Rev. Edward Pinkney is fighting for his life at Marquette Branch Prison. He has been challenged not by inmates, but by unskilled, untrained, uneducated, unprofessional, unadvised, unaccountable correctional officers under Warden Robert Napel. There have been several incidents of improper use of force. Threats and abuse from guards were allegedly so frequent several prisoners kept a makeshift calendar to keep track.
Every single day there is a major problem. Racism has taken total control of the prison. It cannot be denied that correctional officers at Marquette Branch Prison use unnecessary force against inmates in the prison, either to exact punishment or to retaliate for something the inmate was perceived to have done. This place is like a concentration camp, in the sense of prisoners confined in a racist, violent environment. Adolf Hitler's legacy is alive in the dictator Warden Robert Napel who operates this camp with impunity. There has never been a check and balance system.
Wardens throughout Michigan have stolen millions and millions of tax dollars, prisoners' benefit fund money, and from families of prisoners. What we need in Marquette Prison is a complete investigation of all funds that have been received over the last ten years. There is not one correctional officer who would stand up to the dictator Warden Robert Napel. Even the new director appears to be intimidated by this man. Marquette Prison is nothing but an old tomb that must be closed down. Calling for a complete audit to uncover misused funds will help us move in that direction.
The Department of Corrections does not have consistent policies that are followed consistently. Every day the "policy" is something new. "This may be the policy today, but we are not using that one today and there is nothing you can do about it." The grievance process is a fraud, along with the misconduct hearing.
Warden Napel condones the practice of racism, discrimination based on the belief that some races are by nature superior. White privilege is tremendous here. There are four white gangs, but it is not the white gangs, it is the correctional officers who are harassing, threatening, and intimidating the Black prisoners, including myself.
This battle is vital to making sure the prison system is accountable to the public and that justice is being fairly dispensed. Marquette Prison has a long history of abuse of prisoners by correctional officers. It is so far away that Lansing doesn't really care what happens to prisoners in Marquette. The prison has many defects, including but not limited to inadequate legal assistance, racism, violence, dehumanization, inadequate health care, and educational services that are essentially absent.
We have a system that is designed to destroy you, both outside the prison system and inside, mentally, physically, and morally. The public allows the system to do whatever they want to do to prisoners without saying a word.
Warden Robert Napel has egregiously used his power in an attempt to silence me by restricting my telephone for 180 days or more. Even though I should have won my administrative hearings based on the rules and evidence, the administration is so intimidated by this warden, they ruled in his favor. I am fighting for my life inside this prison where racists rule and I need your help. Will you help me, Rev. Edward Pinkney?
