The following posting consists of extracts from the first edition of Bill Leonard’s memoirs, which I worked on between 2012 and 2016. The words and artwork are his own.
More information on his memoirs will follow at a later date.
Maximum Security Prison,
The walls, fences and gun towers separate me from surviving family -
deprive me of sexual relations with a loving partner.
This insane prison life has hidden the sun, moon and stars from my view.
It's been decades since my bare feet have walked on grass.
The earth and trees have been supplanted by concrete and steel.
The strength in my muscles, diminished by leg-restraints and hand cuffs.
My oppressors have systematically stripped me of everything,
Leaving me with nothing but an inner-core.
Who am I? I ponder
As they try rigorously to terminate my existence.
Bill Leonard
Way back in 1963, the notorious prison, Alcatraz, finally closed its steel doors, all the bad guys 'convicts' at Alcatraz 'The Rock,' were transferred to a newly built federal prison in Marion, Illinois. In fact, my former associate, Joel 'Dusty' Burkett, whom I had first encountered in 1983, was sent to Marion a few years later, and almost died after being stabbed by a fellow prisoner. In 1983, when I was transported from Nevada State Prison to the Manatee County Jail in Bradenton, FL, to be prosecuted for the killing of Russell Williams, two guards and an inmate were murdered in a near riot at Marion. Subsequently, Marion became the first U.S prison to operate a permanent 'lockdown,' meaning that most of the convicts housed there live in virtual solitary confinement, incarcerated in cramped cells, alone for 23 hours a day. Marion's regime, like that of the super-max in Colorado, which was meant to replace it, was an experiment to see how much a prisoner could take before he breaks. It was designed to test how far a convict can be dehumanized before he completely loses his sanity. Gradually, more and more state governments began to adopt the Marion system. Years later, in December, 2012, Rolling Stone Magazine, ran an interesting article entitled 'Slow Motion Torture' by Jeff Tietz, that delved into how solitary confinement - once reserved for the most dangerous and disobedient prisoners, became standard practice in American prisons. I can vouchsafe for this article.
Bill Leonard
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