Sunday, September 30, 2018

FFUP Fundraising Updates and Details to present campaign


 LATEST OFFERINGS ON THIS BLOG
1)Bill proposal for making basic changes with the way we do Corrections



3) This is lawsuit against overuse and abuse of solitary confinement, filed in June by FFUP on behalf of 8 prisoners stuck in solitary torture.

4) Exhibits to our lawsuit above


latest newsletters:









Lawsuits we are at present trying to help fund
     




 general update September 2018
FUNDS NEEDED AS FFUP MISSION EVOLVES
source unknown- from years ago/more relavant than ever

              These are times of high energy and much learning. FFUP started as a little organization supporting prisoners with the stated mission to help them “survive their incarceration ordeal with psyches intact . 19 years later, we still support prisoners and their families but we find that individual advocacy no longer has much effect and we must .of also grapple other organizations to help make systemic changes to a system drowning in corruption. 
            SO the movement matures. From a bunch of individual organizations each playing in its own sandbox, we are beginning to see that working together, forging a plan encompassing a division of labor is not only possible, it is essential. 
            FFUP's piece in this coalition puzzle is our connection with prisoners. We are not good at public education  but can give accurate and complete information on what is happening within the prisons and help make important connections between prisoners and the outside world. We are planted as a bridge between the organizations that do the education piece best and the prisoner and their families, who so desperately want to be heard. Here is a link to our latest newsletter,  "Bridge of Voices",which goes to prisoners in paper form and is well liked. 

FUNDS NEEDED FOR LAWSUITS
         This is new for FFUP and is part of this new maturity. Trust is high between FFUP and prisoners and we have made solid connections with fine prisoner litigators. All along we have been making copies for lawsuits and supplying stamps and guidebooks etc, and one of the tools we use to help prisoners survive solitary , is to encourage them to learn the law. This has all gone well but now we are in a position  to help pay the filing fees and other fees necessary to take the most promising lawsuits through to the end. Unlike most individual lawsuits which win money for plaintiff but change little, theses are lawsuits that aim to change the system, The courts, with the help of the DOC( department of Corrections) have been incrementally closing its doors to prisoner litigation efforts and with help, FFUP can go a long way in helping prisoners navigate those obstacles. Funds are needed for this effort.
         We also have filed a suit against abuse and overuse of solitary on behalf of 8 prisoners. This is an experiment in Joinders and we hope it can be a template for future actions.( link to suit here) Another important effort is the crafting of proposed legislation to reduce prison population that all our WI organizations together can promote. An overview of  “movement” idea coming here .

           WHERE YOUR help is needed now :Right now FFUP has an opportunity to fund two  important lawsuits by fine litigators with long term ties to FFUP. Both are working on the overuse of solitary problem. Both have good cases, do win cases and it is an honor that they agree to work with FFUP. One needs filing fees paid and funding help with documents, discovery etc- probably about $1000 in all , with $250 needed ASAP. In the case we want to help fund, the plaintiff is a long term, much abused solitary confinement victim . Details of the case are here  and this case will have implications for all those in solitary if won.
Animal in a Cage, by DaRen Morris
 The other litigator requesting funds has just won a case allowing him to depose the DOC  ( rarely allowed an inmate- this is where under oath, the plaintiff takes testimony) but is required to  pay the fees for the deposition which will be between 200 and 250 $ This case goes back to the abuse during the hunger strike back in 2016 ( link to WW Articles). This prisoner litigator has served the longest time in solitary of any prisoner now in WI and he is still advocating for prisoner rights.  I consider this man a visionary and will hare are links to some of his writing here: Uhuru, rights advocate, longest serving solitary prisoner, writings here

Finally, our traditional needs  still exist and grow as prison conditions deteriorate.  The need for funds is great for the stamp program ( indigent inmates get a pack(5) of embossed envelopes and pad of paper per month and they provide an account statement every three months to verify indigency) )and requests for tvs and radios by those stuck in seg are these days urgent ( here is a request by a 23 year old)- many are not making it. desperate pleas, legitimate usually come in daily to FFUP  and we do what we can. We also try to help those trying to raise funds for schooling_This man is also offering to crochet thank you gifts for donors.
We hope you can see your way to donating. All funds are used well and we have no paid staff. Feel free to   let us know if you want your donations to go toward specific project and also comments and questions are welcome.
For questions, contact peg Swan 608-536-3993 or email me at pgswan3@aol,com
gofundme site: https://www.gofundme.com/prisonforum or at our main web: www.prisonforum.org.

Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Carl Mc Daniel, Victim of Murder by Deliberate Indifference

update 5 19- Carl is now at NLCI and is applying for compassionate release as the system is unable to furnish him even the basics of what he needs.
update
Carl McDaniel 536012; CCI, PO Box 900, Portage, WI 53901
59 Y.O., scheduled release 2022

                               Call to action: contact JUDGE and demand he SEND IN THE COPS to enforce his order
                             
                              Verification of health conditions at bottom of this post 

                                           MURDER BY DELIBERATE INDIFFERENCE
Carl McDaniel 536012; CCI, PO Box 900, Portage, WI 53901
Letters/emails  to Judge requested-demand he send in the Sheriff to enforce his and the outside Doctors orders.

The story is long and convoluted, but the final problem is simple. Carl McDaniel , 56, has many maladies, all debilitating but he can mange most. What he cannot control is the effects of the prison’s very deliberate indifference in not providing him with access to the meals, pain meds so he can sleep, a room without a top bunk and without a roommate. 

Carl  is diabetic, is going blind and has stage three kidney disease which is constantly getting worse because HE CANNOT GET TO CHOW Hall and is denied a wheel chair  or meals delivered. He has gained 50 plus pound while eating off canteen and the few times he has gotten to HSU to test his sugar, it was out of sight high. This has caused the kidney failure and partial blindness. He is in a two man cell, on lower bunk and is constantly knocking his head when he gets out of the lower bunk because he cannot bend his back. He is incontinent of feces and urine because of the kidney disease and gets no incontinent supplies ( diapers) or cleaning supplies and there is not enough room for him to use /lock his walker so he often falls at the toilet- you can imagine the mess and patience required of any celly.
The final horror is Carl’s pain( fibromyalgia and all kinds of other maladies- see list on website given  below)- he gets no pain medication (except one Tylenol in the morning which he cannot get to)so he does not sleep . As of this writing he is doing very poorly- recently he got accidently hit by his celly and his speech is slurred, feeling poorly.
He needs to be alone in a cell, no top bunk, close to meals or have his meal delivered.
THE IRONY IS THAT  CARL HAS ALREADY WON THE CASE IN COURT!! THE JUDGE HAS ORDERED A SINGLE CELL FOR HIM AND APPOINTED A LAWYER TO HELP HIM WRITE A NEW INJUNCTION/ THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE IS LOOKING IN AT THE CASE./LENA TAYLOR’S AIDS HAVE INVESTIGATED AND PROMISED ACTION/ Carl won an IN PRISON INMATE COMPLAINT- the review committee agreed that he should have a single cell.
Carl believes that the prison thinks that if they DO ANYThing to help Carl , they will be admitting guilt. They have disappeared and denied the existence of most of his medical files- of course Carl has copies as do the hospitals and Doctors he went to, so that was easily remedied.
 The worry and fear is that Carl will not survive to see his court victory. He gets out of prison in 2022 and he needs help NOW. - I have seen this before with a man dying of liver cancer- All legal documents in place for him to go where he would spend his last days with his family in peace and without pain and no one would act.
 WE CANNOT LET this happen again
What do we do-This is the next step-


Chief Justice William Griesbach
US District Court, Western District of Wisconsin
United States Courthouse, Room 203
125 South Jefferson Street
Green Bay, WI 54301
                                                                                                                                                  


Feel free to contact me and Thank You for anything you can do to help this man
Peg Swan
Founder, Forum for Understanding Prisons (FFUP)
29632 Wild Rose Drive; Blue River, WI 53518
608-536-3993/pgswan@aol.com


                                      Verification of Health Conditions

Below are links to some of his health documents. He writes an  explanation of exhibits in beginning of first set linked below. In second link he tries to explain his encroaching symptoms as his diabetes remains out of control. He also has all the complaints and court documents for these that are interested. Contact FFUP at pgswan3@aol.com.
The case he won in court is:17-cv-01594-  McDaniel v Meisner et al. It is now reopened and the judge has appointed Attorney Rock Pledl to write an injunction as Carl is not able to think clearly enough to do it satisfactorily.

Exhibits:
1)Judges order appointing attorney to help writing injunction as Carl no longer thinks clearly enough and the injunction he tried was incoherent and disjointed:

 court decision on appointment of lawyer

2)medical records which verify Carl's ongoing health conditions:

3)Carl writes about worsening symptoms:

4)email or call lena Taylor aides at sen.taylor@legis.wisconsin.gov/ phone  608-266-5810. They won’t be able to give you details but can verify that they are working on his issues.



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