Leon Irby

There are over a million prisoners in the USA prison system; each one has their own story-but there is a story so unjust: so evil: so outrageous, so unbelievable that our civilized society cannot turn a blind eye. This is such a screaming out true story!!
My name is Leon Irby, 1 am an elderly Black male. 64-years old. [D.O.B. 12-20-1946]. who has been imprisoned since February 12. 1972 in the now Wisconsin Department of Corrections {hereinafter "WDOC}. Sec accompanied "Mug Shot"' [i.e. Photo].

left: Leon Irby at Arrest

In His Own Words
To Whom It May Concern:
                  My name is Leon Irby. An Afro-American male born on December 20. 1946. I am currently residing in the Segregation Unit in the Waupun Correctional Institution located in Waupun. Wisconsin.
                    Since February , 1972. I have been serving a life sentence for First-Degree Homicide that occurred while residing in Madison. Wisconsin. Later. I was sentenced to an additional fifteen (15)- years in Dodge County Circuit Court after pleading no-context to Second-Degree Homicide, stemming from an incident that occurred back in 1977 here at the Waupun Correctional Institution.
Since 1973 1 have been a very successful "prisoner activist. " litigating and winning numerous "prisoner rights " lawsuits on the behalf of myself and other inmates. ~ These cases were often litigated at my own expense.
                     These victories have resulted in major improvements in all aspects of the Wisconsin Prison System. Including, but not limited to. living conditions; installation of fire retardant mattresses (1977): relief for menially-ill inmates (1979): due process rights for inmates in disciplinary hearings regarding witnesses (1980): and winning other inmates release from prison (1994). as well as challenging the Wisconsin Department of Corrections "racial discrimination " practices against Afro and Latino-American inmates in their care.
In addition. I have written —and have had published— several expose 'pieces regarding racism, and unlawful prison conditions within the Wisconsin Department of Corrections in major Wisconsin state newspapers, such as, Wisconsin slate Journal: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: and the Milwaukee Courier.
                        One such expose ' that landed on the front page of the Milwaukee courier I circa 1978) addressed negro inmates verbal assaults against newly hired Afro-American correctional officers — -who eventually left Waupun Correctional Institution— who were attempting to integrate Waupun Correctional Institution's all-white workforce. In retaliation, my fellow inmates were hostile and threatening towards me. That remains unabated to this day. However, despite my "excellent" and "positive" behavior in Leavenworth. in 2000 I was unexpectedly transferred back to the Wisconsin Prison System to be housed in the newly built "Supermax "prison in Boscobel, Wisconsin. I was now being used to justify the taxpayers dollars wasted on building this facility by being labeled by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections as the "worst of the worst. " Yet. I had not had a rule- infraction conduct report in the five years prior to this transfer.'"
               While housed in then "Supermax prison I actively participated in any and all accessible treatment programming, earning several certificates of completion. On May 11. 2007. after spending another seven (7) years of "social isolation " in the "Supermax” prison. I was sent BACK to Waupun Correctional Institution and immediately placed BACK into the segregation unit to continue another long stint of "social isolation. " which is where I remain to this day. with no human contact, no contact visits, and no outdoor exercise. Once again. I have been labeled as "too dangerous " to be released into the "general population " here, or. at any Wisconsin State Prison. In addition. 45 percent of the inmates housed here in segregation are diagnosed with some degree of mental illness that, at most times, is inadequately treated.
              Due the conditions I am systematically being subjected too. I suffer from a number of physical and mental ailments that has intentionally gone untreated. These ailments include, depression: loss of memory: slowed motor response: sleep deprivation due to the constant yelling and banging by other inmates housed in here with untreated menial conditions: poor vision, due to constant illumination within the cells: and physical pain in my neck. back, legs and hands. (Please see Leon 's "Medical Problem List" located in the appendix section of this petition).
Even while housed in segregation —in degrading and inhumane conditions— I am constantly being subjected to threats of bodily harm front other inmates and harassment by the correctional officers themselves in their drive to destroy my will to be one day liberated.
            Also, while housed here in the segregation unit I have had inmates write false threats to staff in my name and send them to the Security Department. Inmates have stolen monies from my account by forging money disbursements in my name to make purchases that I have no knowledge of. The staff seems to can figure out everything but who is responsible for these threats and forging documents in my name.
               This administration has allowed and suppressed all evidence of young gang member 's assaults upon my person over the years, such as in 1987, Twice in 1992, and again in 1993. As well as their "agent provocateurs" who constantly, intentionally, and knowingly provide false and malicious information to security about me, which is then submitted into my case fife and used — when convenient—to justify this oppressive, degrading, and inhumane treatment 1 am continuing to he subjected to.
              Every time I attempt to function in general population, I am being assaulted by voting gang members. Instead of these inmates receiving conduct reports for their behavior, they are rewarded by being transferred to a less secure institution, then. I am immediately placed back into segregation to endure another long stint of "social isolation. " Some of these initiates have even actually been rewarded with parole. After all of this, I am labeled by the Department of Corrections as someone with "...extreme institution violence and ill will in the population... "'"
            For those of you wondering why I am still incarcerated after having served thirty-eight (38) years. Or. why the Department of corrections is continuing to treat me so inhumanely. as well as turning-a-blind-eye to young gang member verbal and physical assaults upon me? You must understand that the victim in my First-Degree Murder case. Virgil Frosch. has family and friends that work in the Department of Corrections. And what thev could not do by the law, they are doing through the law. under the "Color of Law.”
                Consequently, and despite my sincere remorse and repenting of my past wrongdoings -as well as my continued process of redemption— the family and friends who still work for the Department of corrections –Administrators, Warden 's. Correctional Officers, etc.—continue to harass me with the willing assistance of inmate gang members.' .
             The Wisconsin Department of Corrections has intermittently locked me away in various "social isolation" segregation confinements for (35) of the (38) -years I have been incarcerated.
Despite my last conduct report being in 1995 —fifteen years ago—and despite suffering severely from medical ailments, such as. Osteoarthritis spinal disease: Loss- of hearing: frequent swelling of the legs: asthma: micro ulcers in legs: loss of memory: slowed motor response: constant pains in my back, legs and hands: serious bouts of untreated depression: and being at the age of 63 years old. the Department of Corrections continues to justify this "social isolation " by mislabeling me as some "dangerous inmate " who ".. Remains an unreasonable risk to be returned to a GP -General Population—setting in Wl based on his history of extreme institution violence and ill will in the population... "
                Even while in total "social isolation" -with absolutely no human contact—Waupun Correctional Institution security Director Donald Strahota. still manages to find fault in my behavior. /See memo dated March 3. 2008 in the appendix section of This petition).
Nonetheless. 1 still currently have had no conduct reports and am proving the correctness of the Federal Bureau of Prison 's evaluation of "positive " and "excellent. " And this is a reflection of my future behavior within and without . these walls if given a fair chance to succeed.
If you have any questions for me. please contact me at the address provided below. In my responses. I promise you that. one. I shall never lie to you. and two. I shall never hide anything of relevance from you. My life is an open book.

This is not half the story, we need authoritative help to expose and remedy the rest of the story. Thank you for your premium time and attention to this matter.
Respectfully Submitted,
Leon Irby # 33802-
Waupun Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 351
Waupun. WI 53963-0351


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The New Jim Crow
Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
MICHELLE ALEXANDER
Hardcover
$27.95
A BOLD AND INNOVATIVE ARGUMENT THAT MASS INCARCERATION AMOUNTS TO A DEVASTATING SYSTEM OF RACIAL CONTROL,
BY A RISING LEGAL STAR
Jarvious Cotton's great-great-grandfather could not vote as a slave. His great-grandfather was beaten to death by the Klu Klux Klan for attempting to vote. His grandfather was prevented from voting by Klan Intimidation; his father was barred by poll taxes and literacy tests. Today, Cotton cannot vote because he, like many black men in the United States, has been labeled a felon and is currently on parole. —FROM THE NEW JIM CROW
As the United States celebrates the nation's "triumph over race" with the election of Barack Obama, the majority of young black men in major American cities are locked behind bars or have been labeled felons for life. Although Jirn Crow laws have been wiped off the books, an astounding percentage of the African American community remains trapped in a subordinate status—much like their grandparents before them.
In this incisive critique, former litigator-tumed-legal-scholar Michelle Alexander provocatively argues that we have not ended racial caste in America: we have simply redesigned it. Alexander shows that, by targeting black men and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control, even as it formally adheres to the principle of color blindness. The New Jim Crow challenges the civil rights community—and all of us—to place mass incarceration at the forefront of a new movement for racial justice in America.
A longtime civil rights advocate and litigator, Michelle Alexander was a 2005 Soros Justice Fellow. She holds a joint appointment at the Moritz College of Law and the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in Columbus, Ohio, where she lives. The New Jim Crow is her first book.
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• THE UNITED STATES IMPRISONS A LARGER PERCENTAGE OF ITS BIACK POPULATION THAN SOUTH AFRICA DID AT THE HEIGHT OF APARTHEID.
• IN WASHINGTON, D.C., THREE OUT OF FOUR YOUNG BLACK MEN (AND NEARLY ALL THOSE IN THE POOREST NEIGHBORHOODS) CAN EXPECT TO SERVE TIME IN PRISON.
• IN SOME STATES, AFRICAN AMERICANS MAKE UP TO 90 PERCENT OF DRUG PRISONERS AND ARE UP TO 57 TIMES MORE LIKELY TO BE INCARCERATED FOR DRUG CRIMES THAN WHITES.
Pub Date: Fall 2009 Format: hardcover Trim: 61/8x9 1/4, 304 pages ISBNi 978-1-59558-103-7
Other Editions:
978-1-59558-530-1 (e-book. Fall 2009)
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