Prison Books Collective (IPBC). Well, around the first of this year, I thought I was going to receive some books from them, so I wrote back inquiring about them—no response. I wrote you all at Inside-Outside Alliance—also no response.

Last month we heard that we could no longer receive an used books but that we would all receive our “other” used books the next week. We didn’t know what this meant, until the mail woman started passing out brown paper packages–books from IPBC.

We have proof that they held mail and lied about it for 4 months, that they have intercepted mail between IPBC, Inside-Outside Alliance, and others without telling anyone, and even tampered with incoming legal mail without me being present.

Every time there is a protest no inmate is allowed outside of their cell. If the news channel is on the t.v.—they will turn it. We have also been prevented access to the library and the law books inside. Remove the knowledge from the people and you remove their power.

I am a practicing Christian and believe in peace…but I also believe that sometimes it takes the people rising up against their oppressors to effect change…Nothing short of force will work. We’ve tried things over and over the right way and nothing has changed. Now they laugh at us and dare us to revolt. They tell us that they cannot be punished or removed by local powers. They flaunt their mistreatment of us and dare us to try to do anything against them.

It is our constitutional right to overthrow the government if the government oversteps its boundaries laid out by the constitution. Those boundaries have been erased! Nothing short of prayer and force will effect change.

But then again…this is just my opinion.

Your brother in the struggle,

A.C.