The old adage is that “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” is never truer than in prison. I have encountered very few employees of the MDOC that I could honestly say cared about anything more than their jobs. Not doing their jobs well, just keeping them. Actions speak louder than words and the way some of the COs yell that’s saying something.
An example of a CO that is not treating inmates with respect is when they get on the PA and call for you by saying, “Hay get up here!” They use profanity and humiliation to publicly denigrate inmates. Using strong arm tactics, such as tearing up a person’s property when doing a shake down and taking property such as TVs as contraband in retaliation for a perceived slight.
Food service workers that would rather throw food away then feed a little extra to the inmates that work in the chow hall. Supervisors that refuse to write work reports with a perfect score, on the principle that we’re convicts. Medical staff that put company profits ahead of providing life-saving health care service. Vendors that make huge profits off of those who can least afford it.
From the inmates’ perspective it is really easy to be cynical about attitudes when those who have been entrusted with the care and feeding of inmates treat them worse than dogs at the pound. People who are always looking for an angle are jaded about the motives of others. Respect and the lack there of is a central premise of the prison culture. Inmates can spot a fake a mile away. Sincerity, truth, and information are of great value and in short supply. The few MDOC staff members that have these elusive qualities are respected. For the rest animosity, antagonism, a never-ending game of cat and mouse, with scores to settle and vendettas that result in guys going to the hole and COs getting hurt.
What is needed most by people who have received so little of it in their lives is having someone care about them as a person. To see them as more than a number and a pay check. To see them succeed, to go home and never come back. Once that happens, then maybe inmates will listen a little more carefully to what they are being taught in school and programming. Maybe they’ll be more cooperative with the system instead of being hell bent on destroying it from the inside.
I am not naive to think it will cure all the problems and that the hostility of people being held against their will, will go away. But would it really hurt those who work for the MDOC to start treating inmates as people? To do their jobs conscientiously with the goal of treating inmates as customers or patients instead of merchandise that is simply warehoused and shipped from place to place. We may be damaged goods, but we need help to put us back together, not to be thrown on the junk pile and discarded.
As human beings we are composed of bodies, souls, and spirits that require a lot of nurturing. The resources required to this are not cheap, but the fact is that prison as it currently exists causes more harm than good. It is failing to do the one job it is entrusted to do- that is to protect society by rehabilitating those who have been deemed unfit for a civil society. It is unfortunate that people end up in prison. An ounce of prevention is worth more and certainly costs less than a pound of cure.
But until the legislature and the general public are willing to pay the true cost of meeting the goal of reducing crime by addressing the root causes they are stuck instead paying for the cure. Don’t let it be money just flushed down the toilet, but rather well spent by corrections professionals who act the part and take their jobs seriously and care about making a difference.
The Birdman of Alcatraz, Robert Stroud raised and studied birds while he was incarcerated at Leavenworth. A convicted murderer, he published Diseases of Canaries in 1933, which was smuggled out of prison and sold. He even ran a successful business from inside prison. While not allowed to keep birds at Alcatraz he instead wrote a history of the penal system. He was incarcerated for the last 54 years of his life and spent 42 of those years in solitary confinement. A dangerous, violent man who eventually became one of the best-known examples of self-improvement and rehabilitation in the federal prison system.
While no one is raising birds in their cells for sale in the MDOC, I’ve seen a few that had the birds feeding out of their hands in the big yard. Prisons are generally not located in heavily populated areas and are surrounded by farms, fields and forests. The result is that there is a fair amount of wild life present. Deer, wild turkeys, muskrats, foxes, opossum, raccoon, skunk, chipmunks, and dozens of species of birds. It is the small animals and birds that can come and go as they please through the perimeter, obviously the larger critters will only be visible outside of the fence, but a deer did get inside the fence one time.
I’ve watched guys hold out their hand and feed birds with crumbs of bread taken from the chow hall. Standing still with their arm outstretched near a bird perched on a fence or bench. The bird will hop onto the hand and feed for seconds at a time. Red Winged Black Birds, Chickadees, and other song birds that to some extent have become accustomed to humans can be coaxed from feeding nearby to feeding out of hand. No sudden movements, no noise, just patience.
Birds perch on fences, however in prison that can be dangerous since there is usually razor wire involved. I’ve seen countless one-legged birds hopping about. That’s a high price to pay for hanging out in prison just for the sake of a free meal.
Chipmunks are another species that benefits from inmate’s willingness to feed the animals, which is of course against the rules. Chipmunks hide in holes and are nervous by nature but can be coaxed out with a few peanuts. I’ve never seen one feed from a hand, but there was a game to see how close you could get to one.
Prison being prison, not every story is cute and cuddly. While I was at my first level I facility, several inmates got into trouble for catching, killing and trying to cook a duckling in the microwave.
Large open grassy areas tend to attract geese and ducks, especially if there are even small temporary bodies of standing water nearby. The big yard may look like a tempting location to raise a family. Inmates will step aside and allow the mother duck to lead her ducklings from one location to another across the yard. Ducklings grow fat from all the bread crumbs tossed their way. Free from predators 1ike foxes, hawks become the greatest threat. The ducks are closely watched and any loss to the family group is noted. Some guys find great joy in in watching the ducklings mature and are saddened when they fly away at the end of the summer. I think a part of these inmates who have invested their time and emotions into these ducklings flies away with them when they leave. You can see it in their eyes as they watch the ducks experience freedom that the inmates can only dream about.
Unlike Hogan’s Heroes or Shawshank Redemption the MDOC doesn’t use guard dogs. I’ve heard of dogs being brought in from the state police to search for drugs but that is about it. There are however several facilities that have begun raising puppies for the Leader Dogs for the Blind program. Writeups in the newspapers speak highly of these programs and the success rate that these dog programs have. They were going to set one up at my last level I facility but the new warden changed his mind. The inmates had already been selected and moved into a housing unit and the kennels had been built in the housing unit, but no dogs. There was one dog that came to live in the prison however. An officer had passed away after an extended illness and her dog was brought in in anticipation of the dog program. While not actually part of the program the dog was to be looked after and cared for by the inmates. It became the most popular individual on the compound. I would see it sometimes being taken for walks around the track during yard time. In the winter someone even made it a winter coat by cutting up a prisoner coat to make one with little sleeves for the front legs and an orange stripe across the shoulders just like the rest of the prisoners had. Doted on and spoiled rotten with lavish attention the dog was the center of attention everywhere it went. It became a sort of therapy dog for everyone at that prison. No one would dare to abuse or in any way hurt the dog or they would suffer the wrath of several hundred dog lovers.
Photo: Romain Blanquart/Detroit Free Press
They say that dogs are man’s best friend and that they don’t judge us but give unconditional affection. For many in prison that type of attention is exactly what prisoners need. In a place where there is so much negativity to find something as relentlessly positive as a wagging tail. To have something to care for and about when it feels like you’re forgotten and alone. To have a reason to do something for someone besides yourself. To be responsible for the well-being of another creature when your own is under duress. If one dog could do that what would 20 dogs do? The fact is that dogs make a positive contribution to the facilities that have them.
Photo: J. Scott Park / AP
There is a tremendous demand for these dogs and it would seem that while having the dogs would make for more work the dividends paid by the positive mood they bring that every warden should be clamoring to get a program at their facility. Unfortunately, that is not the case and you need to ask why. Just like Robert Stroud who benefited from a warden who saw the value in his bird research and gave him a second cell to house all his birds only to lose it all when a new warden came and didn’t see the value and thought that he only deserved punishment and harsh treatment. It all goes back to the question: Is prison only about punishment or should rehabilitation be the focus?
One of the strongest correlations in predicting whether or not a person will end up in prison is the lack of a high school education. This fact has been known for many years and has been codified into a law that requires inmates without a high school diploma or a GED to attend GED classes.
Even before there was a GED program in the MDOC there were primary and secondary education programs with Jackson Public Schools at the old walled prison in Jackson that allowed inmates to earn a high school diploma. In fact, until the Pell Grant for prisoners was eliminated under President Bill Clinton there were college classes taught by institutions such as Spring Arbor College, where inmates could earn a B.A. degree.
I worked as a tutor in the GED program for 5 years and had the privilege of working a long side two old timers who had earned their B.A. degrees from Spring Arbor College. They were bright, articulate, knowledgeable, and earnest in communicating their passion for helping men earn their GED.
In the MDOC the inmates who work as tutors are the key to the program. The reason is both simple and shocking. First is that peer to peer learning has been shown to be an effective adult learning tool. Inmates teaching inmates removes the power dynamic from the situation. Also, there is the ability to establish relationships that would be inappropriate for correction’s staff.
During my time as a tutor I worked directly for three different teachers at two different facilities. I knew 10 teachers well enough by interaction with them and their tutors to know about their classroom environments to say that what I am about to share is not atypical.
The first teacher I worked for knew my former employer from a previous career in medical equipment sales. All teachers in the MDOC GED program are certified educators and all that I am acquainted with had worked in public schools. My teacher, who I will not name, was no exception. He worked in primary education for Detroit Public Schools. In fact, he had been fired by them. The old saying is “Those who can’t do, teach.” In prison it goes a step further, “Those who can’t teach, teach in prison.” Teachers like many others who work in prison are there because they couldn’t make it in the free world. Like COs that couldn’t make it as police officers, there are those “teaching” in prison who couldn’t teach. This isn’t the case for all teachers, just like there are good COs, it is just that there are more than a few bad apples.
The second teacher I worked for was the Felix Unger to my first teacher’s Oscar Madison. They were in appearance the “Odd Couple.” One was nattily dressed and a stickler for organization, the other unkept and easy going. But being a snappy dresser didn’t make up for his inability to manage his class. I got along great with him until I made the mistake of correcting him in front of the class, when he incorrectly described how to solve a math problem. I went from getting a perfect work evaluation to ‘barely meets expectations.’ I had organized his filling system, written standard operating procedures to ensure that all future tutors would be able to maintain the system. The tutors took attendance, graded work, assigned student testing, maintained educational files, and worked one-on-one with students, while the teacher chatted with students and wrote more tickets than any other teacher. He did not have the respect of his students and did not have control of the class room. The result is that the class room did not provide a learning environment for those who wanted to learn.
My second teacher was the complete opposite. Wild hair and sloppily dressed, but he had a kind and gentle demeanor that commanded the respect of his students. His class room was a quiet, stress-free learning environment, where men succeeded in earning their GED. It was in this class that I earned my greatest compliment. I was on a visit and one of my students pointed me out to his family and said, “That man is helping me get my GED.” And he did. Just as the COs set the tone for what goes on in the housing units, the teachers set the tone for the class room and it makes all the difference when it comes to educational success.
The third teacher I worked for was not like either of my previous bosses. He worked for 20 years as a teacher in the MDOC, he had seen it all. He held court in his class room. He told stories in a folksy style. Nothing got under his skin except students that squandered the opportunities given to them. He wanted the best for his students and did more to help them succeed. He also saw to the needs of his tutors who he didn’t treat as inmates so much as co-workers. The respect was mutual.
Education is supposed to be a priority for the MDOC, yet year after year budget cuts to education have reduced the number of teachers in the class room and the resources available. When the new GED standard came out in 2014 the MDOC was not prepared to change over until 2016. Even then they still did not have the text books available in all subject matters in sufficient quantities for all students in all classes. They had bought new computers that were supposed to run new educational software for the students to prepare them for the computerized GED exams. Unfortunately, the computers sat unused for two years and when the new programs were implemented the servers and other hardware purchased were inadequate.
Examples of GED textbooks used by the MDOC.
The old GED standard was said to be about equivalent to an eight-grade education. The new GED based on the new high school graduation requirements significantly raised the bar. Many students who had passed some but not all subject areas were given several opportunities to complete their GED, but when push came to shove the lack of staff to administer the additional tests resulted in some students losing out and having to start over with a significantly elevated bar. This was a real blow to moral and I watched a number of students give up and throw in the towel, resigning themselves to the reality that the new GED standard was unattainable. The new GED was designed to be high school equivalent, while prisoners are anything but.
The old models of self-teaching by students with assistance from the teachers and tutors didn’t work that well under the old GED. With the significantly higher educational requirements the MDOC needs to rethink how it operates its classes. Self-learning only really occurs after fifth grade because students up to that point lack the necessary vocabulary and learning skills to effectively study on their own. When all you were asking was about three grades of learning many could get by with their life skills to bridge the gap and earn their GED. Under the new system it is asking too much for inmates, many of whom are functionally illiterate to self-study. What is needed is a structured class room environment where teachers actually teach and students are expected to learn.
Participation in the GED program was a parole board requirement, but because there weren’t enough teachers or class room space there were waiting lists based on ERD at each facility. The result was that inmates serving short sentences would go to the head of the list, but if they didn’t have an interest in learning thought that they could wait out their time. The result was that those who actually wanted to earn their GED and would write kite after kite asking to get into school would have to wait. And due to their longer sentences were further down the waiting list were prohibited from working in the interim.
In addition to the GED program the MDOC also offers vocational training programs intended to provide marketable job skills to aid inmates in gaining employment upon release. Programs like Carpentry, Electrical & Plumbing, Masonry & Concrete, Horticulture, and Food Service were popular. These programs were available to those who had a vocational training requirement from the parole board because they had no prior history of employment before coming to prison. These programs required a GED or high school diploma as a prerequisite.
I knew a guy who was hired to be a tutor in the Masonry & Concrete program as they were setting up the program. He was a masonry contractor in the free world and knowledgeable in all aspects of the trade. He was not impressed with the training curriculum and I would trust his judgement on this. What he also told me made me sick and it should make you angry. The facility where we were located was very limited in the available class room space. In fact, the GED class that I was a tutor for was relocated to a much smaller classroom that had previously been used for other programs such as AA, in order to give the larger classroom to the Plumbing & Electrical class. The room across the hall from my smaller class room was the technology room where the GED testing was held. They were displaced to make room for the Masonry class. Before the masonry class could begin a secure tool crib needed to be built along one wall of the room to store the tools to utilized by the class. When they brought the brand-new tools that had been ordered for the class to put them in the tool crib it was apparent that they would not all fit. With no other storage options available the teacher had his tutors throw thousands of dollars of brand new tools in the trash compactor rather than deal with the situation. After the class started one day I watched as they tracked cement dust all over the hallways in the school building. the utility closet was half way down the hall and they made a huge mess making mortar for a brick laying project.
The level of incompetence displayed is hard to grasp but it really happened. My teacher saw it coming and tried to warn them but like every other good idea proposed in the MDOC it was ignored. They tried to set up this program quickly and on the cheap and then forced it into a facility that could not accommodate it.
I understand that in recent years new programs have been introduced such as Asbestos Abatement for which I have no first-hand knowledge, just what I’ve seen on the news or read in the paper. It makes a great sound bite but if it is anything like the vocational education classes I’ve seen first-hand then it will be worse than useless and potentially dangerous to the students.
Many of the inmates participating in these programs selected them based on availability at the facility they were housed at, not on what they saw as a potential career that they would actually be interested in. They are just checking off a parole board requirement to increase their chances of parole. Given how these programs are run it is a pretty obvious and safe to say that the inmates aren’t the only ones going through the notions when it comes to educational programs.
I was surprised by how many guys I met in prison paid no attention to what was going on out in the world aside from popular culture. News programming was never on the in the day room. The only current events discussed were the rumors regarding issues pertaining to the MDOC. The only politicians that were talked about was the sitting governor and attorney general, usually in connection to a 4-1etter expletive. In the classroom I encouraged guys to read newspapers and would cut out articles on various topics. About the only ones I got them to read were the articles about crime or pop culture. The reality is that the typical inmate was already disconnected from the greater society and only focused on their subculture.
When you are in prison you don’t get much say into who your cell, cube or bunk mates are. If you don’t get along your option is to lock up. In an ideal world people can work through the vast majority of their differences, however prison is not ideal. The divide between an old white guy who never had a run in with the law before coming to prison and a young black man who started on a life of crime at age 12 when he caught his first juvenile case is vast.
There is no love lost between these two, the only thing they have in common is that they were convicted in the state of Michigan. More than likely they look down on the other and their crime with contempt. Without knowledge, exposure to others different from ourselves, and acceptance of the differences there will be continued strife. Not a good thing is a place where might makes right, and violence is the first and, in some cases, the only alternative considered.
Inmates are a captive audience. So what better place to provide diversity and civics training? Education is the proven solution to bridging the gap that divided us. More over by proactively front loading the training the inmates could be held responsible for their behavior in relation to the material. Outbursts and incidents could be used as teachable moments and remedial training to reinforce the importance of applying the material. The parole board would have more information to evaluate in regards to the expectations set out for inmate behavior. Raising expectations for behavior sets the bar higher. Well behaved inmates make for better behaved returning citizens.
In Michigan while on parole, parolees have the right to vote, but most don’t. They didn’t participate in the electoral process before, failing to engage in the basic rights and responsibility of the democratic process as the center of our society.
Programming in prison currently tries to educate inmates why committing crime is wrong. What is clearly lacking is teaching inmates about doing the right thing. They hold you responsible but don’t teach you responsibility. They say “ignorance is bliss,” but in this case we should make an exception.
While I was in Level II I lived in a handicap accessible housing unit. Seeing wheelchairs, white canes, TTY telephones, special showers and toilet stalls were the telltale signs that people with disabilities were present. With the aging population in Michigan prisons it’s not unexpected that there would be physically infirm seniors that required walkers or wheelchairs for mobility, but there were also single and double leg amputees. While not surprising that there are people from all walks of like, I wondered how those who couldn’t walk got there.
Prison is a place full of people seeking to exploit even perceived weaknesses to their advantage, so it doesn’t help to have those weaknesses clearly advertised. There also isn’t much in the way of empathy from the officers and staff, it is prohibited by policy and tends to be lacking by disposition for those who work in a place like this. This combination of inmates and staff makes a dangerous environment even more difficult for those who struggle with the basic, necessary activities of life.
One of the men I met there had lost both of his eyeballs to a childhood cancer. It was incredible enough that he was convicted of a heinous crime but to see what a blind man had to contend with in prison was heartbreaking. He was a person who had overcome his disability by learning to read Braille, college educated, and lived relatively independently. I watched him navigate from his cell across the yard to the chow hall, the school building, or medical with little or no assistance. The issue wasn’t what he could do for himself but what he wasn’t allowed to. He was actively fighting his conviction and the conditions of his incarceration. In the world he had access to technology that would allow him to process information. In prison he was forced to rely on an inmate to read his mail, including his legal mail that contained sensitive information regarding his criminal case.
The law library could not accommodate him because they would not provide legal text in Braille. In essence he was denied the ability to fully mount his appeal, which is a denial of his civil rights. He wasn’t one to take his setbacks lying down, so he fought the librarian and the administration tooth and nail for both the basic tools he needed and his own dignity. The courts have ruled that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to prisons with considerations of safety and security limitations. However, in a place where logic and reason don’t apply it shouldn’t be a surprise that federally guaranteed rights like the ADA would be denied.
He contacted the Department of Justice ADA division in Washington D.C. and they tried to send him the relevant statutes in books on tape format. The mailroom would not deliver the tapes because they didn’t come from an approved vendor. They also claimed that the letter head on the enclosed documents was fake! Over and over they found any excuse they could to deny this man. He fought back by filling grievances, escalating to Step 2 and Step 3, as they were denied and dismissed repeatedly, going all the way to the Ombudsman in Lansing.
I have noticed that those who complain about their incarceration the most are singled out for retribution, abuse, and neglect. Rather than take the complaints seriously it is easier to dismiss the messenger, saying “they” are only inmates. I don’t know what happened to this blind crusader, but I’m sure that where ever he is he is still fighting the good fight. Why would anyone want to make life more difficult for someone who already has more to overcome than just being a felon. All he wanted was a fair hearing.
Being deaf poses a different set of difficulties. There were two guys, one who was hearing impaired but could function with hearing aids and was fluent in sign language. The second was deaf and could only communicate through signing. While I was in Level II with them the pair was inseparable for obvious reasons.
The officers and staff communicate verbally and relied on the first inmate to communicate with the second. For official communication there was a state translator, just as when a Spanish speaking inmate needed someone to translate at hearings. This person wasn’t on site but had to be brought in special for hearings like parole interviews or disciplinary hearings. One day after I had been moved to Level I, I ran into the first hearing impaired innate. I asked him how the second deaf inmate was doing. He just shook his head. When they moved him, there wasn’t anybody to take his place looking out for the deaf man and we both understood how difficult his situation was.
When you are deaf you can’t hear the CO calls your name over the PA system to come to the officer’s podium, or at count time to get on your bunk. Unless the officer was a regular unit officer aware of his situation he might be ignored or mistreated. In prison you have to look out for yourself since no one else will. But when you have a disability you don’t have that ability. In a place where you learn not to trust others, they are forced to. And when by some miracle you find someone you can trust to help you and the system takes that assistance away, it is a cruel and unfair punishment.
Not long ago I read in the news that legislation had been put forward that provide a mechanism for elderly and severely infirm inmates that posed no risk to the community to be transferred to a nursing home facility. I’ve been saying this for several years and it would seem like a no-brainer. There is a geriatric facility for these inmates, but I understand the conditions there are really bad and they have a hard time recruiting inmates to go there to serve as care givers to assist the inmates sent there to die. I really can’t imagine a tougher position to fill.
I was also not surprised to read the negative response this legislation received from the Attorney General and victim advocates who claim that any early release, regardless of the reason was an injustice. All of this just goes to prove that prison isn’t about handing out punishment to suite the crime, it is about vengeance. Inmates are not seen as individual human beings but as numbered animals that don’t have any civil or human rights. Whether the sentence is 2 years flat or life without the possibility of parole we are still talking about basic standards of care. The burden of support to maintain that level of basic care is placed upon the state. There are only two valid options: Either the state is committed to bearing that cost burden and fulfilling its obligation to care for those wards placed into its charge. Or let some go and only hold on to those who truly are a danger to society. Not everyone in prison is, not even those who are convicted of a violent crime are. Inmates must be individually assessed and then treated fairly according to a plan, not just lumped into a faceless mass where it is easy to overlook their humanity. The MDOC has chosen a 3rd way which is unacceptable and outrageous. They cling to discredited and outdated policies and procedures that threaten the wellbeing of those they claim to be rehabilitating.
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As an update to this essay, an article published in the February 26, 2017 Detroit Free Press stated that a Federal Judge in Detroit has ruled that the MDOC for years has violated the ADA. Specifically, a lawsuit brought by Michigan Protection & Advocacy Service representing deaf and hearing imparted prisoners proved that the department routinely violated the prisoner’s rights under ADA. It only took the incarceration of a blind social worker who wrote letters to legislators and others regarding the situation to gain traction. Then the MDOC as it always does in a too little too late attempt to avoid the looming lawsuit issued a policy directive and started to institute changes to avoid the inevitable. While the court has not yet finalized the consent judgement it is likely that the department will have a federally appointed monitor for two years to oversee the necessary changes that must be implemented in order to bring the department into compliance with the ADA.
This was not the first lawsuit brought against the MDOC in relation to violations of the ADA. It was simply the first successful class action. The MDOC is no stranger to having a federally appointed monitor, there has been one in place since the 1980’s when a class action lawsuit regarding prison health care showed how poorly prisoner health was being managed by the department. This really does raise the question, why is it so difficult to get people to believe when prisoners make claims about the abuses that they suffer at the hands of their captors?
Prison is a dangerous place and it requires a certain set of skills to survive. A sixth sense of danger, eyes in the back of your head, and acute powers of observation are necessary to avoid the pitfalls and snares of life on the yard. Prison is full of predators looking for easy targets. In spite of attempts by the administration to weed out the most dangerous individuals from general population, violence occurs on a daily basis. If you are blessed to be 6 5″ and 275 pounds there are not going to be very many that will test you. However, those of us with more meager statures need to be wary at all times. As Kenny Rogers sings, “You’ve got to know when to fold them, know when to walk away, and know when to run.”
It all starts with the arrest. Some people turn themselves in, some are captured peacefully, and some resist arrest. All of them end up in jail. After a stripe search, mugshots, and finger printing the process of incarceration begins with the sound of a slamming door. Freedom becomes a memory and a hope. You are no longer in control the decisions are made for you. This is a traumatic and stressful situation for everyone whether it is your first time in jail or your tenth.
The reality of the situation is that the behavioral characteristics that make for model inmates are the same ones that keep the majority of people out of prison to begin with. Conversely, those with behavior that is not appropriate for a civil society frequently end up in prison and it is where they need to be. However, their behavior becomes amplified when placed in confinement and surrounded with other like themselves.
When you live a criminal life, you know that others are out to get you; either the police, rival gangs, or a desperate loner. You never know who or when, just that someone is gunning for you at some time so you must remain hypervigilant at all times. The streets of the inner city have much in common with the jungles of southeast Asia or the wild, wild west. Nighttime drive by shootings and raids cause them to sleep in the back of the house with multiple deadbolts on the door and a loaded gun in the nightstand or under the pillow. During the daytime they always sit with their backs to the wall, always travel in packs, and never go unarmed.
Many of these same patters continue in prison because the same people who were on the streets with them are in prison too. Turf wars, endless cycles of revenge attacks, arguments, personal slights, and theft leads to confrontation. A healthy dose of paranoia is not necessarily a bad thing in prison. The fight or flight instinct has kept man alive for thousands of years.
There are a lot of people in prison today that didn’t grow up on the street and never experienced the criminal lifestyle. They committed white collar crimes, suffer from addictions, or made poor choices in the heat of the moment that brought them to prison. Many never had any previous police contact or seen the inside of a jail before. To them prison is a scary place with danger lurking around every corner. The stress of the criminal justice system can break you easily and many are. Isolated, alone, and many without support. They are easy to recognize by the “deer in the headlights” look on their faces. These people are forced to sink or swim. They have literally been thrown to the wolves and the survival skills of the zebra need to kick in quickly. Unfortunately, not everyone learns to have a healthy fear, their paranoia has a deeply profound and long-lasting effect on them.
Psychiatrists have found that long prison sentences under stressful conditions results in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) the same as those who have been the victims of violent assaults or combat survivors. Living with stress triggers certain chemical changes in the brain which can have a short-term benefit such as heightened awareness, quicker reflexes, sharper hearing and eyesight. There are side effects to stress. Stress is not good for the heart, it disrupts the appetite and also deprives sleep. It is like being nervous and jittery without drinking the coffee first. Doing time is emotionally draining.
The difficulty with long term incarceration is that this physical, psychological, and mental stress doesn’t automatically go away when you are released from prison. I have heard a story about a guy that paroled to his nephew’s house which was right behind the prison and across a farm field. Every time the emergency count siren was blown he went back to his bedroom and sat on his bed, like Pavlov’s dogs associating the bell with feeding time.
Many people who parole from prison never truly leave it behind. For those who lived in fear and trepidation find themselves unable to return to a state normalcy that they had before prison. Relationships that were once open and carefree are now reserved and cautious. Strangers represent danger and the police are to be avoided. You evaluate everyone in terms of angles and opportunity, threats and alliances.
While the waking nightmare is over, the night terrors may last for years. The brain has difficulty processing the present without the filter of past experience, and when that experience is traumatic in nature nothing is simple or safe. Moving in crowds, such as malls or stadiums is difficult. Making decisions over a large selection of options in a grocery store can be over whelming. Driving in unfamiliar areas or to new destinations becomes confusing.
PTSD is a recognized mental condition that many combat veterans have to deal with 10, 20 or even 30 years after the fighting stops. Research has confirmed that the same is true of ex-offenders. The experience of prison life leaves a lasting impression that seriously impacts the individual’s ability to function in society, the workplace, or the home. The dream is that life will go back to normal, while the reality for many is far different.
Counseling and drug therapy will help some, but most will suffer in silence alone and isolate from support groups. Many will only have basic health insurance and will not be able to afford expensive mental health coverage or high out of pocket expenses. Self-medicating and destructive behaviors only lead back to prison and further damage. A vicious cycle that repeats itself. In some instances, the result is an overdose or suicide. Unlike the soldiers there is no Veterans Administration to serve the formerly incarcerated to help them deal with the symptoms. Prisons don’t take responsibility for those no longer in their custody. So, who will look out for those in need of help?
You can’t prove to me that marijuana is not addictive. On the contrary I can prove that it is as addictive as alcohol, tobacco, or sex. Just spend any time around prisoners and listen to their conversations and you will know the truth. Conversations in prison are practically fixated on alcohol, drugs, and sex.
Prisoners dwell in the past, sharing stories of their narcistic foibles and conquests. They relive, no doubt with embellishment, for themselves and others what they think of as the best times of their lives. Some go to great lengths and at great expense to acquire these “necessities of life” while in prison. They indulge in the illicit spud juice trade or pay outrageous prices to purchase tobacco, marijuana, or other drugs smuggled into prison. One of the really disturbing things is how men justify homosexual activity and claim that they are straight because the give rather than receive. The first thing that many prisoners want to do when they get out is to stop at the party store and then get laid, even though it may have been 2, 5, 10, or 20 years since they had their favorite drink or smoke.
Addictions may be chemical like heroin, but most are psychological. Any activity that stimulates the pleasure centers of the brain to the point that it upsets the brains natural equilibrium will foster a desire to recapture the feelings of euphoria. The person seeks anything that will help regain that feeling. The mind plays tricks by minimizing the negative side-effects. Alcoholics keep getting drunk regardless of the hangovers or getting sick. Drug users crash after their bodies can no longer stay awake after days of sleeplessness. Marijuana smokers get the munchies and fall asleep. They don’t suffer the negative side effects that slowly kill the body, instead it’s about killing motivation. Brain cells in key sections of the brain are damaged placing the user into a sort of suspended animation. Instead of continuing to develop their lives these heavy marijuana smokers stop growing mentally and emotionally. They enjoy their party life, not realizing how lame they have become. They don’t see anything wrong therefore there is no reason to change. They like themselves and those they hang out with. To quote Forest Gump, “Stupid is as stupid does.” They reinforce each other’s bad behavior and it only gets worse in prison.
Bad behavior in prison by and large goes unchallenged by any meaningful education, discipline, or constructive alternative. That’s why programming fails, punishment is ineffective, and the alternatives are unappealing. Addicts have the highest recidivism rate because prison is not a deterrent. An addict’s only desire is to recapture the “high” at any cost.
Addicts often have no family support because they have stolen from those they claim to love, betraying trust and have been rejected and cast out. This only serves to drive the addict deeper into their circle of addicted acquaintances. They really can’t call them friends because they steal from them too, but they have one thing in common and nowhere else to go or do.
What is called for is an interdiction. The only way to save an addict from themselves is for someone to break through the barrier of lies that they have surrounded themselves with. You’d think prison would be a place where this happens but unfortunately no. You have addicts locked up and are failing to provide the type of help that is badly needed. Prisons need more trained therapists to address this issue rather than turnkeys who are apathetic at best and generally hostile towards anything that could result in real change.
Prison should be a place where people who failed to participate as a successful member of a civil society receive the re-education that clearly states what is expected of them without distractions. The messages need to be compelling and undistracted by competing messages that glorify the lifestyle choices that brought them to prison in the first place.
from author John Waters “Kant Socratic Ideas” Powerpoint presentation.
Many people in prison decide to go straight, not because of any compelling argument to do right or any education received, but simply because they can’t stand the thought of having to live in the abysmal conditions of life in prison or with the others they were forced to live with while in prison. It’s aversion therapy not cognitive behavioral therapy, reminiscent of the novel “Clockwork Orange” written by Anthony Burgess and made into a motion picure by Stanley Kubrick in 1971.
Barbaric, inhumane, and oppressive not simply austere, regimented and controlled living conditions convince many that committing crimes that lead to prison is not for them. Unfortunately, many do come back because they don’t have the skills, knowledge, and support necessary to stay out. Once away from the prison environment the impression left by it fades away and it becomes only a bad dream instead of a living nightmare. The old habits and thought patterns re-emerge and soon it is back to business as usual and it is only by repeated trips back to prison that the lesson is slowly and painfully driven home.
The problem for some is that prison is an improvement on how they were living, homeless and hungry, they were destitute and desperate, either by choice or chance. They can put up with and even thrive in prison, because it is better than where they came from and are in no hurry to return to. Access to healthcare is a bonus. A chance to go to school or work in order to earn a few dollars is a luxury not often experienced in their lives. Often clean and sober for the first time in years they are actually content, if not happy to vacation in jail or prison.
It is ironic that a country that prides itself on freedom, justice, and opportunity; one of the riches, most educated and well-fed countries on the planet resorts to a system where incarceration, arbitrariness and restriction practiced based on impoverishment, ignorance and hunger to coercer, coopt and control individuals by oppressive, denigrating, and manipulative means. The hallmarks of an Orwellian society.
Many people in the general public believe that convicted criminals get what they have coming to them. No one is asking to turn prison into a country club with an executive par 3 golf course and an Olympic sized pool. But ask yourself, if it was your child being sent to prison, would you not rather have it be a productive time of rehabilitation rather than just a place for retribution? Or citing the old adage “There but for the grace of God go I” recognize that there is no difference between you and those in prison except for the conviction. The vast majority of people have over-indulged in sex, drugs, or drinking at some point in their life, especially when they were young and not risk averse. You simply did not get caught. Dr. Phil likes to quote a factoid that the average American commits 3 felonies a day due to the number and complexity of our laws.
Not everyone who goes to prison has lived a criminal lifestyle. Many have been law abiding citizens for the majority of their lives, who in a moment of indiscretion committed a criminal act. In our litigious society there is no distinction been the two. Should not the Golden Rule apply to prison? “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
As a nation we look on the other countries with poor human rights records, yet fail to deal with our own hidden, shameful track record that has resulted in higher incarceration rates than any other country, including Russia and China. Would it not be better to address the cause of crime rather than the repercussions? In the long term the present strategy is not financially sustainable. It goes against the recommendations of the experts who study criminal justice and fails to make our society safer.
So why do some people stubbornly cling to the “tough on crime” position and allow our families, schools, and city infrastructure to fail? Could it be that their own personal hurts and inability to heal from them has brought them to a place where they no longer have grace and mercy towards anyone that they don’t see as a victim? They can no longer separate the sin from the sinner, the individual from the crime. Seeking retribution in the failed belief that hurting others that have hurt them will even the score. Old Testament ‘eye for an eye’ philosophy.
It is no coincidence that the least violent societies have the fewest while the most violent societies in which law and order still prevail have many. A society that claims to be the land of the free incarcerates more people than the most totalitarian dictatorship is an anomaly. Something is not right, there is a breakdown in some fundamental tenant of the society and those who represent it in government service. Today there are special interest seeking the ear of those in power. Government that was once of the people, by the people, and for the people is instead of and for these special interests with their narrow and selfish agendas, including those who make profits from mass incarceration: for profit prison corporations, correction officers unions, subcontractors and vendors; and those that benefit from them like judges, prosecutors, sheriffs and legislators seeking election or re-election. Conflicts of interest that are ignored or even given tacit approval by the general public and the media.
Profit motive is not how prison should be run. The state has a compelling interest to care for those entrusted into its care. Inmates as wards of the state do have some civil and many human rights. The term “cruel and unusual punishment” has been enshrined in the 8th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, yet the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on numerous occasions regarding common practices which violate this standard including: denial of healthcare, indefinite solitary confinement, minimum standards for nutrition, housing, treatment by staff, juvenile lifer laws, and certain forms of execution. When the government will not bear the burden for ensuring that the basic needs of inmates are met, how can you possibly think that a ‘for profit’ corporation can do it in a cost-effective manor with a profit margin that will satisfy the shareholders?
Overcrowding, inadequate staff supervision, aging facilities, spending less than $1 per day to feed prisoners; denial of life saving healthcare services, limited ineffective educational/vocational training programs; inadequate mental health services, psychological counseling and programs; systemic violence and abuse. Conditions so difficult that prisoners incarcerated for more than 5 years qualify for SSD due to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). How can anyone think that another human being deserves to be treated like this? 95% of the people incarcerated will one day be released back into society. Don’t they deserve better?
It is unconscionable to think that the general public would condone the harsh, inhumane treatment of prisoners. More likely apathy or ignorance regarding the state of prison conditions is the norm. However, with over 1% of the U.S. population currently behind bars or on parole or probation chances are almost everyone knows somebody who was or is currently serving time in jail/prison. Most people who have spent time in prison don’t like to talk about it and are trying to put it behind them. Or the stories they tell are so outside of peoples experience that they have a hard time believing. But I am here to tell you they are true and probably were sanitized so as not to shock you.
If you’ve never heard about the conditions in prison you’re not alone. Until I came to prison I had no idea either. It was my own shock and dismay over what I saw and experienced that led me to write this book. When I tried to tell my family about what I was going through and how badly the people’s taxes were being wasted on prisons, it was then that I realized how universal the problem was, that people didn’t have a clue what was going on behind the walls and razor wire and that the MDOC wanted it that way. There is a conspiracy of silence. From time to time articles will appear in the newspaper detailing some incident that has occurred, the appointment of a new director and their vision for the future of corrections, or lawsuit brought against the department, but rarely if ever frontpage news.
The State of Michigan in their budgets set aside money to pay for legal settlements against the various state agencies. The largest percentage of that fund on an annual basis goes to pay millions of dollars in judgments and settlements against the MDOC for the mistreatment of inmates. The most infamous being the over half billion-dollar class action judgment for sexual abuse at the women’s prison in the 1990’s.
The issues are real, troubling, and systemic. Actual practices by staff do not align with public policy set by the legislature or nationally recognized standards established through the American Corrections Association (ACA). The only recourse left for inmates whose grievances have fallen on deaf ears is to riot, which happens from time to time, but generally fails to get the desired changes and only blows off steam. And the inmates will be blamed for the incident rather than acknowledge the underlying cause.
It is easier to blame a few malcontents in the population than to address the situation in an honest, objective, and professional way. Damage has been done, pride wounded, and issues raised that those in charge would rather not have to answer. And in the end, nothing really changes. Maintaining the status quo, job security, and control of the second largest state budget after public is the objective not reform of the system or those trapped in it.
This is an example of a prison visiting room at HMP Parc. located in Bridgend, South Wales, UK. It is the closest example I could find of a visiting room similar to the ones I am familiar with in the MDOC. This is however by far a much nicer set up but is shows vending machines, games and prisoners having contact with their visitors.
The best day in an inmate’s incarceration is the day he is released. The second best is when he receives a visit. Many who are incarcerated never get visits. They go for years without seeing family or friends face to face, relying instead on phone calls, email, or letters for communication. There is still an even smaller minority which are totally isolated and cut off from any contact with those they knew in the free world.
I was one of the fortunate ones, over the course of eight years I averaged a visit once every three weeks or so. My parents made the trek to where ever I was at great personal sacrifice. I was lucky in that the facilities where I was incarcerated were approximately one and a half hours drive from their home. Some facilities in the upper peninsula could have been more than an eight-hour drive to reach.
A typical visit would consume at least six hours of their day. One and a half hours to travel to the prison, one hour to be processed into the visiting room, two hours to visit, and one and a half hours to return home. For those with greater distances to travel, less reliable transportation, limited resources, and inflexible schedules, visits to prison might occur infrequently, if at all.
I knew a guy who caught his case while visiting from out of state. His parents came to visit him once a year but would visit for two whole days. That was both a major blessing for the inmate and a major sacrifice for his parents.
I’ve seen men reunited, however briefly, with their wives, children, girlfriends, home boys, clergy and even their employers. In every case it took planning, coordination, and fortitude in addition to finances to make these visits happen. You can’t just show up at a prison to see an inmate, there is a process involved.
Visits start with an application form. An inmate must submit a list of names and contact information to the unit counselor. The perspective visitor must complete a visitor application form and submit it weeks before the initial visit in order to get MDOC approval. Once approved then it is time to schedule a visit. Most facilities have small visiting rooms that can contain less than 100 people. Given that most of the prisons in Michigan have doubled the number of prisoners housed than that they were originally designed for it is unfortunate that the visiting rooms were not expanded as well. Visits then can only occur under some organization such as odd/even days for odd/even prisoner ID numbers. Multi-level facilities that cannot share space, such as a Level I, II, IV must set aside blocks of time for Level IV separate from Level I & II general population. Budget cut backs to the MDOC have also reduced the days of the week that visitation can occur due to staffing and manpower allocation. Every facility is different and you must check for their specific visitation days and times.
Once the big day arrives it is hurry up and wait. Depending on how busy the visiting room is and close it is to count time or shift change, your visitors may have to wait for some period of time while they wait to be processed into the visiting room. All visitors are subject to metal detectors and body pat downs to screen for contraband (think TSA airport security). In today’s technology culture cell phones and watches are not permitted, neither is currency. Visitors must purchase a plastic debit card in the lobby of the facility and put money on it for use in the vending machines.
In my experience visitation is both the best and worst of times. Visits are great, but never long enough. Time flies when you can be with your loved ones after being separated for so long. But you are usually crammed in like sardines, and a full visiting room gets hot and loud. There may be cards or board games, but very limited table space to play, let alone space for food and drinks.
Vending machines in the visiting room are like Vegas slot machines. You lose more than you win. Vending machines are owned and operated by local vending companies, so cards purchased at one facility probably won’t be valid at another facility. Depending on the time of day and how busy the visiting room is, the vending machines may have a very limited selection of things like sandwiches and desserts.
Machines malfunctioning and taking your money but not giving you any products are par for the course. You can’t get your money back at the facility, and depending on the vendor, you may or may not get a refund through the mail. A lot of potential revenue is lost by these vending companies because they can’t keep these machines fully stocked and operational at all times. Since visits may cause an inmate to miss the chow hall service more than once I have had to make due with only a few snacks or wait to eat something out of my locker when I got back to my housing unit.
The prices charged tend to be 25% higher than what one would expect to pay for what is best described as “gas station” food. And then the amount of money lost trying to work the machines may ultimately double the cost that your people have to pay to provide you with a meal. I always told my parents it was them not the food that I appreciated most about the visits.
The COs set the tone for the visiting room experience and while there were a few that had customer service and people skills when dealing with the people caning in for visits, many COs treated them almost as badly as they treated the inmates. Some COs would actually recognize my parents as regular visitors while there were others that were openly hostile and rude. Then there were those COs who didn’t regularly work in the visiting room but are pressed into service by an absence and have no clue how to organize and control the large crowds coming and going, resulting in chaos.
There aren’t any restrooms in the visiting area so visitors and inmates have to processed out and back in, and this can take a while. It takes a real iron man to last more than two hours in the visiting room.
Visits may also be terminated if there is a backlog of people trying to get in for a visit and the room is already at capacity. Holidays and weekends are the worst. Unless your people were from more than 500 miles away, staff could terminate your visit to make room for others. More than once my visits were cut short because of this.
Having regular meaningful contact with family and friends is a way to ensure that inmates will have the necessary social stability to survive in the world when they are released from prison, yet visits are made so uncomfortable that it takes a major commitment to keep returning to endure such an arduous ordeal. You would think from a PR perspective the MDOC would want to use visits as an opportunity to put their best face forward for the public coming through their doors. Now granted some people have been caught attempting to smuggle contraband into facilities on visits and occasionally a wife/girlfriend has tried to perform a sexual favor in the visiting room, but these few instances are exceptions and those coming in should be treated with respect even if the inmates aren’t.
Visits are humiliating for inmates in that upon exiting the visiting room they are subjected to a strip search to ensure that nothing is being brought back into the facility. I have had to wait more than an hour after my visit ended to be processed out, so I could return to my housing unit. So, between waiting to get processed into and out of a visit, a two-hour visit took closer to four hours, especially when count time or shift changes occurred and prisoner movement was halted.
Typical jail non-contact visit involves talking on a phone separated by glass.
At least these were contact visits. In county jail there are no contact visits. Visits occurred with glass viewing and phones. Some jails have gone to video visits so you don’t even get to see your people face to face. Everything is done in the name of security, but in reality, it is more about inconvenience that it places upon the staff to deal with the public and a failure to appreciate how a little good will would go a long way towards prisoner morale, which ultimately translates into a safer, less stressful prison environment.
Example of video visitation. Set-up varies greatly from jail to jail.
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! Jumpsuits and shower shoes were the dress code. Meals were either peanut butter or bologna sandwiches, and never enough of either. No personal property. Communal TV watching. Non-contact visits. Grossly overpriced commissary and phone calls. Locked down 23 hours a day and no yard time. No general or law library. No programs except for a weekly Bible study. Far too many men crammed in far too little space.
When I got to quarantine I nearly cried when they served pizza and ice cream in the chow hall. I got several sets of uniforms and PJ’s to wear. Daily access to the shower. When I was moved to my first prison assignment I was able to order gym shoes and my own TV. Gym and Library call-outs weekly, and yard time daily. A job that paid a few pennies a day and a commissary list with nearly 200 items on it to spend my earnings on. Phone calls and email, contact visits with vending machine food. Even Level IV was better than doing time in the county jail, which is run like a Level V Maximum security facility.
In 2014 the MDOC came up with the Virtual Prison Program (VPP) not to be confused with the Violence Prevention Program (also VPP). VPP sends those with sentences of up to 4 years or less to up to 2 years in a county jail, either prior to or after completion of any required programming. The intent was to fill up under-utilized space in out-state county jails and reduce the number of prisons operated directly by the MDOC. The decision to send someone to VPP was made either in quarantine or at any point during incarceration. If you refused to go the department would up your security level which pretty much guaranteed a flop the first time you go to see the Parole Board.
Up to two years in the miserable conditions of a county jail without benefit of the good time credit that inmates sentenced to jail time received of two months on the year. Only basic medical treatment available from the jail’s nurse. Not even routine dental such as teeth cleaning is available. No benefit for being a MDOC prisoner except for a longer non-contact visit being permitted. Forced to pay higher jail commissary prices for a very limited store list, like $1 Raman noodles and no microwave to cook them in. No access to a Law Library so you can mount an appeal. No access to voluntary programming to aid you in your rehabilitation. Back to living in jumpsuits and shower shoes. No fresh air, no gym.
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. How can the state justify running this type of program? It must be cheaper than the $23,000 per year cost that it is purported to cost the MDOC to house Level 1 prisoners. Being able to run this type of program to save money doesn’t mean they should.
As a footnote: The program was canceled in 2016 because the MDOC was not reimbursing the counties in anything close to a timely manner. The county jails refused to continue to accept prisoners from the MDOC.
Christ, Crime and Punishment 