Dear Jacq,

 

First and foremost I pray that you and your family remain healthy during this pandemic.

 

My name is Andraus McCloud and I recently came across your article in the August 2020 MI-Cure publication. I immediately stopped everything I was doing in order to support your campaign to address solitary confinement.

 

In closing you asked anyone to share their story so that you can share our stories with our communities. Recently I was published (an article) in a newsletter put together by the made institute. Im not sure if you know about this organization but they might have the lowest… or one of the lowest recidivism rates in Michigan… at 3%. Im good friends with the co-founder Leon El-Alamin. You may find my article @www.madeinstitute.org 

 

My story may be a little different but I’ll address the issue at hand first. There is no secret that people of color and minorities are disproportionately subject to incarceration. African Americas account for less than 14% of the general population… yet we make up the majority of the prison population. So its no surprise that our same people is disproportionately subject to solitary confinement. 

 

Im currently at Alger Correctional Facility in the Upper Peninsula where all a officer has to say is that someone verbally threatened an officer and this would result in that individual being put in segregation for at least 3 and a half months. Then when your segregation time is up, you would have to be put on the “hopper,” which is the name for the waiting list to be released. You may wait on this list for another month. 

 

I will not use this term scam loosely. This facility is currently running a scam on the government to receive funds. As of last week there was 22 empty bunks open in the unit in which is called “maple” out of the 22 empty bunks there was 8 2-man cells vacant. Yet for months they are telling guys in the hole that there is a lack of bed space. These guys are on the “hopper,” they received more money for individuals in segregation. The rooms were (maple unit): C 128 upper, C 144 upper, D 240, D 241, D 278 upper, D 239, D 228 upper, A 120 lower, A 111, A 112 upper, B 203 upper, B 215, B 216, B 217.

 

There is also 2 more units where there is bed space. In order to disguise the scam the institution claims that the cells are empty and will be painted. Once the cell is painted inmates from one room move to another room so that one cell dont appear to be vacant for long. 

 

The prison is labeled as a max facility. Its far from that. Its 4 units here and 1 is level 2 that have more than 50 people on the “hopper” (waiting list) to be moved from level 4 to level 2. 

 

There is a saying amongst African American prisoners about these facilities in the Upper Peninsula. And its that the further you go up North… its like some parts of the South in the 50’s and 60’s. You see more crosses burning. This statement may be extreme to someone from the outside looking in, but its our truth. I recently wrote about the pandemic and its relation to mass incarceration. After you read the article you can imagine why Im still being harassed by this facility. 

 

I about the fact that during the pandemic we were provided with old tan prisoner khakis that were turned into masks. The masks are too thick to breath out of and although there have never been a single case of the virus at this prison… there have been a influx of misconducts written for prisoners who find themselves too close to another prisoner. So the privileges, such as the phone and communication by email ould be taken away for up to 30 days. This is 30 days without talking to your family… who is the most affected by covid-19. 

 

Please investigate how prisoners are treated at this facility. I will include mail from other individuals who would love to talk about the blatant racism… or instances where they were set up and it resulted in them doing over 3 months in segregation. 

 

In the closing of your article you asked about our experience in segregation. At this facility, if we are in contact with organizations such as yours… they would simply throw your mail away or not feed you for a meal or two. If they found out about the content of this letter, I would most likely be retaliated against. I would love to help your campaign. 

 

Recently the innocence project teamed up with the attorney general conviction integrity unit in order to continue investigating my case. I’ve been incarcerated for 14 years. Im innocent. As you read this I can assume there is doubt. I completely understand the stigma of a prisoner: and thats that all of them claim to be innocent. But in a room full of prisoners I feel out of place, I am out of place. I was wrongfully convicted of aiding and abetting an individual. I was found guilty of 2nd degree murder, but acquitted of all gun charges although a murder weapon was found. Recently the individual that I was accused of aiding wrote to my other with the truth about how I wasnt involved. As I stated before the innocence project and the conviction integrity unit is telling me to be patient. I’ve been patient for 14 years! I’ve recently had 5 conversations with my trial judge, Archie Hayman, who is now an attorney. He has agreed to have a sit-down with the co-founder of the made institute and my younger brother in approximately 2 weeks. Im preparing to have a packet delivered to him of evidence he wasnt privy to… as well as proof that officers involved in my case transferred with crucial evidence. I also have proof that a forensic scientist gave untruthful testimony in my case… as she did in a previous case that was ultimately overturned. I would love to send you these materials. 

 

I came to prison with probably an 8th grade reading level. Since then I’ve attended MSU for a semester and received a 4.0 GPA. Instead of getting lost in gangs and prison politics, I self-educated myself on the law, amongst other things. I’ve practiced in art shows with the University of Michigan. I’ve taught art to other prisoners at St. Louis Correctional Facility. I was the facilitator here until the pandemic. 

 

My proudest moment was watching my younger brother be released from prison. We started a company together called “No Pressure No Black Diamonds” (NPNBD) my brother just signed the lease for our first store. Its located at 412 South Saginaw St Unit 207-B Flint, Michigan. You can follow us on Instagram/NPNBD.

 

You can follow me @ Facebook / Quote King (Draco) where I began giving away 80 pieces of art for free. I have to get back to preparing for this meeting. I would love to hear your response and create awarenes to what is going on inside of this prison. 

 

I’d love to answer your questions another time. Again, I pray that you remain healthy.

 

Sincerely

Andraus A. McCloud

 

P.S. Im not sure if you know about Jpay.com, but its how we email our families. You can also write me there.

I’ve attached a portion of the article I wrote when it was sent back in to me the prison rejected it stating that it “advocates hatred.”