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The Department of Corrections is like a massive flock of vultures waiting to rip every ounce of flesh from your bones when it comes to the almighty dollar. They have figured out all the possible angles to suck the money from the pockets of the American taxpayer, warehoused individuals, and their families. In 2008 while I had already been incarcerated and warehoused in the state of Pennsylvania for a couple of years, I learned from my fellow inmate and a close friend (Midnite Crow Feather) - at SCI-Mahanoy State Prison in Frackville - that I was being illegally robbed by the Department of Corrections for Act 84 and VCF court costs and fines deductions. The prison Administration takes 30 percent of all monies received by prisoners either from their prison job, school assignment, or gifts of cash from family members and friends. Historically it was the policy of the Department of Corrections to take only take money from inmate's accounts for costs or fines from the money the prisoner earned from his work assignment. DOC realized that since they were paying prisoners peanuts for their labor, they weren't able to drain enough cash from the pockets of inmates. DOC could not take money that was gifted to a prisoner from outside sources. The logic behind this was that friends and family members should not be forced to foot the bill for court costs and fines when they committed no crime in which a judge in a court of law had ever ordered them to pay. At SCI-Mahanoy, three years prior to Midnite Crow Feather making me aware of the illegal act being perpetrated upon me by the Department of Corrections and it's employees, Midnite and two other inmates had filed grievances against the prison for illegally taking money from their inmate accounts for court costs and fines that had not been ordered by their sentencing court judge to be seized. The Accounting Department at SCI-Mahanoy stopped deducting 30 percent from their accounts for Act 84 and VCF court costs and fines. The money that had been illegally stolen from the prisoners was returned. The Accounting Department knew without a doubt that the actions they were performing on behalf of the Department of Corrections was and still is illegal. Yet their acts continue. They are still seizing prisoner's money without a court order from the sentencing judge. They have continued as though the court did not rule against them. Its back to business as usual. When I was sentenced by Judge Christopher J. St. John Mercer County, Pennsylvania. He ordered in my sentencing report that I had to pay no court costs or fines until my release from incarceration. This sentencing order makes it an illegal act for the Department of Corrections or its employees to seize any money from my inmate account for these said court costs and fines. Still they continue to steal money from my account. The Department of Corrections' policy goes on to state in rule IV. D. 5: that the Department MAY NOT collect costs that the sentencing court did not require to be paid upon until after release from incarceration. How much easier can this rule read? On February 9, 2009, I filed a notice to the accounting department at SCI-Mahanoy concerning money being seized from my inmate account for Act 84 and VCF court costs and fines. Two days later, the head of the accounting department showed up at my cell door on B-Unit. He admitted to me that funds were being illegally taken from my account. He returned a very small portion of the money but still to this day has not returned the $60.26 that is owed me from the money he had seized from my account. He claims he sent these funds to the Mercer County Court Clerk - Kathleen M. Kloos. She mailed me a notice stating she would not return these illegally seized monies without a court order to do so. Which leaves me in a Catch 22 with Mercer County's Clerk of Courts. It would cost me more in filing fees than what Mercer County owes me. I don't have the funds to fight them on a court level. Like everything associated with the Justice system ... It's all about the money and nothing to do with Justice. Though the Department of Corrections stopped taking my money for Act 84 - which they still owe me $60.26 - The Department has continued to illegally extort funds from my inmate account for the court fine VCF. State law Title 42 Pa. C.S.A. 9728 clearly states the Department of Corrections can seize monies from inmate's accounts for court costs and fines if ordered to do so by the inmate's sentencing judge. But in my case - and that of many other prisoners, I was ordered by my sentencing Judge to not have to pay these said costs and fines UNTIL MY RELEASE FROM INCARCERATION. To most literate individuals, this would be easy to understand. I'm still incarcerated and therefore the Department of Corrections cannot legally rob me for my money without being in direct violation of the laws of this state. The case Jackson vs. Hendricks (Philidephia) also pretains to this matter. For those who have family members that are warehoused in a correctional facility in the state of Pennsylvania, you may want to pass a copy of this article on to them. I have an inmate Grievance 266176 filed at the final level of appeal at Camp Hill. As of July 6th, I have not received a final review responce. If they deny it - which is what DOC always does - I'll be forced to file a 1983 law suit in a court of law. This will cost me over $300.00 in filing fees - that I don't have. This is what the Department of Corrections always counts on when they know they're in the wrong. We wont even mention the cost to the American taxpayer. The Department of Corrections is above the law. They do as they damn well please. Just think of how much the Administration has spent on man-power to constantly deny my grievances and appeals. I'm on a solid legal foundation to contine with my suit. The Department had repeated denied my appeals at every level even when they know that what they are doing is illegal. It's insane to me. The Department of Corrections would rather spend a million dollars than to ever admit they stole one red cent, even when paying back that one red cent would have been cheaper and most of all ... The right thing to do. |
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"A man is presumed to be guilty until he's
proved guilty an' after that he's presumed to be innocent"
Finley Peter Dooley, 1919
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