J6 prisoner of conscience punished with isolation after jailhouse interview - analysis
America's Frontline Doctors (AFLDS) Creative Director John Strand has had his telephone privileges removed, his approved email list purged, and has been locked in an isolation cell since August 31st. Prison authorities imposed the punitive measures on Strand after his August 18th phone interview with Real America’s Voice.
Strand is currently serving 32 months in prison for securing the safety of organization founder Dr. Simone Gold during her five-minute medical freedom speech in the Capitol on January 6th.
Live from prison
Notorious communist Lavrentiy Beria, who served as Secret Police Chief for the Soviets, is remembered for his infamous boast, “show me the man and I’ll show you the crime.” Strand remained notably cordial throughout his interview, even as he described being served Soviet-style justice by a weaponized DOJ turning constitutional protections on their head:
I was not innocent till proven guilty, I was guilty until proven convicted.
When the host, Grant Stinchfield, stated his belief that the obstruction of proceedings charge against Strand is unconstitutional, since it essentially outlaws protests of government actions, Strand asserted that it's not only unconstitutional but is a main weapon in the war against dissidents:
The Title 18:1512 felony charge of obstruction of justice or of an official proceeding is completely illegally used here in an absolutely absurd way . . . it also really highlights this DOJ that, with no shame whatsoever and with no . . . accountability, is just ramrodding people as they choose to achieve their agenda and it really is a fascistic operation.
And people should be concerned, I mean, no greater proof than myself and people like me in prison as innocent political prisoners in the middle of the United States of America.
When asked about prison conditions, Strand explained the difficulties of spending most of the day in randomly timed lockdowns in an inadequately sized cell, but acknowledged that he generally feels safe around, and even supported by, fellow inmates:
The thing I hear most from people is, “man, that was a setup. They had agents involved in instigating violence.”
Rather than mollifying prison officials with a testament to the safety of the jail, government officials may have been concerned about the influence Strand could have on supportive prison mates.
Solitary confinement for a phone call?
While prisoners have their ability to communicate limited in time and manner, they are still protected by the First Amendment right to free speech. Indeed, children in government schools are routinely taught that Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 “Letter from Birmingham City Jail” was a proper exercise of free speech even though King not only objected to his own incarceration for breaking the law but called on others to follow suit:
[O]ne has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that "an unjust law is no law at all."
Unable to punish Strand, then, for complaining about prosecutorial behavior, Strand's prison conditions remained unchanged, until . . .
Pretext?
At the end of August, Strand was suddenly moved to solitary confinement “indefinitely” and had his phone and email privileges removed, even being prohibited from contacting his lawyer. Prison officials say the new restrictions are due to his publicizing the wake-up time in the jail.
It is not clear what danger is posed by the publication of the morning schedule. Every prisoner is able to discuss their daily schedule with their visiting friends and relatives so the wake-up time was already known by many people outside the prison, including former prisoners.
Additionally, Strand did not himself publicize the schedule, as he has no internet access from prison. He simply described to someone else what his day is like. Eventually, the wake-up time was mentioned in a post that a friend of Strand sent from Strand's Twitter account in an effort to keep Strand's followers up-to-date on his situation and maintain their support as he goes through the appellate process. The offending sentence is as follows, with the times redacted:
The doors to our cells are unlocked by guards xxx morning at xxx, and the inmates take care of waking you up--I've never heard such an obnoxious racket at that hour, and carrying on until xxx work call . . .
Strand's friend had no experience with prison rules and did not know that the daily schedule raised an issue. She sent an urgent letter to the prison warden, case manager and counselor assigned to Strand, by federal express, taking full responsibility for her error. Strand remains in isolation nonetheless.
Special J6 treatment?
It is not clear whether Bureau of Prison (BOP) officials also scour the accounts of non-J6 defendants for routine mentions of their daily schedule or other possible violations of prison policy. It is also unclear if the punishment for mentioning the wake-up time would be solitary confinement for a non-J6 defendant instead of simply removing phone or email privileges or merely issuing a warning.
Conflicted judge
In Strand's case, he faced a personal bias in addition to a J6 bias. Strand, like Dr. Gold, was sentenced by Judge Christopher Cooper, who declined to recuse himself from both cases despite an extreme conflict of interest owing to his having been personally rebuffed by Dr. Gold herself, as covered by Frontline News in “Judge who handed Dr Gold harsh prison sentence propositioned her in law school."
In congressional testimony, Strand detailed how that very judge went on to abuse his power in handing him an inordinate sentence, and how the DOJ engaged unconstitutional selective prosecution and illegally overcharged him.
Cruel and unusual
Solitary Watch describes the brain damage caused by the extreme isolation and sensory deprivation practiced by the prison system, in which inmates sit in a gray cell, with no clocks or personal items (not even books) and near-zero human interaction:
Sensory Deprivation Shows Up on Brain Scans . . .
The cells are usually smaller than a parking space, and contain a bed, toilet, sink, and sometimes a desk and stool. Cells contain small, high windows or are windowless. Most have solid steel doors, save a small meal slot. Some survivors of solitary confinement report incessant fluorescent lighting that never turns off, day or night, while others say they live in total darkness.
In addition to being chronically deprived of visual and auditory stimuli, victims of solitary confinement are also denied opportunities for intellectual stimulation. Extracellular programming (such as work or education) is usually forbidden, as are resources for enrichment and distraction such as reading and writing materials, radios, and art supplies. . . .
Several studies have shown reduced electroencephalography (EEG) frequency after time in deprivation environments, including in real-life solitary confinement settings, in as little as one week. . . .
Experiments have shown that isolation can shrink neurons by as much as 20 percent. [Emphases added].
While experimentation with isolation is limited due to ethical issues, one study that was attempted had to be cut short after just one week due to the rapid deterioration of the participants:
Research on the effects of such deprivation conditions on humans and even primates are extremely rare, as they rarely meet ethical standards. One study conducted at McGill University in 1951, meant to last six weeks, was cut short after only seven days when participants complained of hallucinations and clouded thinking, amongst other troubling cognitive outcomes such as reduced competency in simple arithmetic and word associations, extreme fixation, and abnormal emotional outbursts. [Emphasis added].
Solitary Watch also explained the process by which the brain damage occurs:
The combined trauma of extreme social isolation and sensory deprivation experienced by individuals housed in solitary confinement creates long-term and extreme stress, which in turn triggers the release of chronically high levels of cortisol and other stress hormones in the body. Research into depressive and post-traumatic stress disorders has established that sustained flooding of the brain with stress hormones can cause damage to one of its most essential structures, the hippocampus, by stunting new nerve cell growth (neurogenesis) and causing the region to “literally shrivel.” The atrophy of the hippocampus hinders its ability to perform essential executive functions related to memory retention, regulation of emotions, and spatial awareness. [Emphases added].
Not surprisingly, then, Amnesty International issued a report in 2014 entitled, “Solitary confinement is cruel and all too usual. Why is it only getting worse?” in which they support the UN's call to ban the practice in all but the most extreme cases:
There is widespread national and international agreement about the harm caused by incarceration in isolation. The United Nations’ top expert on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment has called for solitary confinement to be used only in very exceptional circumstances, as a last resort, and for as short a time as possible. [Emphases added].
The Biden administration, which generally embraces the freedom-limiting policies of the UN, including pandemic lockdowns and carbon emission limitations, has not accepted the UN's call to limit solitary confinement, continuing to isolate some 50,000 to 80,000 on any given day, and hundreds of thousands more when PCR tests are used to isolate inmates.
Call to Action
Special Housing Unit (SHU or isolation) is at the top of the BOP's punishment hierarchy. A common use of isolation is to punish participants in fights. Even then, a typical duration for isolation is seven days.
Strand was initially recommended, by his case manager, to receive a lower level punishment for the post of the morning schedule of the prison. Someone above the case manager overruled him and ordered isolation “indefinitely” in what has already been nearly three weeks. Strand's lawyer is unable to speak with him or even set an appointment — a legal assistant went in person to set an appointment only to have prison officials refuse the request.
AFLDS Citizen Corps has therefore put out a Call to Action to help get Strand out of isolation.
Be A Voice For John Strand
This is a CALL TO ACTION!
Since July 25th 2023, our friend and colleague, John Strand, has been a political prisoner in the United States of America.
He has been moved into isolation for doing an interview from inside the prison.
How You Can Help: Please write the Warden’s assistant and demand the isolation stop immediately! MIA-ExecAssistant-S@bop.gov.
A sample letter to the warden's assistant, who can be reached at MIA-ExecAssistant-S@bop.gov or 305-259-2100, was provided:
I have learned that John Strand #26117-509 has been placed in isolation for an indefinite period of time. The proffered reason is that there is a tweet on his social media that stated the wake-up time. This is incredible for so many reasons.
1. John Strand has no internet access. He obviously did not tweet anything.
2. The content of the tweet is entirely innocuous.
3. John Strand never should have been placed in a prison. His security risk “score” is the lowest possible score for his age: -1 out of a range of -1 to 45. He was supposed to have been in a minimum camp.
4. There is no threat, no violence and no security risk to anyone. Isolation is absolutely inappropriate and violates BOP policy for anyone under such circumstances.
5. The person who tweeted made an innocent mistake and you are in receipt of her full letter of acceptance of responsibility, explanation, and apology.
I demand answers from the BOP as to their illegitimate use of excessive punishment against this peaceful prisoner.
Before
This video shows Strand's healthy mental state on his way to self-surrendering for his prison sentence.
Concerned citizens who wish to help Strand maintain his health may visit his website for more information and write to him.
John Strand #26117-509
FCI Miami
P.O. Box 779800
Miami FL 33177
See our previous article on Strand, Dr. Gold and weaponized law enforcement
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