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3/17/2020 "Go ahead, I won't Tell" I have been in prison for over 10 years now on a life sentence for murder. I do my own time, practice and lead the Jameson Buddhist Group, and am keeping the vow I made to live peacefully and renounce all forms of violence. Since I have been incarcerated I have done 2 lawsuits against the prison officials here. The second one is case: Shane Bell v. Darin Young et al. eiv. 16-4046 (8th Cir. 2016). The civil rights lawsuit has to do with violations of the First Amendment and retaliation. Ever since I filed it and came to a settlement agreement in which the DOC (Department of Corrections) agreed in writing I would not be retaliated against by DOC, but they do. On November 12, 2019 I came upon floor officer Julie Denning talking to an inmate under the pod named Kevin Brown. She stated to Kevin Brown that "I know you guys are going to do what you gotta do at the end of the day. I don't care, I won't tell, I'm not a snitch." This is a correctional officer violating the public trust placed in here with the job she has. I would also say it is official misconduct and official oppression. This correctional officer 1 Over basically gave this inmate and others standing around her permission to commit misconduct when she is working on B-floor which is her permanent post. This kind of conduct continues to grow with little training and absolutely no accountability from the higher ups in the chain of command or prison administration. One example is that a regular correctional officer decided not to let a certain section or tier clean on Saturday, which has been their day to clean for years. When I brought this up to a white shirt, a Lt., his reply was "Denning is running the unit, what she says goes." There is no standard operating procedure here at all, everything is ambiguous and open to interpretation. It will continue to deteriorate until there are major problems. What do you think? Should there be a written standard operating procedure that is followed at the prison or the "We'll do whatever we feel like today" attitude which is currently the norm? Respectfully submitted by Shane Bell Shane Bell P.O. Box 5911 Sioux Falls, SD 2
