Why Some Prisoners Borrow, Beg, or Steal

In some prisons around the country, prisoners can go most days to their commissary and purchase food, hygiene items, and OTC medications, providing they have money in their prisoner account. In Michigan, we use a bi-weekly ordering system, ordering the products we wish to purchase through a kiosk system in our housing unit. Every two weeks, "store" is delivered to the unit. We cannot simply go to the commissary and order more when we run out. It requires planning ahead and conserving what you've already ordered. 

Because many prisoners are compulsive, they either owe most of their store out to the store man (or "corner dealer") in the unit. The store man charges 50% to borrow goods until the next store day. Many other prisoners consume most of their food in a few days. Every store day, the microwaves are very busy with lines of prisoners waiting to do their "cook-ups," often elaborate concoctions that should not take the hour or more they often use to cook. 

Some of the recipes people come up with in prison are pretty creative. Recently, I saw rice patties rolled in pulverized nachos. I'm sure there was more to the recipe, but I didn't ask. They did look delicious. But I also know two microwaves were used for more than two hours to cook the darn things. 

The few days before store comes, prisoners are often heard going around the housing unit asking to borrow noodles (Ramen noodles), chips, or some other food item. "Enterprising" prisoners will loan soups out, two for three. Borrow two, pay back three on store day. Others simply loan the soups out from the kindness of their hearts. 

Recently, three days before store day, I settled in for the night after returning from facilitating an evening class. I made some tea for the next day, put my books away, cleaned up my cell a bit, and settled down for a little TV entertainment. That's when the first prisoner stopped and asked, "Hey, have you got a soup until store?"

Normally, I'd say no, because people start thinking you're okay with loaning stuff out frequently. Kindness is often abused in prison. I gave this guy a soup because he'd never asked me before, and I knew him. I settled back down, only to hear my name called again. Another prisoner called up from the floor below, "Do you have a couple of soups until store?" I told him no. I know he gets high, and I didn't want to support his habit, even if it meant making up for what he'd already spent to get high. 

Three more times in the next ten minutes, I had people stop and ask to borrow soups. One more asked for a shot of coffee. I don't know what got into the housing unit that night, but it was crazy! I don't think I've ever had five people in less than fifteen minutes ask me to borrow soups. If I didn't mind dealing with the terrible hassle of it, I'd open a store myself. I'd probably do pretty well for myself. But it's against the rules, so I avoid the practice. 

I sent each additional person, including those who don't even know me, away empty handed. Had I given each guy a soup, I'd have none in my locker and I'd have to chase down soups on store, or write them off. Some people conveniently "forget" who they owe. In fact, store day is often referred to as "story day." The excuses don't get very creative, either. 

The longer I've been in prison, the more I recognize how impulsivity is a major problem for many prisoners. Impulsivity doesn't have to lead to crime, but it often does. When you're impulsive in one area of your life, you often are in others too. Impulsivity means ignoring future needs in favor of present "happiness." It means eating your entire store bag in two days and then begging, borrowing, or stealing to feed yourself until the next store. 

It's curious to me that no class that I know of in prison teaches prisoners how to reduce impulsivity. Now, THAT would be a good idea! 

Some Corrections Officers Deserve to Be Thanked

The month of May is law enforcement month, and as you may have read in past posts, I think many cops get a bad rap. Theirs is a thankless, dangerous, and low paying job. 

Perhaps it surprises you to hear a Michigan prisoner say he's grateful for the police officers that keep our communities safe. But I am! Just because I am in prison does not make me an anarchist. I believe community safety requires law enforcement. 

Of course, I have been critical of law enforcement officers when they abuse their power. Just because they wear a badge does not mean they can violate the rights and dignity of the people they serve. Too many very public law enforcement abuses have occurred in recent years, and many good officers have suffered because of these bad apples. That's very unfortunate. 

As part of law enforcement month, the week of May 8th was National Correctional Officers Week. As a prisoner, it's even harder for me to express gratefulness to corrections officers, probably because I see and experience abuses of power every day. Nevertheless, just as many cops are good cops, so too are many corrections officers. Many do their very thankless jobs with as much grace as they can muster in their grossly overworked conditions. 

Some are heartless, merciless, corrupt, and downright criminal themselves. But others, too, are wonderful people who treat prisoners with dignity, earn our respect, and seek to restore our desire to do right. That's a very difficult heart to maintain when you experience constant disrespect and verbal abuse as many of them do. 

I would never want someone I love to work in a prison. It's a sometimes dangerous, more often incredibly boring, job that provides very little sense of purpose or joy. Prison is very difficult on the emotional and mental health of prisoners, but it also strains the same health of corrections officers. It has to be very difficult on their families too. 

It's tempting as a Michigan prisoner to take an "us against them" approach to viewing corrections officers. They aren't my friends, for sure, but they have an important job to do, even if it likely feels unimportant and thankless most of the time. 

I'm grateful for the handful who have demonstrated compassion to me over the years, and who have treated me and my loved ones with dignity, despite how other prisoners (and some visitors!) treat them every day. 

One Shouldn't Have to be Told--Take a Shower, Man!

 Prisons are, by their very nature, dirty and stinky places to live. Whenever you pack hundreds of people together in the same living space, it's bound to be noxious. Yep, the showers are free, and they'll even give you some cheap soap for free if you need it. But despite the need, some men just refuse to shower on a regular basis. 

I get it. Prisoners have been hit with skyrocketing store prices, just like everyone else. Deodorant is expensive. Toothpaste is expensive. Still, you'd think those essentials would be a higher priority for prisoners than a ramen noodle or a bag of chips. Sadly, for many, they are not. 

A little more than a month ago, a man rode into the housing unit where I am housed. He locks just a few cells away, and I have to pass his cell anytime I leave my cell. And he stinks, very, very bad. He's also a bit older than I am, so he ought to know better. Frankly, anyone who calls himself a grown man should know better. 

After several days of holding my breath every time I passed his cell, I couldn't take it any longer. 

"Excuse me," I began, speaking to him for the first time ever. "I'm not trying to be disrespectful or rude, but you really need to take a shower. I have a bar of soap down here that you can have if you need it."

I can't believe I'm actually having to tell a grown man to take a shower! It's embarrassing, for me, but probably also for him. He assured me he had things under control and didn't need my soap. I was highly skeptical because it didn't smell like things were under control, but I did what I could. 

The next day, to my surprise, the man showered, shaved, and changed his clothes, for the first time in over a month. The stench wafting from his cell disappeared, and I was pleasantly surprised that he'd turned a corner. He also started a job in the kitchen the day after that, making me doubly grateful for his recent shower. 

My joy was short-lived. 

The stench is again wafting from his cell. I'm not sure, but I think that shower a couple of weeks ago was the last he took. And I'm not sure he's changed his clothes since then either. His kitchen job lasted only a day or two. Rumor has it he was fired for his stench, but that could be just a cruel prison rumor. Though, sometimes rumors are based in an element of truth. 

It seems pointless to tell the man again to shower, but I know I'm not the only one who holds his breath when passing the man's cell. In the past, corrections officers would have made a man take a shower if he smelled that bad. The ones here don't seem to care. 

Sadly, this man is not the only one who is shower-phobic. Every day, at least once a day, I am overcome by the stench of someone's B.O. And when it's not B.O., it's the unflushed toilet downstairs, the gaseous emissions from dozens of men, or the smell of burning ramen noodles. 

I never thought I'd say this, but I miss my lack of smell after having Covid. 

A grown man shouldn't have to be told to shower. Or to give a courtesy flush. Or to be considerate in a myriad of other ways to those around them. Perhaps I'm simply asking too much. Or maybe some men just need to be re-parented.

Newly Proposed Michigan Legislation Targets Criminal Justice and Prison Reforms

 Recently, I was researching newly proposed legislation in Michigan that affects prisoners and the criminal justice system in general. Quite a few bills have been proposed, including: 

* Second Look legislation (bill numbers unknown). This would give offenders sentenced to lengthy sentences the ability to petition for a second look at their sentences after ten years. This could allow prisoners who demonstrate tangible markers of rehabilitation the opportunity to have their sentences reduced. 

* Good Time legislation (H.B. 4468-4471). This would give prisoners the ability to earn good time sentence reductions off of their sentences, only in months where they receive no misconduct tickets. Prisoners could earn up to half the time off their sentences. 

* Productivity Credits legislation (H.B. 4450-4453). This would allow prisoners to earn time off of their sentences through engaging in educational opportunities, both mandated and voluntary. Prisoners could earn up to twenty percent off of their sentences; however, some restrictions on charges limit who is eligible for productivity credits. Murder convictions and any criminal sexual conduct convictions are ineligible. 

* Freedom of Information Act legislation (H.B. 4427). This legislation seeks to resolve a miscarriage of justice by allowing prisoners limited access to FOIA requests. Prisoners have had to depend on others to make requests that are necessary for legal appeals. Prisoners will only be allowed access to FOIA requests involving themselves or their children, if they still maintain parental rights. 

Several other bills seek to codify sentencing limits on juvenile offenders and protect against disparities in the criminal justice system's sentencing practices. 

The Michigan legislature will also consider a bill (H.B. 4384) that renews and modifies the mandate of the Sentencing Commission. This sentencing commission has been an important development for Michigan, which has the highest average prison sentences in the United States. The Sentencing Commission is tasked, in part, with reducing mandatory minimums in sentencing, as well as looking for other modifications that aim to make Michigan's sentencing more just. 

One thing I found interesting in this bill is the language that clarifies the commission's purpose: "To achieve offender rehabilitation, general deterrence, incapacitation of dangerous offenders, restoration of crime victims and communities, and reintegration of offenders into the law-abiding community." 

These are laudable goals, but I wonder who makes up the sentencing commission? What philosophies of incarceration are used to achieve these goals? Right now, the Michigan prison system is so understaffed that the effectiveness of offender rehabilitation is questionable. Furthermore, many studies on philosophies of incarceration have demonstrated the absolute worthlessness of deterrence as an aim. It simply doesn't work. Nevertheless, I suppose there's nothing illegal about beating a dead horse. 

Many people are hopeful that this newly elected Michigan legislature will accomplish many criminal justice and prison reforms. So far, that has not been a top priority of either the legislature or Governor Whitmer. We'll see if that changes. I know many prisoners and their families are hoping for well-thought out and effective reforms. 

It's difficult to balance the needs and desires of victims of crime with the reforms necessary to make prisons effective at rehabilitation, and cost effective. Nevertheless, both parts are necessary -- honoring victims' needs and effectively dealing with offenders so they are no longer a threat to their communities.

Some Prisoners Lack Basic Social Courtesy and Self-Awareness

Recently at work, one of the prisoner students showed up and began studying on the computer for one of the tests he's required to take. Like other mornings, this 50-something year old prisoner, who has been in prison since he was a juvenile, sits at the same computer after vigorously wiping everything down first. He's a germaphobe. One of the worst I've seen in prison.

Soon, he has his headphones on as he listens to the videos he's watching. Completely oblivious to the other prisoners and a staff member in the room, he yawns loudly. This is the first of several very loud yawns he will make each morning. He also "clicks" his throat repeatedly in a loud and annoying way. He's oblivious to anything he is doing that is irritating, but he's also highly sensitive to anything someone else does that irritates him. 

This prisoner, like many others, lacks appropriate social awareness. He lacks at least two of the three markers of emotional intelligence: Self-Awareness, Emotional Self-Regulation, and Empathy. 

Self-awareness involves awareness of one's physical and emotional being. It includes spatial awareness of one's body, including awareness of how things like one's volume of noise affects others. Many, many prisoners completely lack awareness of how loud they are being and how that noise level affects others around them. Spatial awareness also involves understanding that one does not "own" space, and awareness that oneself is in the way of others. Far too many prisoners lack this basic awareness. 

Self-awareness also affects how some prisoners perceive others, causing them to have distorted perceptions of others. Minor infractions are blown out of proportion because prisoners without self-awareness falsely believe they are above reproach. Others' infractions are endowed with malicious motives, even if done without awareness of their effect. 

Prisoners lacking self-awareness perform very little self-evaluation. Things happen to them and are usually the fault of others. If one's fault is evident, it is often dismissed as no big deal. These prisoners minimize their blame for nearly everything. They also have very distorted perceptions of themselves. 

These distorted perceptions are why the prisoner above is hyper critical of others without any awareness of his immaturity or annoying behavior. It's also why the biggest clown in my housing unit recently fumed, "I've never seen so many clowns in all my life!" or why others constantly complain about other prisoners' behavior while their own frustrates and annoys everyone else. 

I like to think that I am particularly conscious, both of myself and others. I think that belief is based largely on truth, but I am open to others pointing out when I lack self-awareness. It's important to me not only to be aware of myself, but also responsible for myself. It's also important to me that I am aware of others and how I affect them. 

I suppose we're all growing, but it's difficult for me to have much hope for some prisoners who have failed to learn these basic skills after decades in prison. One should not have to be told that scraping a chair across the concrete floor at 5AM is loud and wakes people up. Nor should a grown man have to be told that his yawn is annoyingly loud. It's just basic common courtesy.