By Jan Susler
As part of the Bureau of Prison’s delayed entry into the 21st century, it is implementing TRULINCS (Trust Fund Limited Inmate Computer System) throughout the federal prison system, to provide prisoners with access to email through a special system allowing prison officials to monitor all incoming and outgoing emails.
Puerto Rican political prisoner Carlos Alberto Torres was looking forward to the convenient, regular communication it facilitates, given that, since his transfer to FCI Pekin, his postal correspondence is regularly delayed from one to three months.
But it was not to be. On December 9, the SIS [prison intelligence office] lieutenant called him in to notify him that— unlike the rest of the FCI Pekin population— he will not be allowed access to email. Why? Because of “his case and his background,” offered the lieutenant, who had no response to Carlos Alberto’s inquiry as to why, after 29 years of impeccable conduct, they would treat him this way, pointing out that his release might be just around the corner, citing the USPC hearing examiner’s recommendation for April 2010 release. Nor did the lieutenant provide the required written explanation for his exclusion from the program.
Show your support for Carlos Alberto by writing to the U.S. Parole Commission to encourage them to adopt the recommendation and order his release! Sample letter available at https://boricuahumanrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/7.31.09_cat_petition_lappin.doc
See also
“Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Carlos Alberto Torres: parole bid foiled by Bureau of Prisons.” August 2009 post.