It is more than a game of Crime and Punishment; it is a social condition of inequality and degradation that denies us the opportunity to rise up and pursue a dignified way of life as guaranteed by the UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION.

We believe the creation of this Union will enable us to put an end to injustice, protect the lives and interests of our people, gain our constitutional rights and free us of our bondage.

[7][8]: 501–2 Over time, the UPU shifted away from work stoppages (strikes) in prisons and toward publicizing abuse, lobbying, and winning court cases.

In response, he went to the union office with a gun and chased staff members around and denounced the UPU as a white supremacist organization.

[9]: 91 On June 2, 1975, Popeye Jackson was shot dead by a member of the radical underground Tribal Thumb organization.

After Popeye's death, the UPU splinter quickly disintegrated, leaving only the PU,[2]: 254–5  which would later be renamed the Prisoners Rights Union (PRU).

[11] PRU became defunct in the early 1990s,[12] when its key lawyer Paul Comiskey moved to private practice as a criminal defense attorney.