Most recent letter: 6-25-00Dear Kay,
Thank you for your recent letter "Making the Walls Transparent Update". I am out of confinement now, but the fight goes on for justice and truth for all who are trapped in the twilight zone!!
I explained in my other letter's that I was sentenced to 90 days in confinement unjustly because of the personal attitude of the team chairman over the Dicsiplinary hearings. Her name is Lt. Sandra Dupree a.k.a. XENA - the DR princess. I have personally heard her call herself this and it's a very scary feeling to realize that someone who take's such a perverse joy in administering punishment that they would give themselves a nickname and brag on it has risen to a position of power over my life and freedom...
By the way, the mail personel hate you here. I love you so don't even worry over this piece of information, Dear Lady, as you are my hero!! I will forward the recent letter from you to my wife as she is a dear lady who may be able to help in some way? We are poor of course, but every little stamp or phone call can help?!
I give you full permission to print or copy any of my letters to you and post them on the website or give to reporters and investigators. I am not afraid of retaliation as someon has to sacrifice themselves for the betterment of all...
I will also talk to any lawyers or reporters in person if they are willing to come visit and interview me...You have my permission to also re-write anything I may write to you to make it easier to understand for the public...I am no writer but I'll learn. [His words are perfectly suitable. I have not changed anything. kl]
I hope that you can respond quickly to this letter as I'm sure the mailroom will read every word that comes out in an envelope addressed to you.
Thank you for all your time and devotion to this cause...I too care about my fellow inmates, no matter what their crimes or personal past. As well, I care about all the officers and staff here at Hamilton...I know it's no easy task to run a prison as there are some very dangerous people in here. But there's a fine line between personal and professional conduct. Someone has to step in and govern our keeper's here as it's out of control...
Hope to hear from you soon.
Take care,
Anthony Wayne Gann
096605 Y-2106
Hamilton "Correctional" Institution
10650 S.W. 46th Street
Jasper, Florida 32052
First Letter: 4-1-00
Dear Kay Lee,
I have struggled with myself for a few months over the writing of this letter, until finally I'm forced to do it because my subconscious won't let me rest...
I've been incarcerated for eleven years come May 16th, and the decline in the professional work force in this prison system has deteriorated badly.
I'm currently in D.C. Confinement for a "Disrespect to Official Charge" where the key words to lock me in a cell like an animal were "Inmate Gann stated in a maliciously defiant voice, 'If you weren't standing on the sidewalk, we wouldn't be having this kind of a problem.'"
What it boils down to is this young officer has a continued habit of verbally abusing every inmate and no one in any official position will control this officer. Eighty percent of the Disciplinary Reports written here at Hamilton are Borickers, false DRs against inmates to whom an officer has taken a dislike or has a grudge against!!!
I have worked as the inmate barber here for a couple of years off and on and this last tenure, I worked for one of the toughest disciplinarians who works at this institution. I was in charge of all the issuing of barber equipment, all the repair of said equipment, the barber work schedules and I worked full time in a shop here 5 to 6 days a week. And still I was railroaded into 30 days in confinement and a loss of 60 days gaintime.
Least I forget to mention that I cut 60% of these officers' hair here and not all of them are unprofessional. Most of them are poorly equiped to deal with the inmate population in any prison.
We have either very young male and female officers with deep rooted insecurities who abuse their authority constantly out of fear or just plain power tripping; or we have middle age to elderly men and women who are trying to supplement their social security income by working here.
I'm not writing this out of any major injustice I feel was done to me, although I have been wronged on many occations, but out of the fear that this institution is on the verge of becoming unsafe to life due to the staff. Once that happens, it becomes unsafe for everyone here!
Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you...
Best Wishes,
AnthonyP.S. Please, place me on your mailing list and if there's anyway I can donate stamps to help out or mailing fees, please let me know.
4-8-00
Dear Kay Lee,
Guess it was bound to happen to me sooner or later, so it's a good thing it happened to me now as I was planning to bust Hell wide open for you, and become your "Clark Kent" behind prison walls.
What I'm talking about is an injustice that adds insult to injuries already sustained. I wrote you two weeks ago, explaining how I'm doing 30 days for disrespect to officials in DC Confinement. I've since added 60 more days DC, 30 days loss of gaintime, and a $4.85 reembursement for a fishing line made out of a torn strip of bed sheet.
I was charged with 7-1 Destruction of State Property Or Property Belonging to Another. But the actual statement of facts in the Disciplinary Report says nothing about any destruction of anything, no offer of witnesses to destruction. It does not say that I had a torn bedsheet, nor did it state that I'd torn some strips off of it to make the line etc. It only states that the officer who wrote the DR saw a white line extending out of my cell and that I pulled said line into my cell...He does make one statement that is a complete lie. On the statement of facts at the bottom, where he says the inmate says he'll pay for it; I never said a word after he told me I was getting a DR. I have enclosed the statement of facts and the team findings and actions, which is the DR Team imposing sentence...
You can see that what I've said is true and that I never should have been charged with destruction of anything and God knows the punishment for so simple an action as fishing down the hall should not carry 60 days in Disciplinary Confinement, 30 days loss of gaintime, and forced to pay for the sheet.
When I attempted to explain in the disciplinary hearing to the team chairman, a Lt. Sandra Dupree, I was brought up short and told to be quiet. The officers here in confinement call Ms Dupree - Xena - the DR princess at her insistance. She pronounced sentence on me and said anything I had anything to say should be said on appeal. In other words, if you go to court you are guilty and that's it. Any justice comes from the Assistant Warden on appeal or the Office in Tallahassee.
This place is the worst I've ever seen, Kay, and I think once I get back from here, I can send enough information about the goings on with the staff here to really help light fires in the head offices in Tallahassee.
The days of sadistic treatment shuld have gone out with Cool Hand Luke in the 40s and 50s. Now these people here want to start again, only on a different level.
You wouldn't believe the inmates that have left out of here on bullshit charges and been sent to CM units at other prisons. But you can bet I'll find a way to give you some very powerful journalism one day soon. I don't care if you print my name on your website. Or use it in Tallahassee etc. etc.
I must close for now but I do pray all is well for you and that I hear from you soon.
Best Wishes,
Anthony
4-10-00 Letter was returned to me 4-10-00 and I had to remove the DR and Team findings due to "Unauthorized Materials" cannot be mailed out. My DR copy and the Team findings copy were rejected as unadmissable material for mailing out.
I'll have to figure another way to give you proof of information. Rest assured that I will though.
Take Care
4-13-00
Dear Kay Lee,
Hi! It's me again and I am still hanging in there. I did finally get the Disciplinary report and the Team Sentencing paper's out. I tryed to send them directly to you via the mail, but I was stopped.
I want you to have proof of the unjust treatment that the inmate population here at Hamilton suffers.
The Department of "Corrections" own rules State - Chapter 33-601.308 Subsection 4.(K) state that Disciplinary Confinement shall be utilized only as a last resort. If you are charged for any kind of rule violation, and that violation carries DC Confinement time, that's what you get! No consideration at all for your past record or how minor the infraction seems on paper.
I'm a prime example in that my first DR was Disrespect to an Official. It carries 30 days DC and 60 days loss of Gaintime. I went to court and bam! I got the max! The next DR which you should receive was a Destruction of State Property DR. It carries up to 60 days DC, loss of all gaintime and you can be charged restitution.
I went to court, received the full 60 days DC, loss of 30 days gaintime and charged $4.85 restitution. The sad part is that nowhere in the DR statement of facts written by the officer does it say I was witnessed destroying or tearing up anything. It only says that I was observed with a line 25 feet out of my cell and that I was witnessed pulling it into my cell and that it was constructed out of torn bed sheet.
But, I was found guilty and really slammed hard for it. I should have only had to pay for the sheet and loose maybe 30 days gaintime as punishment for so minor an infraction. Instead, I received more time in confinement for something so minor than I did for a Disrespect to an Official. I don't claim to be no genius, but I know that what's being done here is wrong. I want to mention that the whole institution is out of control with phony DRs being written everywhere and using DC far too much.
This won't stop until it's been investigated by Tallahassee but my voice isn't big enough. I'd also like to mention one other thing that's done here that I've never seen done elsewhere. The normal procedure for an inmate in confinement is to serve about half their time in DC. Say you get 30 days DC, if you are quiet and do 15 days with no trouble, the I.C.C. Team (the head of security, the head of classification, and the assistant warden) would come around and release you back to population. That doesn't happen here. You do every single day. You may get out one day early if your sentence is over on a Saturday or Sunday, but that's the only way.
They also don't count anytime you do in AC Confinement towards your DC time here. I did nine days before I came to court and got the first 30. It was dead time and counts for nothing. I should have 26 on 90 done but I only have 15 done. I have 10 more weeks to go. I guess it will be this way till enough noise is made from here to the Capitol. The assistant Warden, Mr Freeman, can explain why I'm doing 60 extra days in confinement for something that's obviously not a lock up offense. Best contact may be Tallahassee at the office of Celest Kemp.
I have an appeal in on this charge of Distruction of State property as it's wrong and I guess I'll see where this all goes in the next 30 days.
I hope I can contribute to stopping the madness here and making it safe for a man to live here without fear of being locked up unnecessarily and loosing gain time. All most of us really want is do our time quietly and to go home.
Back to Hamilton Prison Index Main Index All the Way Home