Political Prisoners at Florence

• BOP papers document that Mutulu Shakur was moved to Marion and then Florence because he was effectively organizing young Black prisoners. The warden of Lewisburg, in recommending his transfer, wrote the following to the regional director: "I firmly believe Shakur needs the controls of Marion, as he appears to manipulate the entire system. This shrewd behavior coupled with his outside contacts and influence over the younger Black element will have adverse affects on the mission."

• Raymond Levasseur was sent to Marion straight from court and was there over 5 years. He had 56 months clear conduct at Marion, except for a bogus shot in October of 1994 when 10 guys were written up for refusing an order to lock up. Everybody who was locked up behind it was released with 30 days of no tv. The only other shot he got was when he first arrived at Marion, for allegedly making a derogatory remark to BOP Director Quinlan who was on a VIP tour with the former prosecutor in Ray's case. The comment was directed to the prosecutor, and it was something like, "Why did I get sent to Marion directly from court? You didn't like losing the case?"

• A Mexican man was told that he was sent to ADX "to build the population," but that his placement was justified because of a fight he'd been in at one of the USP's a few years ago.

• The fundamental issue is not whether Florence ADX is better than Marion, whether the jailers are nicer or the food is better. It's the concept -- it's designed to destroy. It will set a pattern to be proliferated throughout the world.

• Yu Kikumura noted that Marion was largely controlled by the brutality of the guards, and that here that isn't necessary because the design is so controlling in and of itself.

• "If I lock you up in your bathroom for 22 hours a day," says Levasseur, "you're not going to get into too much trouble. But when they let you out, you're going to get into trouble you would never have seen before. I have never met anyone who's been exposed to isolation and abuse whose attitude didn't harden."