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Editorial and Business Offices: The Texas Observer, 600 W. 7th St., Austin, Texas 78701. Telephone 477-0746. mletio V personal emnity towards Cruz, even though she was the first lawyer to file suit against the TDC attacking the building tender system, the denial of religious freedom, the use of solitary confinement, the censorship of mail and the arbitrary removal of an inmate’s good time. He insisted there was no truth whatsoever in the “Ellis Report” a study of prison brutality on McAdam’s unit, the Ellis Unit. There are actually two reports, one written by Cruz while she was working for the Dallas Legal Services Project based on information supplied by inmates, And a second report written by Fred Cruz. The reports allege that prisoners confined in the TDC, particularly on the Ellis Unit, are deprived of their constitutional rights and subjected to a pattern of repression, harassment and even torture. “Through abusive practices based on brutality and dehumanization,” one report says, “the inmates live in constant fear fear of punishment in the form of deprivation of privileges, loss of good time, humiliations and indignities and .beatings; fear of solitary where, when incarceration is prolonged, starvation or even death can result. Those prisoners the guards cannot intimidate by brute force are subjected to psychological pressures aimed at destroying their minds and their will to resist.” McAdams denied that the use of solitary confinement was cruel and unusual punishment. He said that there were cases where nothing else would work and the man would have to be sent to solitary. The inmate is placed in a windowless cell completely in the dark with nothing to do, no equipment to keep himself clean, no water with a “repast” every 72 hours Photo by E. F. Shawver, Jr. Frances Freeman Jalet Cruz consisting of a few vegetables. There is a metal bunk, no mattress or blanket, the inmate is sometimes naked but usually gowned. His feet are bare and his head shaved. After 15 days, the normal durational period, the outer cell door made of steel is opened; the prisoner, however, is still behind bars in the inner cell. This is considered “release from solitary.” The door is shut again and he may be kept there another 15 days according to the Ellis Report. This cycle may be repeated until the man has been in solitary 45 days or longer. The warden also denied punishment for minor infractions of the rules and regulations includes beatings with fists, baseball bats and blackjacks; being handcuffed, knocked down, kicked and stomped on the handcuffs; being made to weekend and being denied food; being hung on the bars in a straightjacket, toes not touching the floor and being punched like a punching bag by any officer happening by; being made to stand facing a wall for hours or days at a time without being fed; or being made to shell peanuts all day and all night. WITNESS AFTER witness for the defense cited instances of prison brutality involving Warden McAdams, building tenders and other prison officials; the pettiness of the TDC rules and regulations; the arbitrary way in which inmates are summarily punished; and the harassment Wand intimidation to which Cruz’ clients are subjected. According to defense witnesses, many instances of prison brutality involve men “caught in homosexual acts.” Homosexuals, they said, are made to stand naked in the hallway in front of the chow hall, holding each other’s penises in their hands. Homosexuals have had Whitfield salve, a salve with an acidic base, pgured over their genitals. Clyde Sewel testified about an escape attempt and its aftermath. “Three men commanded a squad truck and tried to escape. The warden supposedly shot them. When we went to eat, three men were in front of the dining room. Blood was running down the hallway. One man was EDITOR Kaye Northcott CO-EDITOR Moll Ivins EDITOR AT LARGE Ronnie Dugger REVIEW EDITOR Steve Barthelme Contributing Editors: Winston Bode, Bill Brammer, Gary Cartwright, Sue Horn Estes, Joe Frantz, Larry Goodwyn, Harris Green, Bill Hamilton, Bill Helmer, Dave Hickey, Franklin. Jones, Lyman Jones, Larry L. King, Georgia Earnest Klipple, Larry Lee, Al Melinger, Robert L. Montgomery, Willie Morris, Bill Porterfield, James Presley, Charles Ramsdell, Buck Ramsey, John Rogers, Mary Beth Rogers, Roger Shattuck, Edwin Shrake, Dan Strawn, John P. Sullivan, Tom Sutherland, Charles Alan Wright. We will serve no group or party but will hew hard to the truth as we find it and the right as we see it. We are dedicated to the whole truth, to human values above all interests, to the rights of man as the foundation of democracy; we will take orders from none but our own conscience, and never will we overlook or misrepresent the truth to serve the interests of the powerful or cater to the ignoble in the human spirit. The editor has exclusive control over the editorial policies and contents of the Observer. None of the other people who are associated with the enterprise shares this responsibility with her. Writers are responsible for their own work, but not for anything they have not themselves written, and in publishing them the editor does not necessarily imply that she agrees with them, because this is a journal of free voices. BUSINESS STAFF Sarah Boardman Joe Espinosa Jr. Marcus Mosbacker C. R. Olofson The Observer is published by Texas Observer Publishing Co., biweekly from Austin, Texas. Entered as second-class matter April 26, 1937, at the Post Office at Austin, Texas, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Second class postage paid at Austin, Texas. Single copy, 2Sc. One year, $7.00; two years, $13.00; three years. $18.00; plus, for Texas addresses, 5% sales tax. Foreign, except APO/FPO, 50c additional per year. Airmail, bulk orders, and group rates on request. Microfilmed \\ by Microfilming Corporation of America, 21 Harristown Road, Glen Rock, N.J. 07452. Change of Address: Please give old and new address, including zip codes, and allow two weeks. Postmaster: Send form 3579 to Texas Observer, 600 W. 7th St., Austin, Texas 78701. THE TEXA S OBSERVER The Texas Observer Publishing Co. 1972 Ronnie Dugger, Publisher A window to the South A journal of free voices Vol. LXV, No. 1 July 7, 1972 Incorporating the State Observer and the East Texas Democrat, which in turn incorporated the Austin ForumAdvocate.