First Amendment: Anathema or weapon?

CU#1126, SCI-Pine Grove

I’ve been sitting in obscurity in solitary confinement now for over 280 days, in the inferno of the entrails of the Restricted Housing Unit (RHU) at Pennsylvania’s state correctional institution in Pine Grove, litigating my federal lawsuit Arroyo v. McGinley (No. 1:23-cv-01083), while trying to figure out how I ended up in this situation.

Many of my comrades, advocates and supporters from the eastern region of Pennsylvania must be thinking that the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PDC) put my freedom of expression into a recession.

They certainly tried by denying me a single cell accommodation for my health issues and by forcing my transfer from the state correctional institution at Coal Township to the one at Pine Grove.

This is in retaliation for my work as a whistleblower, which is defined as “an individual who exposes the corrupt or malicious venal actions of a public or private organization, government, or entity, leaking information thought to be pertinent to the general public.”

My fellow inmate William “Billy” Rinick and I blew the whistle on Coal Township. Specifically, we blew the whistle on the fact that the state prison was in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and various fire/safety codes for its failure to install handicap-accessible fire and safety exit ramps.

They were well aware of that fact — as evidenced by the prison’s Lt. Cohoon who declared that it would cost “several millions of dollars” to bring the prison into compliance; and that that was the real reason why I was placed in solitary confinement to await transfer to another prison.

The pretext was that Bill and I were punished for exposing the names of correctional officers in the Workers World publication. But, as Lt. Cohoon stated, “It was never really about you guys exposing the staffmember’s names in the Workers World newspapers. It was squarely about avoiding the Department of Corrections from spending millions of dollars to install emergency, exit and handicap ramps throughout the entire Pennsylvania prison system. It just isn’t economically feasible.”

Lt. Cohoon then sought to extinguish the exercise of my constitutionally protected free speech rights by forcibly removing us from the general population and placing us into an RHU. This was done under the false pretext of “encouraging unauthorized group activity” for assisting Billy Rinick with his article which focused on mitigating fire and safety risks by implementing fire exits throughout the entire facility at SCI-Coal Township.

Don’t silence prisoners!

Prisoners have an absolute right to speak in their own voices, especially those who have been targeted by the PDC, an entity which seeks to keep us enslaved by cowardly using inappropriate force to ban our expression and humanity.

It’s not the first time I’ve been targeted, nor will it be the last. In the past, I’ve stopped an $860 million coal gasification plant from being built 300 feet from the prison yard at the State Correctional Institution at Mahanoy.

I’ve pointed out the failure of the system to accommodate life-sentenced prisoners with “compassionate release,” and I’ve raised the alarm about poor drinking water and other issues. On top of that, I’m an innocent man supported by the alleged victim’s family members for the past thirty years.

In response to all of that, I am now confined and isolated in solitary confinement — separated from my family, friends and supporters who are now all ten travel-hours or more away from me.

But I am free to speak! Whether in guilty man’s brown or orange clothing, I’m still a Latino, a man and a jailhouse lawyer/environmentalist uprooted from my home district in response to the exercise of my constitutionally protected First Amendment rights in defense of myself and other inmates.

You can bet that the Inmate Publication Review Committee will attempt to censor this article by using a fictitious offense or by stating that I’m a threat for assaulting them with my First Amendment weapon.

For the record, no matter how the PDC twists the facts, I’ll remain in their eyes a constitutional threat for indefatigably exercising my free speech.

The Free Speech clause of the First Amendment is the U.S. Constitution’s foremost, majestic guarantee. The right to free speech, press, assembly, petition and association occupies a preferred place in the constellation of U.S. constitutional protections, as enshrined in the First Amendment.

It is quite alarming to know that Lt. Cohoon and the PDC have used my freedom of speech to manufacture three false misconducts, as if my words could create a circle of violence towards correctional staff. These misconducts have been shown to be fabricated, because they were all dismissed by three separate hearing examiners, with the last one being dismissed with prejudice.

It is an exaggerated penological response.

All of this demonstrates how the PDC trivializes physical harm in order to halt communication of any kind, while using unjustified state violence through their punitive use of excessive force against me; for, among other things, merely being quoted in William Rinick’s interview in Workers World. (workers.org/2024/01/76247/)

Freedom of speech is the greatest antidote against violence. Freedom of speech is anti-violent!

The inner workings of the free speech clause are central to our democracy, because free speech enhances personal growth and self-realization. It defines your identity! Through the use of it, we are all vessels that are vested with freedom of expression every waking day and night of our lives.

Freedom of speech is freedom from death, and we need to fight the powers that be. Speak up! Speak out and stand your ground! Fight for your rights! Being ignorant about your own ignorance is no excuse for the law.

Red salutes to all my comrades, advocates, supporters and family members. My love is thicker than blood. Peace, liberty, justice and freedom to the nation of prisoners!