"'I hope this letter finds you and finds you well.' That line is part of a letter from Tim Robbins's character, Andy Dufresne, to his friend, Morgan 'Red' Freeman, in the movie The Shawshank Redemption, and how I either opened or closed most of the thousands of letters I wrote while wrongfully imprisoned for six years, four months and eighteen days of a life sentence in Rhode Island's prison system.

"As a city police detective I was placed in Protective Custody, a unit that housed anyone who the administration felt posed a threat to the routine day-to-day operations, and was at risk of either creating disturbances or being attacked by other inmates in General Population. Housed in PC were other police officers, prison guards, convicted child molesters, rapists, informants, juveniles, gang members, and any other high profile inmates; several of whom I was responsible for investigating, arresting and incarcerating.

"The Segregation Unit was directly above Protective Custody, and it was there that some of the worst abuses took place. Sleep deprivation was a common tactic among the more sadistic guards assigned to the unit, and they often bragged about the mistreatment they dealt out daily and nightly. I often heard the beatings and screams for help coming through the air vents we shared, dispensing recycled and filthy air along with pleas for mercy.

"One inmate once said to me, 'Scotty, they're making monsters in here, and I'm one of them; when I get out, they'll reap what they've sown.'"

Excerpted from a written statement submitted to the Commission