Prisoner Protests Conditions At High Desert State Prison

On Sunday, September 26, 2004, my sons girlfriend, myself, and my two grandsons, went on a three hundred fifty mile trip. We were going to see, Kerry Baxter Senior, who is incacarated at High Desert State Prison, in Lassen County. He is my the youngest of my three sons, and has been in jail since April of 2001. We live in the Bay Area, and in order to High Desert, we went into Reno Nevada, and then back into California. One has to wonder why there was no access road built in California. Why through Reno Nevada of all places?

As we rolled into Susanville, I looked to my right, and saw the facility. It is the biggest industry in the town, and contains water Towers, and its own utilities. In fact it is described in the brochures, as being a self contained community. This is not a community of Americans who can come and go as they please, but a community of societies castoffs.

When we went into the reception office, the guard told us that my son was in PC (protective custody), and we should have made an appointment. I could not believe that they were denying us a visit. I made several calls to the facility, prior to our visit, and no one said anything about making an appointment. Nor had they said anything about my son being in protective custody. In fact I spoke to the Assistant Warden, a Mr. Peterson, and he did not say anything about Kerry being in protective custody. After looking at her appointment book, the guard did give us an appointment, for 1:00 pm., that day. We left, and returned around 12:00 pm, and went to register.

It was then that my sons girlfriend was told she had to change outfits. She had a beige outfit on, with two denim patches in the breast area. They said she would have to change because of the denim patches. Nothing in any of the material I read stated that you could not wear denim patches. Foreseeing this problem we brought changes of outfits, and she changed.

By the time we saw my son, it was after 1:30 pm (we arrived in Susanville around 10:30 am). Amazingly they have all kinds of industries in town that are dependent on visitors to the prison to survive. The town itself is built around the prison, and the only minority I saw was a Middle Easterner, who owned the local Kentucky Fried Chicken. There are rows and rows of trailer parks, some with double wides. There are non descript houses built on the roads leading into town, and up to the prison. If it were not for the prison, it would be exactly what it is called, High Desert.

We finally arrived in the visiting area, and the inmates were all in blue. They were also all Hispanics, who appeared to be no older than thirty years of age. The mothers were there with their children, and the reality of what is going on sank in. We could not have a contact visit with my son, and waited for them to bring him in behind a plexi glass window. When he came in the first thing I noticed was that his pants were too big. He had a rope around his waist holding up the pants he wore. When he went in Kerry was standing about six feet tall, and weighing close to 200 pounds. He looks like he weighs about 140 pounds, meaning he has lost about 60 pounds. His veins are popping out of his arms and wrists. His girlfriend asked him why he had lost weight, and he just said that he was okay.

Although he had lost weight he looked healthy, and his eyes were clear. He looks like Jamie Fox, and is thirty six years old. I asked him if why he was in protective custody, and he said that he was on lockdown, and not in protective custody. He told me that the conditions there are intolerable and that they moved him from Cell Block B to this Cell Block, (C), without giving him a reason. In Cell Block C, the blacks and whites are locked down twenty four hours, and have been for two years. In Cell Block B, the blacks and Asians are locked down, and have been for eight months.

He said that while on lockdown, they are not allowed to have toiletries or supplies there. He said that there is a lot of psychological abuse from the guards. On one occassion the guards put a black and white person in the shower together, knowing they would fight. The black person was stabbed, and the guards again put blacks and whites on lockdown. Although blacks and whites have been on lockdown, the whites have killed two blacks. If that is true, then the guards are targeting blacks, not surprising given their level of education, and the types of people the CDC is hiring. Who is giving them their psychological evaluation, Hitler?

A couple of months ago my son went on a hunger strike, and was taken to the medical unit. I do not know how long he was on the hunger strike before they force fed him. I notice that Kerry had a problem talking, and his jaw looks like it is dislocated. He said that he is fine, but appeared to have trouble talking. This makes me wonder what he is not telling. I know that he does not eat pork, and certain other foods, but I also believe he is on a hunger strike. At this point it is the only weapon he has.

It appears that any black prisoner in High Desert is going to be on lock down 24 seven. That is how the predominantly white prison guards deal with them. There are at least some whites, some Asians, and some Hispanics, who are not on lockdown. I do not blame my son for going on a hunger strike, God knows what they are putting in the food that the inmates are eating.

The fact is that my son, who is from the Bay Area, has a case that is on appeal. In my opinion, he has not had a fair trial, and the way things are going, he may not live to see another day in court. That would be a wonderful thing for those who prosecuted him, but not to great for the State of California. The State is intentionally allowing prisoners to die, and paying their families millions of dollars. Is there any wonder they are broke? Instead of cleaning up the mess called CDC, they are in partnership with them to committ crimes against humanity.

I do not want anything to happen to my son, but I do understand why he is on a hunger strike. I would do the same thing, if someone was trying to dehumanize me. No act that was committed justifies the State to act in the manner it is acting in. This situation reminds me of the movie, Sounder, in which an African American father is taken from his family, for stealing a chicken. He is sent to a prison farm, miles away, and moved several times before the family finds him. His children are left fatherless, and his wife is left without a husband. When he is injured in an explosion at a mine, he is sent home.

That movie was set in the South sometime in the 1940's, but it appears we are still there. The State of California is building Prison Camps, in which prisoners are allowed to be abused, and murdered. Are we headed to an Auschwitz type of situation here in Sunny California? Are we going to live out the Manifest Destiny of South Africa? Who are the Prisons being built for since crime is reportedly going down?

Although California professes to be broke, the state can find the billions of dollars necessary to incarcarate its citizens. That is because the money is being taken for health and education programs. Since most of those incarcarated have less than an eighth grade education, we know where the inmates will come from.

We need to take a hard look at what is going on with the Three Stike laws, and who is profiting from this Prison Industrial Complex.