SCI-Mahanoy administration did finally move me back to my old unit and with the resident boot-licker. Out of one set-up situation right into another. At first, I thought things would be alright until I saw officers giving an inmate food items from the officer's dining hall along with handfuls of sugar packets from the unit store - packets meant for officers only. I personally saw the inmate bring commissary items into the cell that he did not purchase from the inmate store. This particular inmate was also allowed to pass out the ten allotted envelopes to each inmate at the start of every month. The inmate would steal a bunch of the state-issued envelopes and sell them to other inmates - this in violation of DOC rules and regulations. Every ten minutes or so, at least 40 times a day, the officers would allow this inmate out of his cell to smoke. He refused to go to the main prison yeard due to his fear of being beaten by other inmates. He was given a free pass to smoke in the cell. This is the beginning of the problem. I have been a non-smoker my entire life and smoking in the cell is against DOC's written policy. At first, I tried to be nice about it. This did not work. I then confronted the inmate about his habitual smoking habit. The inmate stated to me: "See what happens if I can't smoke in the cell." I asked to officers in charge to be moved or allow another inmate to move in with me that did not smoke. They both told me to "deal with it" and they were not moving the whole unit popultion to please me. The senior officer told me to push the button in my cell every time my cellier lit up and then laughed about it. I wrote a grievance and wrote to my unit manager asking to be moved. I never received a response. On the same day I filed grievance, while walking back to my cell, I noticed my cellmate reading a letter I had just received from a friend. I went directly to my cell. When the door opened, the cellmate came running out and the light was off in the room. I turned on the light and noticed that the letter had been placed back in about the same spot I had left it on the bunk. Two pieces of my outgoing mail has been held up - one for 6 days and another for 7 days. Never before has my outgoing mail been held up by prison staff. This has started at Mahanoy. It is a well known fact that I have been fighting over Native American religious issues for over a year. You will need to read Part Three to find out how the actual set up went down.

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"No matter how evil the person,
even Cheney, someone will defend him"
George Feigley, 2007

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