From USP Tucson, Keith Raniere filed an “inmate request to the prison staff.”
“I request immediate release from the SHU,” Raniere wrote to the staff.
According to BOP rules, “all inmates will have the opportunity to address written questions, requests, or concerns to any Bureau employee…. Inmates shall be permitted to make written requests to staff using the Inmate Request to Staff form (BP-S148).”
Raniere placed the following request for administrative relief on the record.
I request immediate release from the SHU, where I have been held without valid justification for 200 days and counting, and for 300 days cumulatively since my 2021 designation to USP-Tucson.
My rights continue to be violated by the intentional, knowing, calculated, deliberate, and indifferent actions and omissions of BOP personnel at USP Tuscon and others to: BOP Rules, Regulations, and Program Statements; applicable laws, rules, and regulations; the Mandela Rules and intentional norms; and the US Constitution.
The real length and conditions of my SHU confinement are torture. Hutto v. Finney, 437 U.S. 678 (1978).
My SHU placement is pretextual and retaliatory. I have a pending Rule 33 motion for a new trial based on unprecedented misconduct by government agents. U.S. v. Raniere, 1:18-CR-00204-NGG-VMS, Doc. 1169 (EDNY).
I believe bad actors in the DOJ and its sub-agencies (EO-AUSA, EDNY-AUSA, FBI, BOP) are acting in concert to retaliate against me for exposing corruption in my case that may undermine public credibility in these institutions.
The BOP has deprived me of my due process rights and the ability to confer with counsel.
In May, President Biden issued an Executive Order expressing inmates should be “free from prolonged segregation,” as the use of restrictive housing has surged in recent years.
The new BOP Director Colette S. Peters has said she is looking into this trend. I am unsure if she has reviewed my situation, but it may afford her the opportunity to implement her ideals, as she did in her career in Oregon.
Raniere came to USP Tucson a little more than two years ago, on January 21, 2021.
Out of approximately 750 days at USP Tucson, he spent about 300 in the SHU.
On July 26, 2022, USP Tucson assigned him to the SHU after Maurice Adonis Withers attacked him. In 2021, prison officials transferred him to the SHU for about 100 days, after an inmate passed a message from Raniere to Nicki Clyne on the telephone.
In his request for release from the SHU, Raniere cites the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, known as the “Nelson Mandela Rules,” and a 1978 Supreme Court decision in Hutto v. Finney.
Mandela Rules,though not binding on the BOP, restrict the use of solitary confinement to a measure of last resort, used only in exceptional circumstances.
In the SHU, prisoners are restricted in small cells, usually containing a bunk bed, toilet, and sink, for 23-24 hours each day. Inmates eat in their cell. Meals are usually served cold. SHU inmates have limited access to mail, commissary, exercise, reading material, telephone, fresh air, and contact with lawyers.
The Hutto v. Finney litigation, cited by Raniere, lasted from 1969 to 1978. It was the first successful lawsuit filed by an inmate against a correctional institution. The findings of unconstitutionality in the Arkansas prison system, as cruel and unusual punishment, focus on the Supreme Court determining that punitive isolation for extended periods violates the Eighth Amendment.
Opposing the case, fighting for the right of Arkansans to keep prisoners in the SHU for as long as they wish, was then-Arkansas Attorney General Bill Clinton.
Raniere also cited President Biden’s May 25, Executive Order on “Advancing Effective, Accountable Policing and Criminal Justice Practices to Enhance Public Trust and Public Safety.”
In the Executive Order, Biden stated:
It is also the policy of my Administration to ensure that conditions of confinement are safe and humane, and that those who are incarcerated are not subjected to unnecessary or excessive uses of force, are free from prolonged segregation, and have access to quality health care, including substance use disorder care and mental health care.
An NBC News analysis in September found that the number of inmates held in the SHU went up 7% since the president signed the executive order and up more than 11% from the Trump administration.
About 11,000 federal inmates are in restrictive housing.
Raniere also invoked the name of Collette S. Peters, the BOP director since August.
Peters was formerly the director of the Oregon Department of Correction. She took over Oregon’s prisons in 2012 at a time when the Oregon Department of Corrections faced criticism for over-reliance on solitary confinement.
In 2017, Peters visited Norway to learn about a “rehabilitation-focused prison philosophy.”
She launched an initiative called “The Oregon Way,” to “humanize and normalize” life in prison.
Her agency opened a Japanese garden at the state penitentiary, dismantled death row, and encouraged the state legislature to pass a bill replacing the word “inmates” with “adults in custody.”
On August 2, 2022, Attorney General Garland officiated the Investiture of Colette S. Peters as the 12th Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Peters said at her swearing-in in August, “Our job is not to make good inmates. It’s to make good neighbors.”
Raniere’s 200-day stay in the SHU without an infraction or request for protective custody is contrary to the Norway model and long enough to be considered torture by the United Nations.
While the confinement Raniere is experiencing is contrary to Peters’ goals of reducing the use of the SHU, it remains to be seen whether the director will personally weigh in on this matter.
Raniere has expressed concern that the BOP will transfer him to a CMU unit, where communications with the outside world would be severely restricted. CMUs are usually used to house Muslim terrorists.
Raniere opposes a transfer to a CMU facility and seeks to remain in USP Tucson in general population or get a designation from the BOP allowing him to reside in a medium or low-security prison.
I detest what happened to the girl, keeping her in isolation. I wonder how she is now?
I think it’s clear that he’ll spend his life behind bars, that in of itself is extremely punitive. He’s been in the shu a minute, let him out, it’s not like the punishment will be over. It’ll just be humane.
She has moved on to what I understand is an executive-level career in Mexico.
I’d feel worse for Keith if he hadn’t broken the rules. It’s a shame Nicki helped bring this punishment upon him.
Also wholeheartedly agree with the other commentors who mention Dani’s imprisonment. Why doesn’t Keith realize this will help him “heal his ethical breach”?
Nicki seems to be a real jinx for Keith. She was the reason Keith got arrested in the first place – she posted that selfie in Puerto Vallarta that revealed their hideout. So now she got him thrown in the Shu too. This is turning into a comedy.
So Keith is a victim? Imagine that. Is he abusing abuse by claiming to be abused?
He is treated inhumanely for spending approximately 200 days of 2 years in the SHU and having a cellmate. He’s in his 60’s, gets an hour out of the SHU daily, can speak with his cellmate, guards, and anyone else he comes in contact with. And he quotes studies about isolation and how terrible it is. I wonder if any of his “research” has pricked his conscience about keeping Daniella in a room without a bed (only a mat) for two years? She had no roommate, shunned by all community, zero trips outside, not even letter writing, no outside contact allowed. She was in her 20’s and spent over 700 days straight in a room without radio, TV, phone calls, books, or letter writing.
Why was Daniella’s confinement not considered torture or cruel and unusual punishment?
Does Keith see the comparison? Does this make him realize what he did to Dani?
Keith may be getting a taste of his own medicine.
Excellent comparison Grey.
Daniela also was denied basic Medical Care and dental treatment. She lost part of the tooth. That’s a pretty serious situation she had. Another ESP cult member passed away from a tooth issue that went improperly treated treated. Not too long after Keith was incarcerated. While being shunned and in the room Daniela had begun accumulating chemicals for cleaning because she was going to kill herself. She suffered a severe mental breakdown and went through prolonged emotional and mental trauma while in that room. Even in prison you have access to Medical Dental and mental health care. If you are feeling hopeless and despairing you can be put on suicide watch. None of these amenities were available to Daniella.
Sociopathic cult leaders aren’t rehabilitatable……
Director Peters isn’t lifting a finger to assist Raniere.
***
Keep dreaming Kieth, NXIVM 5 and Dossier Dingbats!!! You lot have a better chance of [redacted], raising the dead or “making it snow” in Arizona. Kieth can make it snow can’t he?
Maybe Kieth can use some his magic c*m dust and fly out like Peter Pan. 🧚♂️
I find it strange that he knows where he’s being transferred. I thought prison moves are confidential and the inmates learn of a move when the move is happening. Maybe Richard could answer this?
I firmly believe Raniere can be reformed……..
…Into a spherical ball of shit.
Raniere is being tortured. It’s cruel and inhumane. If you exercise your rights in this country you’re retaliated against. We’re controlled by China. There’s no freedoms in America. None.
No freedoms? None?
Seems a bit hyperbolic.
You mentioned “exercising your rights IN this country”?
So you’re commenting on a Blog from America? Where you have no freedom? None?
Have you been to China? Do you understand how the internet ‘works’ there? LOL
hyperbolic or hyperbole?
And how long was Dani confined? She was in a bedroom for 2 years and shunned by the community. She didn’t even have a roommate. This was done when she was in her 20’s. I wish Keith would have considered her plight. Maybe he has a better understanding now.
Why is the inmate’s request to staff printed and not handwritten? Did someone else fill out the request for Raniere and why is the request not personally signed by Raniere?
Adult in custody
Never thought I would say this, but I agree with KR. Confining him to the SHU for this length of time is inhumane.
Prison is punitive. It’s to keep people away from law abiding Society so they cannot hurt them. But it is also punishment. Things like chain gangs have rightfully been all but completely eradicated. But prison is punishment. If you’re being punished and it’s relatively cushy as it was for Keith and you continue to violate the rules and protocols put in place for everyone’s safety because news alert prisons are filled with criminals then you will have those remaining rights privileges freedoms taken away. If for some reason somebody doesn’t understand that going into prison. There’s an orientation. Paperwork is signed. Everything is explained to you. They’re not playing. It’s a highly volatile environment. There’s a lot of order and structure most of it designed to keep people who work there and are incarcerated safe. If Keith has been in the segregated housing as much as he claims he wouldn’t even know whether or not he wanted to stay at Tucson. Keith hasn’t really experienced it for very long. Many times inmates are moved from prison to prison for no reason that they’re Ever Told. That’s part of prison policy as well. Wherever you end up Vanguard follow the rules. You don’t have to do this hard of time.
Oh my, Raniere has filled out a form!
I’m sure the DOJ and BOP are quaking in their boots.
Prison in Norway is preferable to living in the ghettos of any American city, let alone the SHU in Tucson.
“In May, President Biden issued an Executive Order expressing inmates should be “free from prolonged segregation,”
See, Kevin, Democrats believe in prison reform too.
It is a shame that Dani didn’t have access to any of these rights that Vanguard mentions while confined to that room.
Pyriel-
💯👍🏼
And of course Dani wasn’t guilty of any crime unlike all the sheep who blindly followed Raniere.
Whilst his treatment seemed cruel to Dani, she had been accused & admitted to stealing copious amounts of money more than once,
She also had family in the house, her Mom in the other bedroom, meals consisting of organic prepared foods delivered to her door and a clean , private and operating bathroom , so I dont see it as the SHU. Did he have the right, I don’t think so but her parents did!
I don’t know. I think Keith may have accused her of stealing as a distraction (she might have admitted it because she thought that would placate him). I think he felt rejected by her and a psychopath hates to lose control – sex was his way of controlling women/girls.
I know her family were there, but they too were under Keith’s spell and also felt helpless to do anything about it.
When you’re in a community and have no way out, isolation must be one of the worst things. She was so young and must have felt so helpless given she had no ID, no money, no friends and a family that sided with Raniere. She could also get deported forever if caught by the authorities.
The deck was really stacked against her. I think it was as bad as the SHU, and she did it for 2 years. Still she survived, and that’s testament to the strength of the human spirit.
According to Dani, she did steal something like $5,000, but she returned on her own, before she was caught, and then told Keith about who promised to keep it a secret but he didn’t.
Keith is recorded orchestrating Daniella’s confinement. If Daniella committed a crime they should have contacted the police. Daniella has been upfront about the fact that she took money and immediately put it back there’s not any scenario in that theft and return immediately of the property that merits being in a room for 2 years and denied basic medical mental and dental care. Keith is also on record saying Daniella was kept in the room for that ethical breach of not wanting to be with him sexually. It’s so sad that you think that there’s any kind of justification for this treatment of Daniela. The whole argument you make falls apart when you realize that Daniella was denied her legal papers. That is a crime. Her parents absolutely do not have the right to confine their adult daughter to a room without legal documentation. None of the people who allowed this to happen or aided in a bedded have clean hands certainly her parents are included in that transgression.
Sure they do… that’s why there was a 7 percent increase following this bill.
We have enough laws! No more bills needed. We need to follow snd enforce the laws— the rest of this is just PR for those in positions of power.
No one knows Raniere is being abused and his rights violated? We need a new law to prevent this? Please.
It was an EO, not a bill. The 7% increase could be down to Newtonian momentum: in the absence of the EO, who’s to say the increase may not have been more than 7%?
Point is EOs, unlike actual laws, may lack support by statute or the Constitution, so their implementation may be inconsistent and open to interpretation and challenge. They do show intention though, and may act to constrain behavior – that has to be welcomed.
They also raise public awareness, which can create momentum for a change in the law. Once a bill becomes law, it’s more legally enforceable than an EO for the reasons above.
Do you think Hunter Biden will end up in the SHU?
Don’t count on it!