Florida Pushes For Expediting Executions - Again

The dark clouds are again on the distant horizon and promising a storm is on the way, as Florida's politicians push to pass new laws intended to adapt the Texas capital post conviction appeal process to Florida.

We have seen this before. Back in the year 2000 when Jeb Bush
was elected governor here in Florida. (Jeb Bush is the younger brother of former president George W Bush) His first order of business was to collaborate with conservative republican politicians in the Florida legislation to pass what was then called the "Death Penalty Reform Act of 2000". Within months of being elected to office Governor Bush signed this law into effect. Under this law Florida intended to transform the existing multi-level post comviction review process into a single consolidated streamlined process that would require all death sentenced prisoners to file their appeal within a matter of months after being sentenced to death. Further, it would limit any chance of pursuing any succesive appeals, such as those based upon newly discovered evidence, including evidence supporting innocence. Quite simply, the clearly stated intent of this law was to expedite executions by eliminating meaningful appelate review even if it meant that innocent prisoners would be put to death without any chance of proving their innocence.

However, this law never actually went into effect as before it could be implemented the Florida Supreme Court declared it to be unconstitutional. But even so, they informally reached a compromise to appease those bloodthirsty politicians by adapting its own amendments to the rules governing capital post conviction appeals, which placed substantial limitations upon succesive appeals.

But of course, that was not enoughto satisfy these politicians, whose only agenda was the bottom line of turning the Florida death penalty into a Texas-style killing machine. In the past 12 years since the Florida Supreme Court spanked these over-reacting politicians, this same group of fanatical conservative politicians set out to methodically take control of the Florida Supreme Court itself.. "By God, if the State constitution says that only the Supreme Court can change the rules governing capital appeals and these damned bleeding hearts liberals on the Court were standing in their way then they would simply find a way to take control of the Court itself"...and they did.

In recent years these Florida republicans have methodically taken over the all important Judicial Committees responsible for nominating the judges to the courts, and forced a change of law that now prohibits the governor from choosing anyone who is not specifically nominated by these Republican controlled committees.

As a result, when a vacancy is created on the Florida Supreme Court the Governor must now appoint only one of their own pro-death penalty justices. In the past 5 years this has proven incredibly effective, as when the most recent vacancies were created by the forced retirement of several judges, these republican-controled committees forced the appointment of Charles Canady and Andrew Polston to the Florida Supreme Court.

Before being appointed to the Florida Supreme Court and quickly elevated to Chief Justice, Charles Canady was General Council for Governer Jeb Bush, and the one who personally pushed for the Death Penalty Reform Act of 2000, and Canady was then substantially assisted by then Florida Supreme Court Justice Polston. This is how incidious politics of death corrupts over judicial process - these conservative pro-death politicians are deliberately stacking the the deck to accomplish their own agenda. And incredibly, nobody in the main stream media seems to care, and of course, the brain dead sheep (i.e. Florida citizens) are blissfully ignorant of these political manipulations...nobody cares.

So now the pro-death politicians have taken control of the Florida Supreme Court they are now pushing new proposed laws through the Florida legislation, again adopting the Texas-style appeals process to Florida, and threatening the Florida Supreme Court with a proposed Constitutional Amendment that would allow the Florida Legislature to have the power to promulgate rules governing death penaly appelas.

The difference between the previous attempt and what is now proposed is that this time these politicians have their own hand-picked justices controlling the Florida Supreme Court. Not surprisongly, Chief Justice Polston and his cohert Canady have now chosen a 5 members "task force" empowered to study ways that the capital appeal process can be speeded up so that these sentenced to death will actually be put to death within 6-10 years of being sentenced.

This task-force studying the Florida post conviction appeal process is to issue its conclusions and recommendations by this September, but whatever their conclusions may be, it certainly will not be an objective and impartial study as each of these 5 commission members were hand-picked because they possess the same agenda as the poiticians who appointed them. The final report will undoubtedly paralell the political agenda of expediting executions by any means necessary.

Of course, this task force will not look into - or even address - the systematic prosecutional misconduct that causes substantial delays in appelate review, and that Florida indesputably convicts and condemns more innocent people to death than any other state.

What really troubles me most is that I do believe that the majority of Americans are guided by a sense of moral conscience and believe in the concept of fundamental fairnes and whn it comes to the death penalty, moral conscience and the integrity
of our judicial process are quickly abandoned and inevitably too many themselves become blindly intoxicated by the insatiable zeal to kill, as if they were part of the old west lynch mob and cannot see that by eroding the process available to protect against executing innocent people, each of those who go along with this new drive to "streamline" the death row appeals are themselves complicit in the inevitable execution of innocent men and women. But make no mistake about this truth - our process as it currently exists is already fundamentally flawed and there is no doubt innocent people have been put to death. But if and when these anticipated "reforms" do pass - and they most likely now will - Florida will go from already convicting and condemning more innocent men and women to leading the nation in actually executing more innocent prisoners.

It is truly a sad commentary that this is what America today has become - a nation that was once a beacon of protecting basic human rights for all the world to see, but now has become so consumed by its need to hate that we now not only lead the world for the rate of incarceration, but also openly compete with China, Iran, North Korea and other nations defined by their indifference to human rights, to put more and more people to death. Those who say that America has abandoned its moral concience are right and as we continue down the slippery slope of apathic indifference to basic human rights and even continued advocacy for an obviously flawed death penalty will evode that foundation upon which we as a country stand upon and it is this country itself that will inevitably fall once that moral foundation crumbles.


Michael Lambrix #482053
Union Correctional Institution
7819 NW 228th Street (P3226)
Raiford, FL 32026-4400
USA

Read here an article from the Miami Herald about the Timely Justice Act


Sign here to urge Governor Scott to Veto Florida House’s shameful bill to "speed up" death penalty

Meet The New Boss - Same As The Old Boss

As my faithful readers are already aware, in recent months we have seen a major shakeup here at Union Correctional Institution following a long pattern of criminal conduct by FDOC staff here at UCI. Specifically, under the brutal reign of Warden Barry Reddish, prisoners here at UCI were being brutally assaulted by staff. Only when these renegade guards crossed the line and actually beat inmate Frank Smith to death, then they tried to cover it up, did the Miami Herald and other media outlets finally take notice and publicly expose this reign of terror.

No longer able to deny the systemic abuse of prisoners, FDOC Secretary Kenneth Tucker took unprecedented action in abruptly removing virtually all the top staff at UCI, from Warden Reddish all the way down to the death row unit supervisor, Captain Ellis. At least 20 of the UCI staff were fired when the FDOC investigation revealed a pattern of systematic criminal action by staff, which was routinely being covered up by upper level staff who were supposed to be protecting the safety of the inmates in their charge.

The FDOC brought in a new warden, Dianne Andrews, and there was hope that she would put a stop to the staff misconduct. For the first month or two things quietened down and we were finallly able to relax without worrying about renegade guards coming in and physically assaulting us, or destroying our personal property under the pretense of 'cell searches' or writing bogus 'disciplinary reports' for no other reason but because it was their nature and they could.

Abraham Lincoln once said that 'the true meaning of a man's moral character is best defined by the manner in which he exercises power over other men." Prison guards like to call themselves 'law enforcement officers' and in all fairness, the majority of the Correctional officers employed by the FDOC actually do their job in a respectful and professional manner worthy of the badge they wear.

But then there are the 'bad a pples' who hide behind that badge and abuse their power to effectively become 'career criminals' who have absolutely no moral character or professional integrity. Most of these relatively few renegade guards got their job because their father and his father before him worked at the prison. These relatively few renegades come to work truly believing they are somehow 'entitled' , like a spoilt brat in a candy store. It is an insult to law enforcement everywhere that they are even allowed to wear a badge at all, as they are they are truly nothing but career criminals themselves.

But the problem with the Florida dept of corrections is that there is an inbred 'Good ole boy system' in which even at the highest levels of the FDOC, their renegade guards are pathologically 'protected' and this is why again and again we see these cycles of systematic abuse of prisoners that always ultimately result in a pattern of physical abuse culminating in the killing of a prisoner, and only then will the mainstream media take notice.

We had hoped that Warden Diane Andrews would be different. A the first female warden at UCI, we held on to a naive belief that
she would not go along with the infamous 'good ole boy' network of renegade guards who make the majority of professional correctional guards working here look bad.

But it was not meant to be- Warden Andrews is only too quickly proving that she is cut of the same cloth and will only too eagerly embrace the rampant abuse and mistreatment of prisoner under her care. I suppose that Abraham Lincoln was right- it is the measure of moral character or the lack of it.

Increasingly, these renegade guards now see that no matter what they might do, Warden Andrews and her own hand-picked staff will blindly back them up. Now that Warden Andrews is herself one of the 'good ole boys' who will only too willingly turn a blind eye to staff misconduct, these worm are already crawling out of their apples and infesting the entire staff, as even the majority of truly professional correctional officers know only too well that their own careers will quickly end if they dare speak out against these few, especially since they have the blessing of the warden and know they can do as they wish and to hell with the law.

Myself, I've been in the Florida prison system now for almost three decades, and those who have already read my book 'To Live and Die on Death Row' already know I've been the victim too many times of physical assaults and abuse inflicted by renegade guards, and so I do know the only too predictable patterns, and once again, the writing is on the wall.

It always begins the same- these relatively few renegade guards will push the limits to test the new warden, and as they get away with small acts of deliberate misconduct, they move onto something bigger. Before long we see the only too familiar substantial escalation of physical assaults upon prisoners that will inevitably end with yet another prisoner being brutally beaten to death. This pattern is graphically illustrated in numerous Federal court cases, such as Valdes vs Crosby 450 f.3d 1231(11th cir, 2006.)


But each tie these only too familiar patterns play out, they can always be traced to a warden who simply refused to enforce applicable rules intended to not only protect prisoners from this kind of arbitrary and unfair treatment and abuse by these renegade guards, but to also protect the majority of correctional officers who actually do respect the badge they wear- but must then deal with the inmates' response to unfair treatment. It doesn't then take long before the tension between the staff and prisoners quickly escalates and that patter of physical assaults and even death follow.

Warden Andrews has wasted no time in sending a clear message to these few renegade guards that they can do as they please and her staff will again cover for them. Take for example 'disciplinary reports'- under Florida law the warden is personally responsible for reviewing all disciplinary actions taken and is statutorily prohibited from delegating this review to anyone else. Thus, there is no question Warden Andrews has reviewed these.

Since Warden Andrews has taken over UCI, the guards are now writing completely fabricated disciplinary reports with increased frequency. But instead of taking the necessary action to stop this misconduct, under Warden Andrews the entire process has become a perverted 'Kangaroo court' in which virtually all the long established 'due process' protections mandated are now being completely violated... unqualified GO.I's (not sergeants) are being assigned to conduct the required investigations and consistently requested witnesses and evidence that could show the disciplinary report was deliberately fabricated are not being allowed.
When the inmates are brought before the designated 'disciplinary team' to conduct a hearing, virtually every disciplinary report is rubber stamped 'guilty' and the absolute maximum punishment imposed. Not even Chinese courts are this corrupt!

The entire disciplinary and grievance process under Warden Andrews has been reduced to a joke, deliberately designed to blatantly disregard long established rules governing the disciplinary process.

Again, there is absolutely no doubt that Warden Andrews is personally aware that a small number of renegade guards are writing completely fabricated disciplinary reports-but instead of taking the appropriate action to stop this systematic misconduct, she sticks her head in the sand, sending a clear message to all the staff that they can do as they please and to hell with the rules, as under her, they are above the law.

As I will conclusively show in future blogs through documentary evidence, even when it is brought to Warden Andrew's personal attention that a staff member has deliberately fabricated a disciplinary report, and that irrefutable video tape exists that would conclusively show that the staff member fabricated the report, Warden Andrews refuses to look at this evidence or take any action to stop this criminal misconduct. (In the state of Florida fabricating any report on state record is a criminal act.)

This is a no-brainer, when the warden deliberately sends a message to staff that they are above the law and can do as they please without any fear of accountability, and in fact she will even cover for them, disciplinary reports escalates to more physical forms of abuse of the prisoners as these renegade guards have no moral character and no professional integrity and will do what the warden lets them get away with.

This is precisely the kind of 'good ole boy' mentality that has repeatedly tarnished the reputation of all FDOC employees as we never hear about the majority of professional correctional officers who actually do respect the bade they wear. Rather, it's always the bad apples that rise to the surface and give all of them a bad name.

We should not allow this too familiar pattern of moral corruption to yet again play out. I would encourage all those reading this to take a moment to email this editorial to all forms of media (newspapers, TV etc) and to email the FDOC Kenneth Tucker requesting that he immediately initiate a formal investigation into the escalating pattern of staff misconduct at UCI under Warden Andrews so that it doesn't yet again escalate out of control.

Tucker.kenneth@email.dc.state.fl.us (DOC secretary)
Andrews.Diane@mail.dc.state.fl.us (Warden Union Correctional)

Michael Lambrix #482053
Union Correctional Institution

FDOC Culture of Corruption Continues on Death Row

If you thought the recent changes here at Union Correctional Institution (in which virtually all the top staff from warden Reddish on down have been replaced by a new warden and top staff) has made any real difference, you’d be wrong. This culture of corruption that plaques the Florida Prison System is so pervasive that it can never hope to be changed unless they clean house completely and bring in new people from outside the FDOC.

Only recently did I personally find out that nothing has really changed. The day before Thanksgiving (Nov.21) a guard came around with the noon count. In the almost 30 years that I have been on the row, we never had to sit up for the noon count, only for the evening “master count” at which time we always must stand up and give our DC number. But Officer Crew lives by his own rules and wanted everybody to sit up. He claims this is the rule, but if you look at the actual “death row” rules (F.A.C. 33-601.830) you will see there’s no such rule.

I was listening to something with my headphones on and when officer Crews came to the floor, yelling at everybody to sit up for count. I was not the only one who didn’t hear him as he came in the back door but I was the first one he came to so I guess he had to set an example. As he walked past my cell, he told me to sit up for count – he never stopped at my cell. A moment later, the sergeant came by and did stop at my cell and I made the mistake of trying to talk to him, really after so many years I should have known better, but I didn’t think anymore of it. They left the wing and I thought that was it.

Then about 10 days later, on November 30, Officer Callaway came up to my cell and told me that officer C Crews wrote a disciplinary report against me for “verbal disrespect” in which officer C Crews claimed that on November 21 he actually stopped at my cell and had a long conversation with me about me not sitting up on my bunk at the noon count. He then claimed that after repeatedly ordering me to sit up, I continued to refuse to do so, then I told him “F--- that shit” and so he wrote me up for verbal disrespect. When officer Callaway “investigated” this disciplinary report, I then specifically requested that officer Callaway obtain the videotape from the security camera for that day/time, which should show that officer Crews never stopped at my cell or had a lengthy conversation with me, as he claimed. I also requested that officer Callaway obtain my form DC6-229, which under applicable FDOC rules mandates that if any such disturbance or event took place that day, it would have to be documented on this form, and it was not. Last, a number of fellow inmates who heard what happened that day volunteered to be witnesses and they each told officer Callaway that they were willing to give a witness statement. But what we didn’t know was that officer Callaway had no intention of actually collecting any evidence and that in virtually every disciplinary action he was assigned to investigate, he has claimed that the inmate “refused” to provide any evidence or statements.

On Monday, December 2, I was pulled from my cell in the early morning hours and taken downstairs to the room where they conduct the “disciplinary court”. Only when you are brought before a prison disciplinary court can you truly appreciate what prisoners in communist countries feel like – forget about anything being fair or the truth being considered.

During the entire time I was before this kangaroo court, I remained fully constrained in handcuffs/waist chains/black box and leg shackles. But fortunately, the entire hearing only took a moment as they didn’t want to hear a word I had to say. I was immediately informed that I was not to speak unless I was advised to do so, and if I did, the hearing would be terminated. I was then told that since officer Callaway submitted his own statement claiming that I refused to provide any evidence and refused to sign the investigative worksheet, NO evidence would be considered, not even my own statement! I attempted to advise the judges that I did tell officer Callaway that I had evidence - but they didn’t want to hear it. They then told me that they found me “guilty” and immediately imposed the absolute maximum disciplinary confinement allowed – 30 days in lock-up, which means no visits, no canteen, no TV or radio, no reading material – nothing! And It also meant that I will now spend my Christmas in the hole – oh such joy!

They immediately took me straight to the lock-up floor where I was placed in cell number 5. It didn’t take long to find out that officer Callaway had done the same thing to everyone in lock-up. Each of us had specifically requested that officer Callaway obtain the evidence and witness statements, in each and every case officer Callaway disposed of the evidence that we requested and instead submitted a false statement claiming that every inmate “refused” to provide any evidence!

That same day I wrote up several grievances directly to warden Andrews regarding this matter. I collected the grievance log numbers from everyone in lock-up to show that in almost every case officer Callaway had done the same thing, arguing that by law all prisoners are entitled to have their evidence heard and that officer Callaway deprived us of our right to a fair and meaningful disciplinary process. As of this day Warden Andrews has not responded, nor has she taken action and so this misconduct is still continuing. There is absolutely no question that Warden Andrews knows what officer Callaway is doing – but she simply refuses to look into the matter and take the appropriate action.

I ask you to email the FDOC top people and let them know that since warden Andrews took over at UCI, they have adopted a clearly established practice of prohibiting inmates from presenting evidence to the disciplinary process and ask them to look into this and conduct an investigation into this misconduct.

Asst Secretary Timothy Cannon: cannon.timothy@mail.dc.state.fl.us
Secretary Michael Crews: crews.michael@mail.dc.state.us

Thank you,

Michael Lambrix

Abu Ghraib – American Style

In April 2003 the world media reacted responded with outrage when photographic evidence of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib was exposed. In the aftermath several of the military prison guards involved were sent to federal prison themselves – but not even one of the supervisory officers responsible for overseeing the human treatment of the Iraqi prisoners were held accountable, and the media forgot all about the story.

In the Florida prison system today abuse and mistreatment of prisoners has become so common that the guards openly joke about how the quickest way to get a promotion is to assault a prisoner, In just the last few months at Florida State Prison and nearby Union Correctional Institution over 120 prisoners have been assaulted by prison guards severe enough to require medical treatment. At least one prisoner has been brutally beaten to death while another prisoner who was housed at Florida State Prison’s Q wing (formally known as X Wing) is now at the prison hospital in Lake Butler (North Florida Reception Center) with his arms and legs broken as well as numerous other injuries.

How many remember how prison guards at Florida State Prison brutally beat death row inmate Frank Valdez to death on July 17, 1999? It was front page news in many Florida newspapers. The nine guards involved were all charged with first degree murder and brought to trial in Bradford County – and not surprisingly, all nine were acquitted by the local jury in this prison town. Most got their jobs back with the prison system.
In May 2006, only a month after the media went wild over the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib, a federal appeals court in Atlanta, Georgia issued a judicial ruling that recognized that in 1998-99 there were at least 150 assaulted prisoners in the months leading up to the beating death of Frank Valdez . See Valdez v Crosby, 450 F.sd. 1231 (11th Cir. 2006), and that the warden, James Crosby, not only ignored the assaults on prisoners, but actually promoted the prison guards involved!
After warden Crosby nurtured the environment of brutality against prisoners at Florida State Prison, as graphically detailed in numerous Federal cases, the Florida Governor Jeb Bush (younger brother of President George W Bush) actually promoted Warden Crosby to the top job of Secretary of the Department of Corrections! Not long after that Federal authorities arrested Secretary Crosby on corruption charges and Crosby agreed to plead guilty to these Federal charges in exchange for a sentence of 8 years in Federal prison. In 2007 the State of Florida agreed to pay the family of Frank Valdez well over a million dollars to drop their civil action. All told, Florida taxpayers paid millions of dollars to Florida prisoners and their families in civil settlements resulting from this reign of terror at the hands of Florida prison guards.

Only after Crosby and numerous other top Florida Department of Corrections officials were sent to Federal prison, did then Florida governor Jeb Bush bring in an “outsider” to clean up the widespread corruption. James McDonough was named as the new FDOC Secretary and discovered a “culture of corruption” so pervasive that “the prison system was run like the mafia” and ‘corruption had gone to the extreme”. See “Ex Florida prison boss: Drunken orgies tainted system” , CNN news, February 11, 2008 (print article available at http://edition.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/02/11/prison.boss/index.html
Under Secretary McDonough, 90 top prison officials (wardens, colonels, majors, etc) were abruptly fired and another 280 were demoted from supervisory positions. For a short period of time there was actually hope that the Florida prison system would be transformed into a culture where the officers actually respected that badge of law enforcement that they wear.
But it was not meant to be. After receiving numerous threats upon his life and the life of his family, James McDonough abruptly resigned and the Florida Department of Corrections was handed back to on of the department insiders and that culture of corruption that Secretary McDonough tried so hard to clean up has now been fully restored. Many of those that McDonough fired, as well as the majority of those that were demoted because “they could not be trusted” are now back in power and all but have complete control of the Florida prison system.

Less than 4 years after Secretary McDonough announced that he had cleared up this “good ole boy” system, the entire Florida prison system has once again regressed back to what it was under James Crosby, where the “culture of corruption” once again prevails and Florida prison guards are once again brutally beating and assaulting inmates with complete immunity. See, eg “Nightmare of Prison Rape” by David Person, USA Today, June 27, 2012; “The Caging of America”, by Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, January 16, 2012.

Once again, as graphically described by the Federal Court in Valdez v Crosby, 450 F.3d. 1231 (11th Cir. 2006) it has become daily practice for prison guards at Florida State Prison and Union Correctional Institution to brutally assault prisoners under the disingenuous pretense of a “justified use of force” almost always claiming that the inmate initiated the action, of course conveniently out of sight of the security cameras. In the over 120 “use of force” reports at the Florida State Prison and neighboring Union Correctional Institution, the vast majority involve the same small group of rogue guards and almost without exception were “approved” by the same small handful of supervisors.

More telling, this systematic abuse and even murder is being knowingly condoned, if not actively encouraged, by Florida State Prison Warden Dean Ellis and Union Correctional Institution Warden Barry Reddish. In virtually every one of these alleged assaults upon prisoners Warden Ellis and Warden Dean have rubber stamped the inter-institutional investigation in favor of the guards and consistently this relatively small group of prison guards responsible for the vast majority of these violent assaults are actually promoted, or otherwise rewarded with better days off and benefits such as free state housing.

But not a single media agency is willing to look into what is now going on at Florida State Prison and union Correctional institution, especially since current FDOC Secretary Kenneth Tucker took over the department and made it very clear that his hand-picked Wardens are free to do as they wish without any meaningful supervision by Tallahassee.
For those who may actually be interested in looking into the systematic violent assaults and even murder of Florida prisoners under FSP Warden Ellis and UCI Warden Reddish, under Florida statutes, Chapter 119 “Public Records Act|” upon request the Florida Department of Corrections must expeditiously provide the relevant records. You must specifically request copies of all “use of force” reports, as well as all “incident reports” involving or leading up to the use of force. Additionally you should request copies of all purchase orders for any forms of “chemical agents” which will conclusively show that under FSP Warden Dean Ellis and UCI Warden Barry Reddish, the use of chemical agents (pepper spray etc) has substantially increased at least tenfold in just the past 6 months compared to prior fiscal purchases, and that under both Warden Ellis and Warden Reddish, they have deliberately stopped using the brand/strength of chemical agents previously used, replacing those with substantially stronger chemical agents.

We call to be a civilized society and yet we turn a blind eye to the systematic abuse and even murder of prisoners in our own backyard. Is this really what America has now become? Aren’t we supposed to be better than that? (end)
This above has been written by Michael Lambrix, a Florida death sentenced prisoner currently incarcerated at Union Correctional Institution (Inmate #482053) Mr. Lambrix is the author of the book “To live and Die on Death Row” available at Barnes and Noble (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/to-live-and-die-on-death-row-c-michael-lambrix/1105793584). Mr. Lambrix will provide media interviews to discuss prison conditions.

That Ever-Elusive Glimmer of Hope

Nelson Mandela, when he was imprisoned on Robben Island, was undoubtedly subjected to substantial hostility from the guards working around him, seeing him as a threat to their way of life. However, even in the worst of times, Mandela saw that glimmer of humanity that sustained his hope and gave him the strength to endure and he often spoke about that. But few would be able to truly appreciate just what he meant by his words, as very few will ever find themselves cast down into the bowels of a maximum-security prison that is intended to methodically break not only your body, but also your spirit, until you abandon all hope and submit to the masters of your fate.

I dare say that, although the circumstances may be different, I can find that common ground with Nelson Mandela. I can relate to his words as I too have spent not merely a few years but a few decades in solitary confinement under what is intended to be not merely physically, but psychologically oppressive conditions that take their inevitable toll in ways one cannot always see.

In all the years that I have spent ion Florida’s death row I have never seen the level of malice directed towards us by our captors as I do now. It’s a tangible presence that now hangs over us like an evil entity out to torment our very souls. I can not say how it took hold or why it has become what it is, but I can not deny this presence where once there was a level of mutual civility between the guards and convicts, now the guards almost always harbor a level of malice and even hate towards us that manifests itself in every way. Any guards who do dare show basic civility to death row prisoners are quickly transferred to another part of the prison. There’s no doubt that this level of malice comes from the very top.

As a result the environment we must live in has evolved into what could be described as a “cold war” zone. A few weeks ago I saw a sergeant who I’ve known for years and once respected because he treated us fairly. As he walked by my cell, I smiled and said “How you have been doing?” I only wanted to be civil. But his response spontaneously came back at me as if I had been physically assaulted “None of you f-----g business, inmate”! That was all he had to say, but more then I cared to hear. In that instant a man I once held in respect immediately lost all respect and in my eyes became the lowest form of scum that ever walked the earth. I quickly learned that this attitude was only too common among the guards working this unit now. What they simply cannot see is that by treating us with such malice, they only reduce themselves to something lower in the subhuman species. And I’m afraid that when one guard after other exhibits this same attitude for no apparent reason, then it doesn’t take long before the lines are clearly drawn and we come to see all the guards as the enemy.

But then in the most unexpected way my own attitude is put in check. A few weeks ago my elderly parents came up for their monthly visit. It was an extremely hot Florida summer day and as mom helped my father out of the car and into his wheelchair, she accidentally closed the car door, locking the car keys and their identification inside. They had no way to open the car door. Now standing there in the prison parking lot, it wouldn’t take long before the Florida sun took its inevitable toll. Both my parents are now quite elderly and not at all in their best health. It was at least 7 miles back to Starke, where the closest mechanic was who could be called to open the car door.

But then a sergeant saw them stranded there in the parking lot and went over to offer his assistance. He had to know they were visiting a prisoner as that would be the only reason for civilians to be at a prison parking lot on a Saturday morning. Despite the relentless heat bearing down upon him, that sergeant became as equally determined to help my parents and struggled for the better part of an hour to get their car door open. Another guard came over and offered my parents some water. Finally they succeeded in manipulating the door lock open and my parents retrieved their identification and were able to come in to visit me, and told me the story.

I was surprised and grateful to the unknown sergeant and officers who kindly helped my parents. But it also caused me to think about what Nelson Mandela said after his many years of imprisonment. In our world it is only too easy to allow ourselves to become filled with malice towards those on the other side of those steel bars, especially when the interaction between us and them is almost always an unpleasant experience. Like a dog in a cage, once you’ve been kicked so often by every guard that walks by, it’s only too easy to come to expect that from all of them.

But then there’s that one brief moment in time, when by a simple act at genuine humanity you are reminded that every person is an individual, and even if 100 guards show nothing but malice towards me for no apparent reason there are still that one or two that have found the strength to rise above this wall that exists between us. A simple act of kindness has restored that glimmer of hope in humanity, as at the end of the day it is our humanity and how that is manifested towards others that defines us as species and as along as there is still a few among us willing to follow that golden rule of doing onto others as we would want them to do onto us, then there is hope for all of us.

Michael Lambrix

Florida death row

Yep, I’m a Junkie

I’ll bet that when you first read that word “junkie” tour thoughts immediately went to the stereotypical street junkie desperately looking for that next drug fix, as that’s how most of us see junkies. But there are many other forms of additions far beyond those hooked on illicit drugs. When you think about it, most of us have something in life that we crave and at least to a limited extent we will push ourselves and those around us to have this particular craving fulfilled. For some of us it could be something as simple as that all important cup of coffee we crave the first thing in the morning. For others it may be that insatiable need to go shopping and others might find their strength and refuge in a bottle of wine, or perhaps something stronger. But each in our own way, we all have something that lights up those electrical pulses deep inside our brain and compel us to get that fix. It’s all part of the human experience and there are countless books written by the brightest minds out there who tell us that our brain is designed to crave things and when that craving is satisfied the parts of our brain that release those good feelings we experience after indulging in our addiction lights up like a Christmas tree. It doesn’t matter if its cocaine, coffee, chocolate, or sex – or even a good hug from someone we love as to that portion of the brain; it’s really all the same.

If I were into drugs then there would be the usual drug dealers willing to exploit my need, but I gave up on drugs long, long ago. I do still have my coffee at least 5 times a day but I no longer see that as a habit as I’ve read a lot of recent articles telling me coffee is actually good for me – so coffee is no longer a designated drug as it’s really a health food and I should drink even more.

Then there are the treats I buy from canteen here and I do love my treats and I’m not ashamed to admit I often eat at least one or two of the really sweet “iced honey buns” each week. And they are good and I love them, just as I chocolate chip cookies and other snacks I buy each week. But before you start stoning me for the sin of gluttony, you may want to know that I actually eat only half a honey bun or half a pack of chocolate chip cookies at a time. Yep even when indulging in my favorite junk food, I do show remarkable self restraint by carefully cutting that honey bun in half and then setting the one half aside as I slowly savor that first half and then, and only then, after I’ve consumed that first half will I reach out and eat the other half! That way if anyone asks I can look them in the eye and say I only eat half at a time!

But there’s a new need in town and many of us are being pulled into the cortex without the strength to resist. Unlike that honey bun, this addiction comes complete with a well organized team of pushers that shamelessly come around at regular intervals to tempt us with the latest goods…yep, I’m talking about the FDOC recent implementation of the sale of MP3 players and of course the songs.

I actually do not have my very own MP3 player as the cost is somewhat prohibitive. But already my mouth is watering and I kind of get the shakes as I write and rewrite my intended play list with all the songs that when I hear them transport me back to a time when I still had a life. That’s what it’s actually all about. Through that personal selection of our favorite songs we temporarily escape the reality and this place, and the never ending nightmare that our lives have become. There’s that song from way back when I went to my first junior high dance and for reasons I’ll never know the prettiest girl in school danced with me. Then there’s that “classis rock” that allows me to think about the old friends I used to hang out with in high school and that makes me smile. Then there are the songs that remind me for one particular reason or another of the people who have come and gone through my life and now all that remains is a song and that’s alright.

Some of the songs are corny and nobody is going to understand why I like it but me and that’s ok too as I think we all have songs that hold a personal significance to only us and you got to admit that we all have them on our play list.

Since they started selling these MP3 players it’s become the new “must have” toy here on the row. And it really is an addiction. Just ask the guys who already broke down and bought one, swearing that they would only buy a limited number of songs as each song costs $1.70 (you must buy 5 at a time, minimum for $8.50) and that quickly adds up. Guys who swore they would only buy a hundred of their favorites are now way beyond that and all but competing with each other to have the latest and greatest songs first.

Yeah, my days of having a half honey bun may soon end as I’m already cutting back, saving up to get one of those Mp3 players and once I do I’m sure I will join the others around here and find myself craving even more songs and feeding that insatiable hunger as I am, as we all are, a junky and these MP3 players are the new drug. Wish me luck!

Mutually Insured Destruction

Last week I was transferred from Florida State Prison to the main death row unit at Union Correctional Institution. I am only too familiar with what is known as the North East unit at UCI as I have spent many years there before I was moved back to FSP in December 2009. But for all that was familiar, it was still as if I had stepped off into a strange and unfamiliar world as although structurally the unit remained the same, this place has substantially changed.

What surprised me the most was the pervasive thick fog of malice that now exists within this unit. I have been on death row now almost 30 years and never before had I seen this tangible presence of malice towards death row that now exists. But this is not merely a coincidence – as I quickly came to realize, those that run the prison deliberately created this environment, systematically transferring officers who had worked death row for years out and replacing them with handpicked guards consumed by their hatred towards prisoners, especially those on death row.

Even as difficult as it is to explain this destructive presence that now hangs over this unit, it’s that much harder to understand the why of it all. Don’t get me wrong – I do understand the concept of uncompromised hate as I’ve been on both sides of that fence only too many times. But I’ve been on death row too long to know that it makes no sense at all to hate us simply because we are condemned to death. Anyone even vaguely familiar with how our judicial system really works knows that the only real difference between those on death row and those now serving “life” in the prison general population (“gen–pop”) is not the native of their alleged crime, but the quality of legal representation that we were provided. Death row does not hold the “worst of the worst” as those convicted of far more heinous crimes routinely get “life” instead of death. So it doesn’t make any rational sense to hate us simply because we happen to be on death row instead of the gen-pop.

But projecting our hate upon others very rarely (if ever) is governed by such a novel concept as rationale. Those that project their hate and malice towards others are almost always so completely blinded by their own sense of self righteousness that they cannot objectively step back and see what it does to themselves.

Although some might argue that it probably took me longer then it should have, over the years I have grown up – or at least, I’d like to think that I have. It wasn’t so long ago that if confronted with the same circumstances, I lacked the self discipline to control that spontaneous burst of anger. If anything, I even embraced it.

When I left Florida State Prison, not including boxes of legal materials that seem to grow larger as the years pass, I had about 5 boxes of personal property, mostly just all sorts off stuff that accumulated through the years that meant nothing to anyone – but to me. Most of it was important to me, as it’s all I had that accounted for the life I’ve had the past 28 years – and the life that I didn’t have. There were photographs of my kids growing up through the years that I couldn’t be a part of their life, pictures of the few friends whose smiling faces gave strength and support and reminded me that no matter how alone I might feel at times I’m never really completely alone.

But now they are all gone. By the time my property was returned to me, all that remained, including my clothes, barely filled one box. A single sheet of pink paper told the story. This is known as an “inmate impounded personal property list” (FDOC form DC6-220) and the first item listed was “16 pounds misc. papers” that were marked with a “c” (contraband) No reason, no nothing. It was all just thrown into the trash as since I am a death row inmate, that’s all anything I might have had is – nothing but trash.

It is way beyond their comprehension to understand why what they did was wrong, why that they did inflict such pain upon me. In their eyes I am something far less than human. They threw away all that matters to me; they are so completely blinded by their malice towards those of us on the row that they lack the capacity to see what this does to us.

This is one of those truths that give me the strength and dignity to rise above the environment I’m forced to exist in. All that matters to me is now gone and getting angry won’t bring it back. Hate and anger only perpetuates the never ending cycle of more hate and anger. The only hope of breaking this vicious cycle is to find the strength to rise above it and make that conscious decision not to respond in anger as anything else can only result in our mutually insured destruction. For all that I lost; I can still gain by growing as the person I have chosen to become. By choosing to find the strength within myself to accept what I cannot change and hope that by choosing not to respond in anger, those responsible for the unnecessary pain they inflicted upon me, perhaps they will find that moment in time when their own suppressed sense of moral conscience will remind them that I am not the enemy and perhaps even find the strength to show empathy and compassion towards the next prisoner.

This is the simple truth that I have been stressed to learn – hate and malice may cause great pain upon those we inflict it upon, but ultimately they destroy only those consumed by their destructive power. Only by finding the strength to choose not to respond destructively will there be hope of breaking that never ending cycle. I find comfort and strength in the choice I made as I know it has made me a better man.

Michael Lambrix
Union Correctional Institution
Florida