DALLAS 6 UPDATE

PLEASE PACK THE COURTROOM

***JUSTICE*JUSTICE*JUSTICE***

September 30, 2013

9:00 am

Luzerne County Courthouse

200 N. River St
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711

Presiding Judge

Judge Lisa Gelb

Prosecuting Attorney

Assistant DA, James McMonagle

In April 2010, at SCI Dallas (PA), after a series of abuses at the hands of corrections officials, 6 prisoners housed in the solitary confinement unit decided they had enough and decided to stage a protest in response to the inhumane conditions and mistreatment of prisoners. Each prisoner involved in the protest is now collectively referred to as the Dallas 6.    After enduring abuses, official misconduct and outright administrative corruption, 6 prisoners at SCI Dallas decided it was time to do something about the inhumane conditions, immediately, before another prisoner died or is brutally harmed.

As revealed in a Human Rights Coalition report and before the House of Representatives, there has long been a policy within the prison walls of Dallas and the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) to operate a corrupt administration under an iron wall of silence.  Under this iron wall or code of silence, SCI Dallas, PA DOC, District Attorney’s Office, Attorney General’s Office as well as the Pennsylvania State Police operates in participation and conjunction with one another to cover up crimes and misconduct by state offices by overlooking video footage of officers caught on video tape committing human rights violations.

These men who peacefully covered their cell doors and barricaded doors are being charged with riot.  They were protecting themselves from harm.   They committed no violent acts, yet violence was inflicted upon them by the guards in riot gear.  They were pepper sprayed, beaten and tased.  These men are in solitary confinement, which means they are in a single cell 24/7 with no contact.  They did not cause or create riot!  They had no ability to do so!  They are being charged with riot because they have lawsuits against the prison and guards.  Some of them are pro se lawyers who have gone against the DOC as their own attorney.  This is frowned upon and retaliated against on a massive level.  These same men contributed to the Human Rights Coalition report which detailed ongoing abuses and human rights violations within the dungeons of this state and especially at SCI Dallas.  These men do not want sympathy; they want to do their time without being subjected to racism and violence by staff. These false charges should be dropped.  Taxpayer’s money is being wasted on a personal vendetta.  If you want to witness what is really going on with in the bowels of our “justice and prison” system, come to the court hearing.   

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HAVE QUESTIONS OR NEED MORE INFORMATION

For Information/updates on Dallas 6 visit the following sites:

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/FreeDallas6

Contact Person:  Shandre Delaney - 412.403.6101 or email sd4hrc@gmail.com

ACTION ALERT * ACTION ALERT * ACTION ALERT * ACTION ALERT

ACTION ALERT  * ACTION ALERT  * ACTION ALERT  * ACTION ALERT

Contact number:
PA DOC Secretary John Wetzel, 1920 Technology Parkway, Mechanicsburg, PA 17050; Phone number: 717-728-4109; Fax: 717-728-4178

Friends and Activists,  Tomorrow July, 29, 2013 there is a court hearing for  Dallas 6 (for more information see)  http://scidallas6.blogspot.com/.    The Pennsylvania Department of Corruption is up to their normal routine.   I received a letter this weekend from Duane Peters that he was moved from SCI Dallas to Luzerne County Prison for trial.  Upon sheriff coming to get him he advised them that he had boxes of legal material that was needed for the trial.  SCI Dallas would not give him the boxes and denied that he needed the boxes for court.   As usual, what they will probably do is destroy evidence that this man has been compiling over the years. 

Please call or fax Secretary Wetzel’s office and demand that Duane Peters be given his legal material in order to defend himself in court.  They need to know that we are on to them and there action will be made public.  Let them know that it looks bad on their part for withholding evidence that might be incriminating.  I’m going to be in court so I won’t be able to call.  Whoever is able to, please make that call or fax for me.  I really appreciate your efforts!


Luzerne County Courthouse - Courtroom #1
200 N River St
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711
Monday, July 29, 2013 (may last 1-2 weeks)
  9:00 AM

PACK THE COURTROOM FOR DALLAS 6

DALLAS SIX TRIAL UPDATE

 

PLEASE PACK THE COURTROOM TO SHOW OUR SUPPORT!


Luzerne County Courthouse 
200 N River St
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711
Monday, July 29, 2013
9:00 AM

Carrington Keys, Duane Peters, Derrick Stanley and 2 others will be in court to defend bogus riot charges brought against them from SCI Dallas in Dallas, PA.   In April of 2010, these men witnessed several beatings in the solitary dungeon at SCI Dallas.  These men were targeted  for many reasons, but mainly in retaliation for bravely contributing to a report by Human Rights Coalition that detailed the abuses that were going on inside the walls there.   They covered their cell doors and asked to speak with outside officials in order to discuss what was going on.  Instead, their cells were forcefully entered and they were beaten, tased and shackled for hours before all but  Duane Peters were emergency evacuated to other dungeons.   Mr. Peters is still being tortured in the dungeon there. 

 The men each filed their own charges of abuse against Dallas.  Mr.  Keys later filed charges against the DA of Luzerne County as well, because he felt she had turned a blind eye to the abuse and dismissed their cases without any investigation into the matter.  Approximately 3 months after the incident, upon learning of the Human Rights Coalition report, SCI Dallas filed retaliatory BOGUS charges of riot against these men. 

Mr. Stanley, who has since been released, appealed the riot claim and won.   This put the trial for the others on hold.   The state decided to appeal and after switching judges to suit their need, the decision was overturned.   Now they all face riot charges.  This case has been dragged out for over 3 years.  It is bogus and retaliatory in nature and the only reason I feel it continues to move through the courts is because of the major corruption that is rampant in  Luzerne County and the Department of Corrections.   They are so intent on winning at all cost because they do  not want to lose to prisoners, especially African American prisoners.  (This is the county where the Judge sold the children to the juvenile system for his own financial gain which was up in the millions.)  

All of the men involved are jailhouse lawyers and civil and human rights activists in their own right, which is part of the reason they were in the dungeon to begin with.  The DOC has a fight on its hands if they think they are going to just walk over these men.  We are asking for courtroom support from any groups that promote civil rights, prisoner rights and human rights.  We are asking for family members and friends to be present.  We want this courtroom filled with the public and not the guards.  Let them know we care and let them know these men will not be stopped.  What happened in this dungeon is only the tip of the iceberg and an everyday occurence everywhere in the dungeons of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections.  It is time for the abuses to end.  Trial may last all week. Please be there for one of the days or as many as you can.  If you have any questions please feel free to send me an email to sd4hrc@gmail.com.

Shandre Delaney
Human Rights Activist/HRC-Fedup
Mother of Carrington Keys

DALLAS SIX TRIAL UPDATE

LET'S S PACK THE COURTROOM

The Dallas Six will be back in court in the Luzerne County Courthouse on Monday, July 29, 2013.  They are finally going to trial for retaliatory riot charges that were brought about in 2010.  This case has been dragged out for more than 3 years.  It is senseless and baseless.  How can people detained in solitary confinement come together to start a riot and furthermore how can you riot from within a solitary cell?  The Department of Corrections is wasting taxpayer money.  Instead of accusing prisoners of frivolous lawsuits they need to check themselves! More details and  trial schedule to follow.

UPDATE ON JANUARY 7, 2013 COURT PROCEEDINGS

On January 9 2013, Carrington Keys (one of the Dallas 6) had his day in federal court under the jurisdiction of Honorable Judge Richard Caputo.  Mr. Keys was the plaintiff in a civil suit against staff members of SCI Dallas for retaliation and abuse.  He was a Pro Se litigant and performed quite well according to courtroom visitors from Human Rights Coalition.  The trial lasted for 3 days.  Mr. Keys subpoenaed 5 prisoners as witnesses and some SCI Dallas staff members as well.  The prisoner witnesses gave insight into the abuse and torture that occur in solitary confinement and eyewitness testimony of what happened to Mr. Keys.  One prisoner witness,  Isacc Sanchez was court ordered to be removed from SCI Dallas because he was in fear for his life and receiving threats from guards during the trial.  All witnesses said they received threats from prison staff about testifying.  As well as prison guards filled the courtroom and attempted to intimidate Keys supporters by falsely accusing one of voice recording courtroom proceedings and another of taking pictures of the courtroom.  Someone also falsely alerted homeland security who placed some of the supporters under investigation due to their lies.  During lunch break the guards were seen lunching in the same restaurant as the jurors, which was probably intimidating.  In these small towns such as Dallas, the jails are usually the main income and if not for these prisons a lot of people would be out of work.  Therefore, they will do whatever to keep their jobs. The trial ended in a  mistrial.  The jury came out to talk to the Mr. Keys and the defendants lawyer.  They were able to ask questions as to how they viewed the case.  It was unanimous that they believed Mr. Keys was abused by the guards.  Their well known lie about camera malfunction did not work and was very  unbelievable to the jurors.  To clarify about the cameras, cameras are always used when they prison wants to prove something an inmate did, but when an inmate needs footage to prove their point, the camera has a malfunction.  This is an ongoing lie and tactic that the DOC uses to cover up its wrongdoings.  This time it didn't work.  Though they decided that he was abused, the jury  could not  decide that it was malicious.  I've never  heard of prisoners being abused for a good reason!  In my opinion, if they abused this man then it would have to be for a bad reason hence,  maliciousness and therefore retaliation.  Mr. Keys is a known jailhouse lawyer who has many cases against the DOC.  For this reason he has been buried in solitary for almost a decade and constantly starved and abused.    Mr. Keys retrial will be in June of 2013. We would like to pack the courtroom with supporters and media.   Any interested party please email  for updates to sd4hrc@gmail.com or post on the blog.   More information to follow.

A CALL TO ACTION

ACTION ALERT - PLEASE CALL OR WRITE

We need help in getting prisoner Duane Peter- FP7306 transferred out of SCI Dallas. Duane has been under ongoing harassment and abuse which has increasingly escalated. He has been at SCI Dallas for about 10 years with most of it spent in solitary confinement. In 2010, he and other prisoners were accused of riot after peacefully covering their cell windows in protest of retaliatory beatings of prisoners who sent abuse reports to HRC. All the other prisoners were emergency evacuated from Dallas after being beaten and tased for hours, but Peters was not.

Prior to and since that time he has been under constant attack. Now he is under excessive retaliation because he was a witness in a civil suit against staff members of SCI Dallas for abuse and retaliation. During the trial in January, the judge ordered another witness, Isaac Sanchez, to be removed because he was receiving threats as well. Since then, Peters has reported several incidents of retaliation and threats. Deputy Superintendent Mooney personally came to him and threatened him. They are hindering the legal process by tampering with mail, not notarizing legal docs, tampering with food and making threats and denying access to law library. They have tried to serve him raw or spoiled meats and eggs. They broke his glasses while he was at shower. He has exhausted grievances to no avail. He has reached out to Superintendent Walsh in the matter who has not made any effort to stop it since he is calling the shots.

Since the Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent at SCI Dallas are participating in the retaliation, we need to first call the Secretary’s office. Then call SCI Dallas and let them know that we have called the Secretary’s office. Also, I am working on a letter to Secretary Wetzel’s office equesting Mr. Peters be moved.

Demand:
Mr. Peters be moved immediately so there is no conflict of interest with the ongoing litigation
Halt all attacks and threats against Mr. Peters immediately
Do not hinder the legal process
Do not tamper with mail
Take steps to give him the opportunity to be get out of solitary

Please contact:
Central Office
John E. Wetzel, Secretary (717) 728-4109
Shirley Moore Smeal, Executive Deputy Secretary (717) 728-4110
Michael Klopotoski, Deputy Secretary Eastern Region (717) 728-4122 or 4123

Then Contact:
SCI Dallas – (570) 675-1101
Jerome Walsh, Superintendent:
Vincent Mooney, Deputy Superintendent for Centralized Services:
Robin Lucas, Superintendent’s Assistant

Pack the Courthouse!

From Facebook, by Carrington Keys' mother:
 
My son Carrington Keys asked me to let everyone know he appreciates their efforts throughout the years and to thank everyone for their support. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers as he goes before the court this coming week. He has the opportunity to bring before the court what so many of our loved ones have been enduring in the PA DOC. The racism, torture, abuse and outright violation of every human right you can think of.

He was kept in solitary confinement for many years and never let out simply because he refused to discontinue filing lawsuits and taking a stand against racism and unethical behavior. He has endured these abuses not for doing the wrong thing while incarcerated but for doing the right thing! That is being a young black man who has helped people of any race to overcome these circumstances. He has much compassion and in his heart even though he feared for his own life at time. No one deserves to be beat, tortured or starved and thrown into the dungeon for years. No one!

Well, On January 7th, my son will have his day in court and I could not be more proud. He has truly been blessed with a gift to articulate the law. He has endured something that many people would not last one week in. Surely, God is his protector and shield. I am asking all I know to pray, meditate, fast or whatever you do, on his behalf. Victory is his! 

For those who don’t know this is also a part of another struggle. Carrington was involved in a peaceful protest where he and 5 others were charged with riot after the guards beat them for covering their cell windows. They are known as the Dallas 6 and this is the blog related to their case.

Monday, January 7th, 2013:
9:30 AM - Judge Richard Caputo

Place:
 
Max Rosenn United States Courthouse/Court Room 3
197 South Main Street
Wilkes Barre, PA 18701-8701