The best day in an inmate’s incarceration is the day he is released. The second best is when he receives a visit.
Tag: Crime and Punishment
Virtual Reality
When I was in the county jail awaiting sentencing, everyone told me that prison time was what I wanted because the conditions were so much better. Once I got to prison I saw what they meant. Jail Sucks! How can this be anything but cruel and unusual punishment? To serve twice as long as anyone sentenced to county jail time under those conditions. Forced to pay more for commissary and phone calls then their prison counterparts. Deprived of contact visits. Forced to endure a near starvation diet and all the other hardships doesn't seem fair and equitable to the treatment received by their prison counterparts.
The Tooth Fairy
Getting dental services in prison is like pulling teeth. It may be more accurate to state that dental services in prison consists of pulling teeth and not much else. The year before I paroled the MDOC changed the policy so that anyone with less than two years in prison didn’t qualify for a teeth cleaning.
The Princess and the Pea
I used to think my college dormitory mattress was bad until I tried to sleep on a prison mattress.
The Ministry of Silly Walks
The British comedy troupe Monty Python made fun of government bureaucrats in a sketch called ‘The Ministry of Silly Walks.’ In it they portrayed a number of characters with striding characteristics each more outrageous than the next. If you spend any amount of time in prison you will quickly come to understand that life is stranger than fiction.
Tether Ball and Chain
In my experience serving parole on GPS tether is a lot like boat ownership. The happiest days are the first and last, and it is an expensive hobby with lots of hidden responsibilities.
1-Ply
Nothing epitomizes the prison experience better than the 1-ply toilet paper that is available for personal hygiene. It is bought in bulk, delivered by the pallet to the housing units but passed out sparingly, used thoughtlessly, and discarded unceremoniously. Toilet paper (TP) is essential and yet taken for granted.
Satanic Psalms
Prison is intended to take a person out of a society in which they committed the offense and be rehabilitated so that they can be released without exposing the society to further risk. As long as rap music is allowed to remain in prison, with its sub-culture, then it is undermining attempts at rehabilitation by singing its siren song.
Room Without A View
Jails and prisons are not known for their hospitality, luxury, comfort, convenience, or aesthetics. They are utilitarian facilities designed for security, control, functionality, and durability. The compound consists of a secure perimeter designed for controlled entrance and egress. Razor wire, cameras, notion sensors, officer patrols on foot and by vehicle, inspections, metal detectors and body searches are the basis of security on the perimeter. Prisons in many ways are based on the military model. The difference being the focus on keeping inmates in.
Prisonisms
Prisonisms are the shackles that bind the mind and spirit that can only be unlocked from the inside. They are the prisons of our own making that we have confined ourselves within, often for a life sentence. Only God has the power to commute your sentence. No amount of education or re-education, counseling, or religious programming can set you free.