Dissenting Against Rogue Texas Prison Officials

Editor's Note: The following op-ed is published in conjunction with a report on the latest status of Texas prisoner Jeremy Busby, who has faced retaliation for engaging in journalism.

By Theodore Amey / JoinJeremy.org

Eroy Brown is a legendary figure in Texas prison history. Not because he killed a prison warden and major, but for his courageous ability to dissent and fight back against rogue prison officials. 

Brown was a trusty prisoner assigned to work at a farm shop at a Texas prison. That shop was the base for illegal activities for some prison officials. When Brown threatened to become a whistleblower, those prison officials decided they were going to teach Brown a lesson—never threaten to expose a Texas prison official! 

They grabbed Brown from the farm shop and drove him to a remote area of the prison grounds. It was at this remote area that “lesson” was to take place. 

Brown dissented and fought back, resulting in the warden being shot by his own gun and the major being drowned in a nearby creek.

That was over four decades ago. During that span, there have been numerous incarcerated dissenters who have been “taught a lesson” by Texas prison officials.

Instead of taking them to remote areas on the prison grounds like Brown, they now just toss them into mind-crippling solitary confinement to rot away. 

The latest dissenter to be subjected to this treatment is incarcerated journalist Jeremy Busby. 

Jeremy has been incarcerated in Texas for over two and half decades. He served as the first Black staff writer for the Texas prison newspaper, The ECHO. In that position, he wrote favorable articles about the Texas prison system and was considered a role model prisoner by most prison officials.

I met him while we both were incarcerated together at a Texas prison. There I watched “J” mentor other prisoners, organize educational programs, and work alongside progressive prison officials to make the prison better. 

It was Jeremy Busby's commitment to ensuring incarcerated people in Texas were treated with respect, dignity, and afforded every opportunity possible to reach their full potential that connected us. It inspired me to do the advocacy work I am committed to in my community and served as the foundation to my volunteer work for his JoinJeremy.org platform. 

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, I have watched Jeremy commit himself even more to prisoners’ rights advocacy. In addition to partnering with ABC News on an award-winning documentary, Jeremy has written countless articles—including for the Houston Chronicle—about the deteriorating living conditions within Texas prisons.

Those partnerships and writings have plummeted Jeremy’s status with Texas prison officials. Instead of being a role model prisoner, Jeremy is now a despised dissenter that must be “taught a lesson.” 

Jeremy has been tossed into indefinite solitary confinement, violently assaulted, denied medical care, visitation rights, and subjected to constant censorship as a direct result of his advocacy that urged Texas prison officials to make the deplorable living conditions more humane. He's currently held in an environment, where mentally challenged prisoners toss feces on one another and prison staff multiple times a day. 

The water is contaminated, and the staff unleash unchecked chemical agent assaults daily. Those of us that are concerned with the values of our country and the protections afforded by the Constitution—“J” needs your help!

Investigative journalists, attorneys, grad students, human rights activists, and all concerned citizens, please visit our official website—Join Jeremy—and learn about more ways to get involved.

Let’s teach Texas prison officials a lesson on the constitutional protections afforded to every human in this country.