APRIL 2021
Well, it finally happened. My habeas petition in the California Supreme Court was finally denied
in April, 2021. I expected as much since very few cases are granted at that level. Or at any
level really. But aside from that denial, I still have hope in the courts. I can petition the
Ninth Circuit to allow me to file a second or successive habeas petition in the District Court.
This is a longshot and the petition requires an advanced copy of the habeas petition I plan on
submitting to the District Court.
This means I have to be thorough and that requires a lot of paper. Well, in Salinas Valley State Prison, they refuse to give me paper for lengthy documents, most of which are destined for the courts. This policy, which is an "underground regulation" flies in direct opposition to the law in California Code of Regulations, title 15, ยงยง3138, and 3162, states that any special paper or envelopes needed to file in the courts is to be provided free of charge to indigent prisoners.
The oppressive leadership at Salinas Valley State Prison is violating the rights of all prisoners to access the courts free of charge by not providing paper. I have filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court, Northern District of California, case number 20-cv-03883-EMC and the assigned judge has screened it out and asked for an amended complaint.
In order to file an amended complaint, I am being asked to fully explain my claims of innocence and I figure I can do that in about 100 pages so I figure I need 100 sheets of special paper which in this case is any paper at all. Well, I have nowhere near that many sheets of paper, so I have asked the court for an injunction which orders the CDCR to give me 100 sheets of plain white paper. While I wait for all this to resolve itself, I have stayed busy with college and the occasional pleading or two for other prisoners in my building.
I have been taking Introduction to Philosophy and a Social Justice course that have both opened my eyes to the real oppressive nature of our current justice system. As a result of much contemplation, I wrote out a freestyle essay one night that wound up going through three edits. In prison, that is a lot because I typed each of them and ribbons are hard to come by. I just kept seeing a better version each time I digested the latest one.
Please read my essay "Rehabilitation in the CDCR".
I don't have much more to add right now other than COVID-19 seems to be a distant memory with a June 15, 2021 date for all pandemic related restrictions to be lifted. As it stands, we are seeing a relaxation of the COVID-19 restrictions in the CDCR at Salinas Valley State Prison. We are actually walking to chow these days and we are allowed to remove our masks while we are in the dining hall. Until next time, stay in touch, and take care.
This means I have to be thorough and that requires a lot of paper. Well, in Salinas Valley State Prison, they refuse to give me paper for lengthy documents, most of which are destined for the courts. This policy, which is an "underground regulation" flies in direct opposition to the law in California Code of Regulations, title 15, ยงยง3138, and 3162, states that any special paper or envelopes needed to file in the courts is to be provided free of charge to indigent prisoners.
The oppressive leadership at Salinas Valley State Prison is violating the rights of all prisoners to access the courts free of charge by not providing paper. I have filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court, Northern District of California, case number 20-cv-03883-EMC and the assigned judge has screened it out and asked for an amended complaint.
In order to file an amended complaint, I am being asked to fully explain my claims of innocence and I figure I can do that in about 100 pages so I figure I need 100 sheets of special paper which in this case is any paper at all. Well, I have nowhere near that many sheets of paper, so I have asked the court for an injunction which orders the CDCR to give me 100 sheets of plain white paper. While I wait for all this to resolve itself, I have stayed busy with college and the occasional pleading or two for other prisoners in my building.
I have been taking Introduction to Philosophy and a Social Justice course that have both opened my eyes to the real oppressive nature of our current justice system. As a result of much contemplation, I wrote out a freestyle essay one night that wound up going through three edits. In prison, that is a lot because I typed each of them and ribbons are hard to come by. I just kept seeing a better version each time I digested the latest one.
Please read my essay "Rehabilitation in the CDCR".
I don't have much more to add right now other than COVID-19 seems to be a distant memory with a June 15, 2021 date for all pandemic related restrictions to be lifted. As it stands, we are seeing a relaxation of the COVID-19 restrictions in the CDCR at Salinas Valley State Prison. We are actually walking to chow these days and we are allowed to remove our masks while we are in the dining hall. Until next time, stay in touch, and take care.