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domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init
action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /hermes/bosnacweb05/bosnacweb05cf/b525/dom.lawatthemarginscom/public_html/staging/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114By Carrington Keys<\/p>\n
Editor’s note: Carrington Keys was one of six black men known as the Dallas 6<\/a>. They were inmates at the State Correctional Institution\u2014Dallas (SCI Dallas) in Dallas, Pa., who blew the whistle on prison staff brutality and took nonviolent action to stop the abuse<\/a>. After being incarcerated for over 19 years and spending a decade in solitary confinement, Keys was released from prison on May 15, 2018.<\/em><\/p>\n[dropcap]I[\/dropcap] was arrested on March 23, 1999, in Pittsburgh after being accused of attempting to commit armed robbery against a bar full of patrons. After being arrested, I was charged with other robberies which occurred in the same week. This led to a 20-year conviction in April 2000.<\/p>\n At the time of my arrest, I was a teenager with no sense of self. I did not know my purpose in life. However, in that dark place called prison, I found myself and decided to grow. Malcolm X said that prison is a wise man\u2019s university and a fool\u2019s playground. I chose to make it my university. <\/em><\/p>\n When I entered the prison system, I had to learn fast to come to terms with the harsh realities of prison life. I lacked any direction, identity and vision for myself and the future. With the help of my mother Shandre Delaney and a counselor named Don Shipley, I began to receive literature that helped me see where I fit in this world.<\/p>\n From there, I began my journey of self-knowledge and self-discovery. As my eyes started to open, I began to make the connections between the current prison system and the former system of chattel plantation slavery<\/a><\/p>\n The journey started at 19 after I was placed into the state penal system of Pennsylvania. I was taken to Western Penitentiary in Pittsburgh, and as I entered the prison, it looked and felt like I was walking into a slave plantation. It appeared to be nothing more than a slave plantation with a fence around it.<\/p>\n Days later, I was transported to a different prison, Camp Hill. During transport, the officer talked to me and other imprisoned men like we were less than human. I spoke up to let him know that although I am incarcerated, I still am a human being worthy of respect. This speech was to no avail, and the prison guard believed that I was supposed to tolerate his disrespect as a natural virtue of my incarceration.<\/p>\n After I arrived at the next prison, I was mistaken for a juvenile (17 years old or younger) and thrown into a juvenile holding cell. I was later pulled out of the juvenile holding cell and threatened by a female secretary. The woman told me that this was not a juvenile facility and that they knew how to deal with people like me at Camp Hill. I never forgot the woman’s face. Years later, she became a warden at State Correctional Institution-Rockview (SCI Rockview), a prison near Penn State University.<\/p>\n On the same day of my arrival, a Hispanic officer gave me a tour of the prison. He introduced me to a prisoner who had the same sentence as me. The prisoner told me that he was maxing out<\/a> his 20-year sentence the next day and that he had been at Camp Hill before the riots<\/a> on Oct. 25, 1989.\u00a0Maxing out is when you serve your entire sentence<\/a> behind bars. The prisoner warned me not to stay at Camp Hill because I would max out if I did.<\/p>\n After this tour, I was walked into a hallway that (I did not know at the time) led to the hole, or the restricted housing unit, solitary confinement. A door opened, and a lead officer and two giant officers with sticks were waiting for me. The lead officer told me to get against the wall and not make a move, or they would bust my head open. (He is now a high-ranking officer at SCI Forest.) I was then taken to a cage and stripped naked and examined like a slave on an auction block. After being inspected like an article of property, the officer gave me a black-and-white-striped uniform like the ones in the old prison movies.<\/p>\n Solitary confinement at Camp Hill, also known as Camp Hell, was horrendous. The block was infested with mice and huge flying cockroaches. At night, the mice would crawl out of the vents under the sink looking for crumbs. I witnessed officers run a prisoner through the cell block butt naked in handcuffs as a form of psychological abuse and humiliation. That was my first lesson. There are serious consequences for prisoners who speak their minds.<\/p>\n I later learned to study a big handbook of prison policies and prisoner’s rights, which gave instructions on how to file grievances and the limitations placed upon the prison administration by the courts and legislators. I learned that grievances are the best means of defense against officers and their supervisors. Direct confrontation or verbal engagement only leads to trouble.<\/p>\n I learned that prison administrators have a code of ethics and professional responsibility that sounds good in theory but is not practiced. After repeatedly being placed in solitary confinement, I decided to study law to defend myself against the reprisals I faced for being outspoken.<\/p>\n