Good afternoon to all who are listening to Prison Radio. It’s a honor. My name is Harold Cunningham, and I am from Washington DC. My DC number 233634.
And I was the lead plaintiff in the landmark class action civil case Harold Cunningham v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, a civil case about [inaudible] prisoners that are held in solitary confinement who were mentally and physically abused, tortured, and denied mental health treatment for years, some even decades like myself, were housed at America’s most dangerous control unit in the United States, the ADX control unit in Florence, CO.
This was a civil case that got started after Congress on June 8 and 19 of 2012 held for the very first time in the U.S. history a hearing on reassessing solitary confinement and mental illness. Democrats and Republicans came together on this constitutional issue of cruel and unusual punishment. Senator Richard Derm was the Chairman. Senator Al Franken sat on this panel, Senator Lindsey Graham, Senator Mike Lee, and others. However, the real heroes and she-roes who were who came forward and gave congressional courageous testimony from former prisoners who were once held in solitary confinement and the voices of family members of the mentally ill prisoners who spoke for their sons because they could not speak for themselves because they committed suicide and were forced to die in the isolation cell of hell.
The question is: when is this nightmare going to stop? When are our family members going to stop crying? When are mentally ill prisoners going to stop dying? Suicide in prison is at an all time high. When is the BOP going to start providing mentally ill prisoners adequate medical, mental health treatment and at mental health facilities instead of control unit isolation cells and control unit or penitentiary segregation isolation sales, the hole, the shoe, etc.
I lived through all of this mental and physical abuse and torture and pain like very few who have lived to speak about it like I can. I did 20 years straight from mind control unit to the ADX control unit and I have been suffering from mental illness ever since I was eight years old and still am incarcerated after 30 years. I’m speaking out because my voice was so many years have been tried to be silent ever since my lawsuit was finalized in 2017.
I’m thankful for Prison Radio for giving me this opportunity to speak on this issue, and I would like for questions about my civil case. You can contact me at Harold Cunningham 233634, 1901 East Street SE, Washington DC 20003.
These commentaries are recorded by Prison Radio.
![Prison Radio is sharing an abbreviated version of a press release covering recent racist incidents at SCI Rockview in PA and the organizing to demand accountability. We are reaching out to people incarcerated at Rockview as well as recently transferred folks, inviting them to call, in hopes of hearing commentaries from them.
Benner Township, PA.-
On November 24th, 2023, imprisoned people at SCI Rockview found two nooses hanging in the CO’s office, displayed visibly for many prisoners to see. When the prisoners asked the staff why the nooses were hung, they were told it was a joke.
By December 4th, prisoners filed a grievance to document what they saw, noting that the hanging of the nooses was “unethical, racially motivated, hateful, [a] deliberate debasement of black inmates" and “unsafe for inmates, staff, [and] the whole prison in general.” In the grievance, they demanded that Sgt. Mosser and CO Richard be fired and investigated for a hate crime, and for CO Kirchner to get therapy. Captain Andrews, the head of security, denied the grievance.
The sergeant and COs are still working in the prison to this day, with no repercussions...
As of March 10th, prisoners have reached out to Pennsylvania officials at the Dept. of Corrections in a letter campaign, sending 100 copies of the grievance. Copies of the letter also were mailed to Governor Shapiro, Senator Fetterman, Senator Street, and various advocacy groups. The demands for relief in the original grievance have now become the platform of demands for this campaign. About 20 of the 100 letters were withheld by the prison.
Activists on the outside are joining forces with prisoners to elevate their demands, flooding the phone lines of DOC offices, assisting with outreach to media, and circulating the stories of prisoners who have found unity in opposition to the facility's virulent institutional racism.
In any other workplace, hanging a noose would be grounds for immediate termination. However, Nicki Paul, the superintendent's assistant and "grievance coordinator" informed the public that they self-investigated their staff and found they did nothing wrong.
Read the full article at i
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