Tracking the Trends--Prison Chaos Worsens During Holidays

I've noticed a somewhat strange trend since I've been in prison, over sixteen years at this point. The energy among the prison population ebbs and flows between calm and chaotic. In a closed system like prison, which is a total institution, emotions are infectious, spreading quickly among prisoners like a virus. 

There's certainly a pattern to this flow. Holidays, no matter which ones, generally heighten anxieties, probably due both to the stress of isolation and separation from our families and the increase of substance abuse during these times. These heightened negative energies often lead to greater violence, fights among prisoners, arguments with corrections officers, and even suicide attempts (like the man who hung himself on Monday, but survived after being revived). 

I knew this past holiday weekend (Memorial Day) was going to be a chaotic one when the administration began making extra space in the "hole" (administrative segregation) to accommodate extra prisoners. They weren't wrong either. These things are predictive. 

All weekend, a steady flow of prisoners were brought to the hole. Some for fights, some for stealing, and some for other reasons, like substance abuse. Two of the loudest prisoners in the hole were in cells directly across from my cell. Their apparent goal was to cause as much frustration and chaos during every count time, when it's usually somewhat quiet, and after lockdown at night. They definitely accomplished their goal. 

When these prisoners would begin their "look at me!" routine of dancing, singing, and hollering from their cells, other prisoners would shout at them to "SHUT THE F**K UP!" while others joined in the frenzied madness with animal sounds and shrieking. Corrections officers would occasionally threaten them with tickets for creating a disturbance, but that did nothing to stop these prisoners. They were empty threats, so chaos persisted. 

The one saving grace is that the weather was somewhat nice out all weekend. We who needed a break from the chaos could at least go outside during the times yard was open. We could get fresh air, sunshine, and a break from the incessant noise. There's noise outside, too, but there aren't walls to cause the sound to echo and amplify. 

Now that the holiday is over, the frenzied energy has died down a bit. One of the loud prisoners was released from the hole and, mercifully, put in a different housing unit. Based on his behavior, I'm sure he'll be back in the hole soon, though. 

It's hard to be a calm and calming presence in prison when everything around you is chaotic and neurotic. But I try. It's the only thing I can do. And during the breaks from the chaos, I thank God for small blessings. 

It's All Mixed Up! Unbelievable Prison Priorities

 The other day in the prison chow hall, I got my tray and drink and turned around to make sure my buddy who'd walked to chow with me was still right behind me. It's pretty routine for people in prison to go to chow with a buddy, though we have to sit where we're told to sit. There's a seating order, so we often try to adjust where we are in the line so we can sit together. It's not really a big deal to me, but it doesn't take much effort to try. 

So, I paused for less than 5 seconds to let my buddy catch up. That pause prompted an officer to yell at me, "Let's go! Keep it moving!" Despite the fact that prison officials are never in a hurry to do things like open the yard, or clear count, or fix broken phones or email kiosks, or answer kites from prisoners...getting seated in the chow hall is apparently urgent. 

I was already in the process of turning to go to my seat when I got yelled at. But I found it laughable that as I headed to my seat, an officer in training shook her head and said out loud, "Unbelievable!" It literally made me laugh and respond (also out loud), "Yeah! Unbelievable that someone paused for five seconds! What a tragedy!"

I don't really fault the trainee for having her priorities mixed up. It's how she was trained. One of the most important things they learn first is to yell at prisoners in the chow hall to take off their hats (while wearing hats of their own). Never mind the phones that are controlled by gangs that they do nothing about. Or the prison drug dealers they know about but do nothing to stop. 

Never mind the broken walkways that routinely trip up elderly prisoners with walkers or canes, or the fact that the medical staff refuse to treat prisoners who are literally dying from medical malpractice. Never mind the fact that prisoners with porter jobs don't do their jobs and the showers don't get cleaned for days on end. Nope. What's MOST important is that we prisoners take our hats off and head to our seats without 5 seconds of interruption in the chow hall. 

I'm not suggesting that we prisoners always have our priorities straight either. We certainly don't. We often tend to catastrophize minor things and to focus on the wrong things. But aren't prison staff supposed to model pro-social behaviors? It's hard to take seriously advice about our own priorities when we see such imbalance in what prison staff feel is important. 

I think all new prison officers should have to start their careers in higher security levels. There, the officers are usually more focused on real reasons for security, not yelling at people when they pause for five seconds while heading to their seats. It's just boggles my mind how petty officers can be in prison sometimes. Only one word comes to mind: 

Unbelievable!

Was it Right to Reduce the Menendez Brothers' Sentences?

Earlier this week, Erik and Lyle Menendez were resentenced in California for murdering their parents 36 years ago. The brothers were originally sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Their sentences have now been reduced to 50 years to life, making them eligible for parole after calculating in California's good time credits. 

I feel a bit conflicted about this resentencing, for a variety of reasons. As a prisoner who sees the insanity of locking people up for decades when they are no longer a danger to society, I generally oppose automatic life without parole sentences. In some cases, a life sentence is the only way to keep the public safe from someone who is either committed to their criminal thinking or from someone who is genuinely dangerous because of untreatable mental illness. 

However, some cases are truly horrific, and from a human standpoint, a life sentence makes sense in some of these cases. The problem is that I have met and become friends with some people in prison who have committed horrific crimes. I cannot imagine the people I know today doing what they did in the past. They've truly repented of their thinking and behavior and have sought to make amends in every way they can. 

For some people, that is not enough. The crimes some prisoners have committed are horrific enough to justify, in society's minds, decades and sometimes an entire lifetime in prison. It's difficult to argue that this is injustice given the crimes these people have committed. That's where I stand with the resentencing of the Menendez brothers. 

Perhaps the abuse they claim they suffered at the hands of their father actually happened. Nobody can know for sure. But even if it is true, nothing explains why they felt justified to murder their mother. And given their ages at the times, why didn't they just leave their home and turn their father in? 

I don't know the Menendez brothers, if they are safe, repentant, or transformed. Perhaps. A parolable sentence allows them to be evaluated to determine if they are a continued danger to society. If they are, maybe they can do more as free men to make amends for taking their parents' lives. I'm just not convinced that they are even sorry for what they did. 

These are the complex issues that as a society we have to consider when evaluating the justice or injustice of sentences. They aren't easy issues, especially when we're talking about murder and other crimes that cause irreparable harm. What is the best way for justice to be served, for society to be kept safe, and for redemption stories to be possible? 

In the end, I think it's okay to feel personally conflicted between our need for "revenge" or punishment and our desire for justice to include the opportunity for redemption. Our solutions ought to reflect the seriousness of how crime destroys lives while also affording people who made horrible choices the opportunity to redeem themselves and become a part of helping to prevent others from going down the same terrible road. 

When the Punishment of Prison Itself is Not Enough

 I had an interesting discussion recently with a prison staff member about the views of the general public on prisoners and on how prisons operate. 

The discussion started around the fact that air conditioning is difficult to find in prison. It exists in very select places, like counselors' offices, medical areas, control centers, in a few select school building rooms, and some of the hospice units where terminally ill elderly prisoners go to die. 

From a prisoner's perspective, of course it would be nice to have air conditioning in the hottest parts of the year. It can be nearly unbearably hot in the housing units, and especially in the chow hall, when temperatures hit the 90s and 100s. It'd also be nice to still have heat on when the temperatures drop into the 30s like it has several nights over the last few weeks. Yet, the heat has been turned off in the housing units for several weeks now. 

I get it. We're prisoners, and comfort isn't supposed to be something you think of when you think of prisons. Frankly, I don't want prison to be comfortable either. I mean, within reason yeah, but I want to remember how much I hated it. (How could I forget?!)

This staff member I spoke to shared that the general public mostly feels that prisoners don't deserve A/C or the comfort of reasonable heat (or even basic medical care, nutritious food, and basic dignity). This reflects the general belief that prison itself is not punishment enough. Our suffering must be multiplied through deprivation of what most people consider "necessities" in life (temperature modulation, medical treatment, and reasonable nutrition among them). 

However, as the staff member pointed out, the public often forgets that people have to work in prison, too. Should the officers, who are required to wear hot uniforms, suffer too? Should other staff members be deprived of a comfort they could easily obtain in other employment? As difficult as it has been for the State of Michigan to hire and retain corrections officers, one would think their comfort on the job should matter. 

Installing and paying for air conditioning in prisons would be expensive. That's true. In a place like Michigan where we might only have 30 days of unbearable heat out of the year, it might not make financial sense to put air conditioning in already notoriously energy inefficient buildings. 

But not installing air conditioning in Michigan prisons because of the unreasonable costs associated with it is far different than dismissing it as unnecessary because prisoners "don't deserve it." Elderly prisoners and those with heat related illnesses (all prisoners for that matter!) don't deserve to have their legitimate medical needs ignored just because they are prisoners. They're human beings first. 

Unless that really doesn't matter, and in that case, let's just be honest as a society about how we view prisoners. Then we can dispense with the question of ethics altogether. Or have we already?