By Lee Savage

The following is an excerpt from a letter I penned shortly after being placed on restrictive status (also known as “strip status”) for the infraction of “participating in a disturbance.” My crime was giving a speech to my quad (housing unit) on the insidious “psychological reprogramming” of the women being held captive in “CM”. The initials CM stand for Close Management, which is the highest classification of custody below Death Row. CM is also the name of the Special Housing Unit (SHU) in which these particular women are forced to live in conditions that may include 24 or 23 hour isolation.

I am one such female living in 24 hour solitary confinement 4 days per week and 23 hrs. 45 min. the other 3 days. The fifteen minutes out of my cell is for a shower, if given to me, for even showers can be denied at the officer’s discretion. I am now, due to this and other speeches, a “Level II”. My custody has been increased and I will be confined to my cell without any privileges until February 9th 2009 (I was given 120 more days added onto my original October date). This form of torture includes but is not limited to, severe restriction of movement, the removal of personal and state issued property (in varying degrees), alienation—the inability to socially interact with others, the denial of access to the phone and revoking visitation privileges with family members, educational programs and materials being withheld, and no canteen privileges. All these tactics combined, plus others not mentioned, are used to break one’s spirit and self-will so conformity can be achieved. Also so there will be no cohesion to other inmates, no acts of free-thinking, and to instill fear of greater repercussions for continued non-compliance.

Has Florida’s Lowell Corruptional Concentration Kamp achieved its goal to silence me? Hardly. Others would have surrendered by now to these Nazi tactics in hope of alleviating the psychological torture and systematic repression of their feminine selves and personal ties. I have not given in or given up. I can’t—my conscious and the will of my Savage heart won’t allow it. If I cower in fear and do not help educate these women in “CM”, the different forms of abuse will not only continue, but, as with other types of abuse, escalate over time. I will not carry that weight knowing I could have made an effort to expose the Department of Correction’s (DOC) actions and also possibly helped initiate change, but I was too scared to stand up for myself and other women. I also feel the need to inform the people on the outside, the citizens who are not incarcerated. It is with their help and collective efforts that lasting change will occur...

The letter:

Greetings to you my brother in this struggle,

Wow, here I am sitting on the bare piece of cardboard the Nazi’s call a mattress, in my totally stripped cell, freezing my butt off... And to think—this is Florida, the sunshine state with tropical temperatures. I feel like I’m in Alaska, Siberia, or the Arctic Circle (I’m awaiting the arrival of some penguins to slide on the sheet of ice that once was my floor...) Seriously, this is not a new, ingenious form of torture from DOC—exposing one to extreme cold for an extended period of time without adequate means to keep warm. This method is quite frequently used within the prison system and has been one of its top forms of torture. Each facility I’ve been held captive in has used this technique to subdue the strong, educated prisoner/slave. Sooner or later, I’ll be so numb I won’t feel anything physical or emotional (I just had to blow my breath into my hands and rub them together because they are hurting from the cold—but this letter must get finished and sent to you). The cold has a way of shutting down one’s system. My choices are to curl tighter into a fetal position and breathe into my tee-shirt and hope the next shift gives me a sheet—I’d be dreaming if I thought I could receive a blanket. After all, this is strip status. Or I could try to exercise, but, if I break a sweat, I will eventually end up colder than when I began and quite possibly get sick as a result of the chilled sweat.

You see, yesterday this woman-bashing Nazi with the rank of Lieutenant ordered his lackeys to strip my entire cell of all state-issued and personal property. Lt. Mac went on to threaten “use of force” if I continued with my speech. He did these things to me, I believe, for a couple of other reasons besides to silence me. Since I am a strong-minded female, he wants to see just how far he can “push me,” how much torture I will withstand before I either try to kill myself or break from his dehumanization. Lt. Mac’s ideal result is for me to willingly submit to his and the CMSHU’s torture, part and parcel—which is NOT going to happen as long as I’m still breathing. He expects me to conform, to fall to my knees and “know my rightful place as a sub-human slave of DOC.” Lt. Mac fears the truth will be heard and recognized as such, and as a result he will lose some power over the minds and actions of the women housed here with me in CM. The officers took everything—even my toothbrush and sanitary napkins, and as bad luck would have it, I just started my monthly. Now, I must beg for a pad for hours before receiving it. I am writing this letter with a pen I stashed just in case this scenario were to occur again. As you see, I’m writing you on Formal Grievance Forms due to the confiscation of all my writing paper. The thought behind this was so I’d be unable to communicate with the outside world and disclose what is being done to me while on Restrictive Status....

This whole scene in here is crazy. “They” have written 15 disciplinary reports against me all stemming from the speech, and all having the prefix “dis” (disrespect to officers, disobeying, disorderly conduct, disrupting the running of the facility) except violating count procedure, participating in a disturbance, and lying to staff. Straight up. I did lie when I said I would comply to the rules and when I stated that this is the best hotel I’ve ever stayed at because of the free room service, laundry, and mail pickup and delivery. Truth is, it’s service with a sneer instead of a smile and it comes with a very expensive psychological price.

I was just visited by a concerned member of staff who is not an officer. She informed me that if I continue on with my Anarchist views and voicing them, I will be labeled as having an active affiliations to a group that “may be considered to be a threat to the institution”. Also, that these beliefs I hold could be construed as acts against the facility and looked upon as “mutinous”. What!!!???? These people have lost their paranoid minds.

I replied, “Please inform the vacuous ones that they are delusional. We are not on a ship. The last time I checked my reality meter, I did not find myself aboard the Q.E.II or the Love boat. If this was either of the previously mentioned seafaring vessels, I’d be drinking a Long Island Ice Tea with a lai around my neck, positioned behind my dream girl in the world’s longest conga line... and rest assured there are not any conga lines or open bars here. So, I’m not delusional.”
With that, she didn’t know what to say and left.

So, now here I am being housed under this SHU because these mind and rights rapists are quite upset that I try and educate other women here. I gave an informative, liberating speech on CM and how the administration and staff are slowly and systematically warping, psychologically maiming, and reprogramming the “free-thinking” mothers, wives, daughters, sisters, aunts, grandmothers and girlfriends who are housed in CMSHU.

To be continued...

Lisa “Lee” Savage #959277
T-3109 Annex CM
Lowell Correctional Institution
11120 NW Gainseville Rd.
Ocala, FL 34482-1479