PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL TO ACTION!

URGENT CALL TO ACTION!! 

Call and Email: 

• Brenda Tritt, Supt, SCI Frackville, (570) 874-4516, btritt@pa.gov 
• John Wetzel, Secty of the PA DOC, (717) 728-4109, 

       ra-contactdoc@pa.gov

Demand that the Department of Corrections: 

• Stop the Retaliation Against Major Tillery.
•  Exonerate Major Tillery for the false charges of drug possession. 
• Remove the false misconduct from Major Tillery’s record. 
• Transfer Major Tillery from SCI Frackville to another facility in eastern Pennsylvania near his family. 
•  Provide decent medical care to Major Tillery and all prisoners! 

 Send Letters of support to: 

   Major Tillery AM9786 SCI Frackville 

   1111 Altamont Blvd. 

   Frackville, PA 17931

URGENT CALL TO ACTION!!

Call and Email:

Brenda Tritt, Supt, SCI Frackville, (570)  874-4516, btritt@pa.gov

John Wetzel, Secty of the PA DOC, (717) 728-4109, ra-contactdoc@pa.gov

Demand the Department of Corrections:

Stop the Retaliation Against Major Tillery.

Exonerate Major Tillery for the false charges of drug possession.

Remove the false misconduct from Major Tillery’s record.

Transfer Major Tillery from SCI Frackville to another facility in eastern Pennsylvania near his family.

Provide decent medical care to Major Tillery and all prisoners!

Send Letters of support to:

Major Tillery AM9786

SCI Frackville

1111 Altamont Blvd.

Frackville, PA 17931

Major Tillery Is Back In The Hole

MAJOR TILLERY BACK IN THE HOLE!!

FEDERAL RETALIATION LAWSUIT FILED!!

SCI Frackville prison officials put Major Tillery back in the hole!! This is more retaliation against Tillery who is now fighting to get Hepatitis C treatment. Tillery was able to get word out through another prisoner who told us that several guards in the “AC annex” have been verbally harassing and trying to provoke men with racist comments. The “AC annex” is a cell block that houses both general population and disciplinary prisoners together. We don’t have the particulars of what falsified charges they put against Major. His daughter Kamilah Iddeen heard that he got 30 days and should be out of the RHU (restricted housing unit) on March 2.

Last year Major Tillery stood up for Mumia, telling John Kerestes, the Superintendent at SCI Mahanoy, that Mumia is dying and needs to go to the hospital. Soon afterward, Mumia was rushed to the hospital in deadly diabetic shock. For that warning and refusing to remain silent in the face of medical neglect and mistreatment of all prisoners Major Tillery was put in the hole in another prison and denied medical care for his arthritis, liver problems and hepatitis C.

Major Tillery was denied medical treatment, transferred and put in the hole “because of something prison administrators hate and fear among all things: prisoner unity, prisoner solidarity.”   -Mumia Abu-Jamal

Major Tillery didn’t stop fighting for medical treatment for himself and other prisoners. On February 11, Major Tillery filed a 40 page, 7-count civil rights lawsuit against the Department of Corrections, the superintendents of SCI Mahanoy and SCI Frackville and other prison guards for retaliation in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

 Major Tillery demands that the DOC stop its retaliation, remove the false misconduct from his record, provide medical treatment and transfer him out of SCI Frackville to a different prison in eastern Pennsylvania so he remains near his family.

 This lawsuit is just part of Major Tillery’s fight for medical care and to protect himself and other prisoners who are standing up for justice. He has liver disease and chronic Hepatitis C that the DOC has known about for over a decade. Tillery is filing grievances against the prison and its medical staff to get the new antiviral medicine. This is part of the larger struggle to obtain Hep C treatment for the 10,000 prisoners in Pennsylvania and the estimated 700,000 prisoners nationally who have Hepatitis-C and could be cured.

 Major Tillery’s daughter, Kamilah Iddeen appeals for our support:

 It is so important that my Dad filed this lawsuit– it shows what really goes on inside the prison. Prison officials act as if my father is their property, that his family doesn’t exist, that he isn’t a man with people who love him. They lied to us every time we called and said he needed treatment. They lied and said he hadn’t told them, that he hadn’t filed grievances. The DOC plays mind games and punishes prisoners who stand up for themselves and for others. But my Dad won’t be broken.

 The DOC needs to learn they can’t do this to a prisoner and his family. Justice has to be done. Justice has to be served. Please help.

 Major Tillery needs your calls to the DOC. He also needs help in covering the costs of the court filing fees, copying and mailing expenses amount of over $500.  Please help.

Send money: Go to: www.JPay.com  Code: Major Tillery AM9786 PADOC

Demand the Department of Corrections:

Stop the Retaliation Against Major Tillery.

Exonerate Major Tillery for the false charges of drug possession.

Remove the false misconduct from Major Tillery’s record.

Transfer Major Tillery from SCI Frackville to another facility in eastern Pennsylvania near his family.

Provide decent medical care to Major Tillery and all prisoners!

  Call and Email:

Brenda Tritt, Supt, SCI Frackville, (570)  874-4516, btritt@pa.gov

John Wetzel, Secty of the PA DOC, (717) 728-4109, ra-contactdoc@pa.gov

Send Letters of support to:

Major Tillery AM9786

SCI Frackville

1111 Altamont Blvd.

Frackville, PA 17931

For More Information:

Call/Write: Kamilah Iddeen (717) 379-9009, Kamilah29@yahoo.com

Nancy Lockhart (843) 412-2035, thewrongfulconviction@gmail.com

Rachel Wolkenstein, Esq. (917) 689-4009, RachelWolkenstein@gmail.com

Contribute: Go to www.JPay.com Code: Major Tillery AM9786 PADOC

Major Tillery IS Still In Need Of Funds To File Federal Lawsuit and Obtain Transcripts

The State of Pennsylvania denied Major Tillery's Lawsuit and he currently needs to file in federal court.

He will need to pay a $500.00 filing fee. 

Major Tillery also needs to purchase a copy of his transcripts.

Assist Major Tillery in raising ($2,000), two thousand dollars. He does not have the funds and his family does not either.

Send funds via J-Pay directly to him. His account will be debited for payments to the court.

Contribute To Major Tillery Using The Link Below. 

 https://www.jpay.com/login.aspx
  New Accounts Go To Second Box
State: Pennsylvania
Inmate ID: AM 9786

Code: Major Tillery

Major Tillery faced retaliation from the PA DOC because he stood up to the warden and demanded that Mumia receive medical care. Tillery is an advocate for other prisoners. 

 The link below is a 1990, Judicial Opinion

Tillery v Owens

Major George Tillery's voice must not be silenced. He must file in federal court. Additionally, Tillery is represented pro bono for the trumped up murder charge. He needs transcripts and they are costly. 

Contribute To Major Tillery Using The Link Below. 

 https://www.jpay.com/login.aspx

  New Accounts Go To Second Box

State: Pennsylvania

Inmate ID: AM 9786

Code: Major Tillery

Major Tillery Needs Donations For Filing Fees and Transcripts

The State of Pennsylvania denied Major Tillery's Lawsuit and he currently needs to file in federal court.

He will need to pay a $500.00 filing fee. 

Major Tillery also needs to purchase a copy of his transcripts.

Assist Major Tillery in raising ($2,000), two thousand dollars. He does not have the funds and his family does not either.

Send funds via J-Pay directly to him. His account will be debited for payments to the court.

Contribute To Major Tillery Using The Link Below. 

 https://www.jpay.com/login.aspx
  New Accounts Go To Second Box
State: Pennsylvania
Inmate ID: AM 9786

Code: Major Tillery

Major Tillery faced retaliation from the PA DOC because he stood up to the warden and demanded that Mumia receive medical care. Tillery is an advocate for other prisoners. 

 The link below is a 1990, Judicial Opinion

Tillery v Owens

Major George Tillery's voice must not be silenced. He must file in federal court. Additionally, Tillery is represented pro bono for the trumped up murder charge. He needs transcripts and they are costly. 

Contribute To Major Tillery Using The Link Below. 

 https://www.jpay.com/login.aspx

  New Accounts Go To Second Box

State: Pennsylvania

Inmate ID: AM 9786

Code: Major Tillery

HELP MAJOR TILLERY FILE HIS RETALIATION LAWSUIT

Major Tillery was denied medical treatment, transferred and put in the hole “because of something prison administrators hate and fear among all things: prisoner unity, prisoner solidarity.” 

        -Mumia Abu-Jamal

Major Tillery stood up for Mumia, telling John Kerestes, the Superintendent at SCI Mahanoy, that Mumia is dying and needs to go to the hospital. Soon afterward, Mumia was rushed to the hospital in deadly diabetic shock. For that warning and refusing to remain silent in the face of medical neglect and mistreatment of all prisoners Major Tillery was put in the hole in another prison and denied medical care for his arthritis, liver problems and hepatitis C. 

On January 5, 2016 Major Tillery filed a 40 page, 7-count civil rights lawsuit with 150 pages of exhibits in the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas against the Department of Corrections, the superintendents of SCI Mahanoy and SCI Frackville and other prison guards for retaliation . He is demanding the prison stop the retaliation, remove false misconducts from his record and transfer him from SCI Frackville. Just two days laterJudge Cyrus Palmer Dolbin dismissed the lawsuit, on the absurd ground that the lawsuit was “frivolous”!

Major Tillery is now filing his lawsuit in the U.S. district court. But the costs of re-filing including court fees, copying and service expenses amount to over $500.  Please help. Send money: Go to: www.JPay.com  Code: Major Tillery AM 9786 PADOC

Demand the Department of Corrections:

Stop the Retaliation Against Major Tillery. 

Exonerate Major Tillery for the false charges of drug possession.

Remove the false misconduct from Major Tillery’s record.

Transfer Major Tillery from SCI Frackville to another facility in eastern Pennsylvania near his family.

Provide decent medical care to Major Tillery and all prisoners!

Call and Email John Wetzel, Secretary of the PA Department of Corrections,

John Wetzel (717) 728-4109, ra-contactdoc@pa.gov

Send Letters of support to:

Major Tillery AM 9786

SCI Frackville

1111 Altamont Blvd. 

Frackville, PA 17931

Contribute: Go to www.JPay.com Code: Major Tillery AM 9786 PADOC

MAJOR TILLERY SUES PA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

Major Tillery with his daughter Kamilah and two granddaughters

MAJOR TILLERY SUES PA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

First Amendment Lawsuit Against Retaliation For Fighting for Medical Treatment For Mumia Abu-Jamal and All Prisoners

Major Tillery filed a civil rights lawsuit pro se against John Wetzel, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC), SCI Mahanoy Superintendent John Kerestes, SCI Frackville Superintendent Brenda Tritt and 17 other prison officials. The DOC punished and retaliated against Tillery for acts of solidarity with Mumia Abu-Jamal and other prisoners fighting for the fundamental human right of medical care. The lawsuit was filed in the Schuylkill County Court of Common Pleas on January 5, 2015:

This is a civil rights action brought by Major George Tillery, a 65 year-old African-American man to stop and remedy retaliation against him for his exercise of his First Amendment Rights. Tillery was subjected to numerous retaliatory acts by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections and its employees, including medical neglect and medical mistreatment, unjustified cell searches, transfer to another cell block, loss of his prison job and precipitous transfer from SCI Mahanoy to SCI Frackville and then being set-up with a false misconduct and given over four months in disciplinary custody (solitary confinement).

This retaliation was intended to punish and stop Tillery from filing grievances challenging medical neglect and mistreatment of him and other prisoners, including the well-known journalist and former death row prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal. This retaliation was punishment for Tillery continuing to publicly advocate for Mumia Abu-Jamal, and to publicly expose the DOC’s neglect and mistreatment of prisoner’s medical problems as well as the DOC’s retaliation against Tillery; and continuing to file grievances objecting to these retaliatory actions by prison officials.

Throughout his over thirty years in prison serving a sentence of life without parole, Tillery has challenged his conviction and sentence, and unconstitutional restrictions on access to courts, prison conditions including security classification and placement procedures, medical treatment, and housing conditions on behalf of himself and other prisoners.  He was held in solitary confinement in super-max institutions in the federal and Pennsylvania prison systems for over twenty of those years.

Tillery was the lead plaintiff in Tillery v. Owens, a class action lawsuit filed July 23, 1987, challenging the constitutionality of the conditions of confinement at the State Correctional Institution at Pittsburgh ("SCIP") located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It started as a pro se legal action by Tillery. It resulted in an historic legal order requiring remediation of unconstitutional prison conditions including deficient security, fire protection, access to the courts, over-crowded housing, medical care, mental health care and dental services. The DOC was required to make prison renovations costing more than a million dollars. See Tillery v. Owens, 719 F.Supp. 1256 (W.D.Pa.1989).

Major Tillery demands that the DOC stop its retaliation, remove the false misconduct from his record, provide medical treatment and transfer him out of SCI Frackville to a different prison in eastern Pennsylvania so he remains near his family.

This lawsuit is just part of Major Tillery’s fight for medical care and to protect himself and other prisoners who are standing up for justice. He has liver disease and chronic Hepatitis C that the DOC has known about for over a decade. Tillery is filing grievances against the prison and its medical staff to get the new antiviral medicine. This is part of the larger struggle to obtain Hep C treatment for the 10,000 prisoners in Pennsylvania and the estimated 700,000 prisoners nationally who have Hepatitis-C and could be cured.

Major Tillery’s daughter, Kamilah Iddeen appeals for our support:

It is so important that my Dad filed this lawsuit– it shows what really goes on inside the prison. Prison officials act as if my father is their property, that his family doesn’t exist, that he isn’t a man with people who love him. They lied to us every time we called and said he needed treatment. They lied and said he hadn’t told them, that he hadn’t filed grievances. The DOC plays mind games and punishes prisoners who stand up for themselves and for others. But my Dad won’t be broken.

The DOC needs to learn they can’t do this to a prisoner and his family. Justice has to be done. Justice has to be served. Please help.

Demand the Department of Corrections:

• Stop the Retaliation Against Major Tillery.
• Exonerate Major Tillery for the false charges of drug possession.
• Remove the false misconduct from Major Tillery’s record.
• Transfer Major Tillery from SCI Frackville to another facility in eastern Pennsylvania near his family.
• Provide decent medical care to Major Tillery and all prisoners!

Call and Email John Wetzel, Secretary of the PA Department of Corrections,

John Wetzel (717) 728-4109  ra-crpadocsecretary@pa.gov
Contact Gov. Wolf  https://www.governor.pa.gov/contact/

Send Letters of support to:

Major Tillery AM 9786

SCI Frackville
1111 Altamont Blvd.
Frackville, PA 17931

Contribute: Go to JPay.com; code: Major Tillery AM 9786 PADOC

For More Information:

Call/Write: Kamilah Iddeen (717) 379-9009,                Kamilah29@yahoo.com
Nancy Lockhart (843) 412-2035,                                                    thewrongfulconviction@gmail.com
Rachel Wolkenstein, Esq. (917) 689-4009,                                                  RachelWolkenstein@gmail.com 

Mumia Supporters Converge In Scranton - Press Release With Mention Of Major Tillery

PRESS ADVISORY
December 17, 2015

CONTACT:
Philadelphia: Pam Africa – 267-760-7344;  Joe Piette – 610-931-2615
NYC:  Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition - 212-330-8029

12/18: MUMIA SUPPORTERS CONVERGE IN SCRANTON TO DEMAND HEP C TREATMENT FOR PA PRISONERS

On Friday, December 18, a car caravan from Philadelphia, a bus from New York City, and other vehicles from Pittsburgh, Baltimore and other cities will converge in Scranton, PA to support political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal at a Federal Court hearing on Friday, December 18.

The Philadelphia car caravan will take off at 6:00am from JFK Blvd & 31st St., west of 30th St. Station, across from the BOLT & MEGA buses.

In New York City, a full bus will begin loading at 5:30am at the MLK Labor Center 1199SEIU, 310 West 43^rd Street (between 8^th – 9^th Aves.).

Federal Court Judge Robert Mariani has ordered a full evidentiary hearing to determine if the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) will be required to provide the new direct-acting, antiviral medication with a 95 percent cure rate for HCV (hepatitis c virus) to Abu-Jamal.

The hearing will take place at the William J. Nealon Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, 235 N. Washington Ave, in Scranton.  The proceeding starts at 9:30am and is expected to last a full day, perhaps extending into Monday, Dec 21. 

Supporters who cannot fit into the courtroom will participate in a rally and direct action outside the courthouse, which will include speakers, banners and signs throughout the day.

On December 15, a letter including 108 members of the European Parliament and the French senate was sent to Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolfe encouraging the following, “We would like to share our concerns about the very poor health of Mr. Mumia Abu Jamal, suffering from hepatitis C, which can be fatal if not treated quickly with the appropriate care. As you know, international law provides that every human being, even a prisoner, is entitled to health care. We would be grateful for your quick intervention in order to provide to Mr. Mumia Abu-Jamal with the appropriate care, in a hospital with doctors of his choice.” The hearing takes place in the wake of this letter and thousands of signed petitions, phone calls and emails plus meetings, street actions and pressure from sympathetic state officials.

Mumia’s wife Wadiya Jamal said in a December 17 statement to Judge Mariani “One year ago today Samiya, our youngest daughter, died of cancer at the age of thirty-six. Mumia wasn’t home to see her, to hold and comfort her, her two young daughters or me. He hasn’t been to her gravesite. Mumia is in prison for life for a crime he did not commit! This past year Mumia has been critically ill. He is suffering from a horrible, itching torturous skin condition and almost died of diabetic shock. He has Hep C that the prison has refused to treat.”

The DOC currently has no standard of care for treating prisoners with HCV. Prison authorities willfully ignored Mumia's health crisis until a fellow prisoner, Major Tillery, confronted prison superintendent John Kerestes, warning him that Mumia might die unless he was hospitalized immediately.  The superintendent refused to listen, and Mumia went into a diabetic coma.  Major Tillery was shipped to another prison to be placed in solitary confinement for four and a half months.

Supporters initiated a campaign that led to the discovery of medical proof that Mumia’s ailments stem from untreated HCV that he contacted via a blood transfusion after being  shot by police 34 years ago. The DOC is denying the lifesaving treatment "until the final stages of the condition" - which would be equivalent to a death sentence for Mumia!

Abu-Jamal's legal team will make a strong case during the hearing on why Mumia and thousands of other HCV-infected prisoners in Pennsylvania need immediate treatment.  Most leading hep C specialists and national HCV organizations now recommend immediate treatment with this drug. Abu-Jamal will testify via videoconferencing - the first time in decades he will be given the opportunity to testify in court. If he is successful in winning the hep C treatment, it will set a precedent that can potentially help infected prisoners throughout Pennsylvania and other states.

Medical evidence and statistics show that HCV, if left untreated, will spread throughout communities when prisoners return home, generating a public health crisis that has a disproportionate impact on people of color and impoverished communities. The same population is also impacted negatively by the outrageously high prices charged by pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences for this lifesaving medicine.

Amnesty International and other human rights organizations maintain Abu-Jamal was unfairly convicted in the 1982 killing of a Philadelphia policeman.  A solidarity movement won his removal from death row, but he is still in prison and will die of medical neglect from untreated hepatitis C unless state officials are forced to give him proper treatment.  As an innocent man, supporters demand that Mumia be released immediately.

The International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal, Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition (NYC), Educators for Mumia, Campaign to Bring Mumia Home, the International Action Center and other organizations are urging the public to attend the hearing.  

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