News From the
Working to Maintain and Improve Living Conditions for Death Row in FloridaNewsletter March, 2003In Memory of Amos King
Last message from Amos to you guys: "never give up, FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT" General information After a long time of silence we seem to be back with renewed energy and new members full of initiative and great motivation. This issue of the newsletter is mostly to tell you that we are up and running again These last few month has been very stressful for a lot of us, with the killing of Amos King, who is now, neither body nor spirit, nowhere near Florida, - the whole mess with the attempt to eliminate CCRC still going on, the complete craziness with the upcoming war. - All in all the world seem to be going crazy, and all we can do is try to stay more sane than that, hoping and believing that the world is still more good than evil. A wise friend said the other day that we should not forget that the light always outweigh the darkness, so the more darkness we see and feel the more light is operating behind the 'scenes'. As of now we cannot, for obvious reasons, offer you the pen-pall add service. So please do not sent anything in regards to that. You might lose irreplaceable pictures, on top of being disciplined. We hope that for now just sending out the newsletter will be a small light in the darkness.
Anyway, it's nice to be back on track, it's nice to be alive and breathing, it's nice knowing we are never alone. You are not either.
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News From the OutsideWe know that by now you will have all heard about the proposed rules which could affect your future placement of advertisements for pen-pals etc. Below is the outline of the proposals as they appeared recently in the Florida Administrative Weekly. Immediately after this was posted, the CCADP contacted the ACLU and their reply is also shown below. This is the latest information that we have at this time, but will keep you all updated as soon as we hear anything further. As you probably know the state of Arizona recently lost a similar case and the prisoners got their "human" rights back. So there is light in the darkness here too. Routine Mail 33_210.101PURPOSE AND EFFECT: The purpose and effect of the proposed rule is to ensure the protection of the public and the maintenance of order in the institution by prohibiting inmates from placing advertisements soliciting funds, goods or services; by prohibiting inmates from entering contests or sweepstakes; and by clarifying the prohibition against conducting a business while incarcerated. SUBJECT AREA TO BE ADDRESSED: Routine mail SPECIFIC AUTHORITY: 944.09 ES LAW IMPLEMENTED: 20.315, 944.09 ES IF REQUESTED IN WRITING AND NOT DEEMED UNNECESSARY BY THE AGENCY HEAD, A RULE DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP WILL BE NOTICED IN THE NEXT AVAILABLE FLORIDA ADMINISTRATIVE WEEKLY. THE PERSON TO BE CONTACTED REGARDING THE PROPOSED RULE DEVELOPMENT AND A COPY OF THE PRELIMINARY DRAFT, IF AVAILABLE, IS: Perri King Dale, 2601 Blair Stone Road, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2500 THE PRELIMINARY TEXT OF THE PROPOSED RULE DEVELOPMENT IS: 33_210.101 Routine Mail. (1) through (2) No change. (3) No other items may be received through incoming routine nail. If an impermissible item is found other than items of an illegal nature, the entire correspondence will be returned to the sender pursuant to subsection (13) of this rule. For example, the following items are not permissible for inclusion in or attachment to routine mail: (a) through (e) No change. (4) through (7) No change. (8) Inmates shall not use correspondence privileges to solicit or otherwise commercially advertise for money, goods or services. For the purposes of this rule this includes advertising for pen pals; inmates are not prohibited from corresponding with pen pals, but shall not place ads soliciting pen pals. Inmates are prohibited from receiving correspondence or materials from persons or groups marketing advertising services, or from subscribing to advertising services. Inmates who post ads or have ads posted with the assistance of another person shall be subject to disciplinary action. (9) No change. (10) No change. (11) No inmate shall engage in a business or profession during his period of incarceration. For the purpose of this rule, a business is defined as any revenue generating or profit making activity or any activity having the potential to generate revenue or profit. An inmate who is engaged in a business or profession prior to commitment to the department shall assign authority for the operation of such business or profession to a person in the community within 90 days of commitment. Inmate incoming or outgoing mail relating to the direction of an inmate's business or profession shall be rejected. This does not, however, prohibit mail necessary to enable an inmate to protect property and funds that were legitimately the inmate's at the time of commitment. (12) Inmates shall be prohibited from entering contests or sweepstakes through the mail while incarcerated. (11) through (16) renumbered (13) through (18) No change. Specific Authority 944.09 FS. Law Implemented 20.315, 944.09 FS. History--New 10_8_76, Amended 10_11_77, 4_19_79, 11_19_81, 3_12_84, 10_15_84, Formerly 33_3.04, Amended 7_8_86, 9_4_88, 3_9_89, 9_1_ 93, 9_30_96, 5_25_97, 6_1_97, 10_7_97, 5_10_98, Formerly 33_3.004, Amended 12_20_99, Formerly 33_602.401, Amended 12_4_02, Name of Person Originating Proposed Rule: Joel Anderson, Deputy Director Reply to the CCADP from the ACLU National Prison Project:Dear Friends, Sorry for taking so long to get back to you on this. I was stranded in Seattle due to the heavy snow here in Washington. I talked today to Randy Berg at the Florida Justice Institute, who has been in touch with Larry Spalding at the Florida ACLU. Randy emphasizes that this proposed rule is still in the very early stages. He is putting together a letter to request a "workshop," at which people can present objections to the proposed rule. Often, he says, proposed rules die at that stage. If not, it's still possible to request a public hearing on the proposed rule. More rules die at that stage. Only if it survives all these stages does the rule go into effect. I will work with Randy on this; I've already sent him the decision in CCADP v. Stewart, as well as the briefs we filed. And I'll keep you posted. David Reminder of the current mailroom rules regarding incoming mailAs of Dec. 4. 2002, the Florida Department of Corrections has set the following rules in effect for routine mail: RULES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS CHAPTER 33-210 FIELD SUPPORT SERVICES 33-210.101 Routine Mail (12-4-02) 33-210.101 Routine Mail. 1. The provisions of this section shall apply to routine mail. Routine mail is all inmate mail, except legal mail (see 33-210.102, F.A.C. privileged mail (see 33-210.103, F.A.C.) and publications (see 33-501.401, F.A.C.). 2. Inmates will be permitted to receive only the following types of materials through routine mail: (a) Written correspondence (no limit as to number of pages). Correspondence may be written on greeting cards, but cards containing electronic or other non-paper parts, cards which are constructed in such a way as to permit concealment of contraband, or which are larger than 8"x10" will not be permitted. (b) Up to 5 pages of additional written materials, unless prior approval is obtained from the warden to send in an enclosure of greater than five pages. Each page can be no larger than 8 1/2 x 14 inches in size; material can be on both sides of a page. This does not include bound publications which will be handled pursuant to Rule 33-501.401, F.A.C. Individual newspaper or magazine articles or clippings or clippings from other publications are permissible, up to the 5 page limit. No item can be glued, taped, stapled or otherwise affixed to a page. Requests to send enclosures of greater than five pages shall be made to the warden or his designee prior to sending the material. Exceptions to the five page limitation are intended for enclosures concerning legal, medical, or other significant issues, and not for material for general reading or entertainment purposes. The warden shall advise the sender and the mail room of his approval or disapproval of the request. (c) Photographs. Photographs will be counted toward the 5 page additional materials limitation. Nude photographs or photographs which reveal genitalia, buttocks, or the female breast will not be permitted. Polaroid photographs will not be permitted. Photographs will not exceed 8"x10". (d) Self-addressed stamped envelopes. These items do not count toward the 5 page limitation for additional materials, but cannot exceed the equivalent of 20 (1 ounce) first class stamps. (e) Blank greeting cards (no larger than 8"x10"), stationery or other blank paper or envelopes. These items do not count toward the 5 page limitation for additional materials, but cannot exceed 10 in number, with a total possession limit of 15 of each item. (f) U.S. postage stamps. The value of the stamps cannot exceed the equivalent of 20 (1 oz.) first class stamps. These items do not count toward the 5 page limitation for additional materials. (3) No other items may be received through incoming routine mail. If an impermissible item is found (other than items of an illegal nature, the entire correspondence will be returned to the sender pursuant to subsection (11) of this rule. For example, the following items are not permissible for inclusion in or attachment to routine mail: (a) Non-paper items; (b) Items of a non-communicative nature such as lottery tickets or matchbooks; (c) Stickers or stamps (other than postage stamps, postal service attachments, and address labels affixed to the outside of the envelope); (d) Address labels (other than those affixed to the outside of the envelope); (e) Laminated cards or other laminated materials.
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Prison Book ProgramsThe following addresses are of book projects that offer free books to prisoners across the nation. When writing, you should expect a two-to-three month wait before receiving a response. A project's response will likely come in the form of a postcard requiring more specific information. Prison Book Program
Prison Book Project
Prison Library Project
Prisoners Literature Project
Books Through Bars
Books thru Bars
Prison Policy News
Oceana Publications
Set Free Prison Ministries
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The Bottom LineOur love and thoughts are with you all. Please send letters with thoughts, comment, suggestions or anything else you wish to share with us to Florida Death Row Advocacy Group 2003 (FDRAG-2003), 137 N Walnut street. Box 10, Starke, Florida 32091.
FLORIDA DEATH ROW ADVOCACY GROUP 2003 (FDRAG-2003)FDRAG was started in 1999, by family and friends of prisoners on Death Row in Florida, and revived in March 2003. It was formed to support prisoners, and to lobby for better conditions on Death Row. It has members in countries all over the world, who receive a monthly newsletter to which they may contribute, and an e group for those with e mail. If you would like to know more, please contact the member in the state of the USA, or country nearest to you. If you are new to this, prisoner or family, there will be a " beginners package" with information to help you deal with a lot of questions you will come across once the chock lifts. Questions we all had. More information in the next issue. E group: FDRAG-2003@yahoogroups.comThis group is created by families and friends of death row inmates in Florida. It is a given that this group is against Capital punishment. It is however, not the purpose for this group to do anti- death penalty work-, instead this group concentrates on making the living conditions for death row inmates tolerable. We also commit to work on making changes that will improve the quality of living in that particular environment called Death Row, and to help keeping the standard that already exists. Every one who is willing to work for basic human rights is welcome. If you are looking for a group who does anti death penalty work, we suggest you join one of the excellent groups already up and running.
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FDRAG & MEMBERSHIPThis group is created by families and friends of death row inmates in Florida. It is a given that this group is against Capital punishment. It is however, not the purpose for this group to do anti-death penalty work, instead this group concentrates on making the living conditions for death row inmates tolerable. We also commit to work on making changes that will improve the quality of living in that particular environment called Death Row, and to help keeping the standard that already exists. Everyone who is willing to work for basic human rights is welcome. If you are looking for a group who does anti-death penalty work, we suggest you join one of the excellent groups already up and running. For further information please contact a member near you: USAHannah Floyd, (Can be contacted for info on newsletter, membership, visiting,
places to stay, transport etc.) Janice Figueroa Karin Elsea, (Contact person for the DC/Maryland area) Dianne Abshire The NetherlandsJolanda Arends, Treilerstraat 168
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