The difference between Marquette Branch Prison Level 1 and Lakeland Correctional Facility Level 2 is the warden. The conditions at Lakeland are 1,000 times more humane. I was at Lakeland for over eight months and did not have a single ticket. Since arriving here in Marquette Branch Prison, the worst-operating prison in the state, I have received 6 misconduct tickets on a false basis.
The correctional officers here make up offences. One officer wrote 39 misconduct tickets in one hour. Another wrote a little 18-year-old kid 13 misconducts in a two-week period, and another wrote 8 or 9 for one individual. The officers in N dorm write tickets mostly on Black prisoners.
At Lakeland in over 8 months there was not a single attack on anyone in the unit. There is only one officer in the unit and you feel safe. Here in Marquette every single day there is an attack. A fight broke out right in front of my bed and the correctional officer could not beak up the fight. These officers cannot protect anyone. I broke up a fight in the bathroom myself, but this officer could not so he pepper-sprayed the entire room, including me and everyone else. A week earlier a young man was attacked in his cell and half his face was burned off. Every single day a person's locker is broken into; at Lakeland you could leave your locker unlocked and not worry about your possessions.
At Marquette the warden does not mind all the sexual assaults by officers on prisoners. He does not mind officers gambling, every single day. He does not mind prisoners fighting prisoners. At Marquette Prison they do not follow their own rules, but if you are a law-abiding person and try to do the right thing, the warden will send his boys after you. They will lie, cheat, steal, or even plant a weapon in your locker. They all work together against the prisoners.
The Michigan Department of Corrections is a fraud stealing taxpayers' money. The people must stand up and say no more! Close Marquette Branch Prison now!
-Rev. Pinkney
