Quick Hits this Week

DOC Loses Again



“USA Today” reported that DOC had “reached settlement with the National Lawyers Guild to allow distribution of the Guild’s Prison Lawyers Handbook to interested inmates.” This just another case brought, and won against DOC for censorship of publications.


In the last twelve months DOC has had their book censorship procedure declared unconstitutional and has agreed to change ordering procedures and allow inmates to receive both “Prison Legal News” (now available in the prison library) and the National Lawyers Guild self help manual.


All these settlements have come at a price to the taxpayers of Virginia. The state government bureaucracy refuses to concede anything to inmates. But, rights are rights.


You can lock someone up but you can’t take everything away from them. At least not yet anyway. Perhaps DOC should consider all the costs of their operation into the calculus.


Quitters and Whiners


I had an extremely frustrating week with the students in the IT program. The vast majority of these guys want A’s in their classes without putting in the requisite effort. They whine to the professors about how hard the assignments are and how much they have to do.


Here’s the thing, with the exception of 3 or 4 guys like Big S added to the program to improve the success rate, the vast majority of the students have no endurance and no motivation.


This program was designed to ensure at risk (most likely to recommit crime) inmates succeed. The problem is most “at risk” inmates are “at risk” because they lack not only the skills to succeed but the will.


I have pleaded, cajoled, praised and profaned many of these guys for the last two months. Our results after one “term” are encouraging: 36 students remain. Every student passed English lll and History; every student passed keyboarding. Five students are taking remedial math. The rest passed.


I am worn out! But at least I know Craig, DC and I made a difference. There’s no guarantee these guys will make it, but at least we gave them a shot.


Country Music TV


A few weeks ago a new digital channel was added to our cable network. “Country Music TV”. Big S has his set on it almost all day long.


I was never a big country music fan but now I find myself glued to the set asking Big S about the artist singing and writing down lyrics I hear. I have dozens of letters crafted in my mind to people I long to hear from; letters that I’ll never send using those lyrics to express my feelings better than anything I can write on my own.


But, too many of the videos, too many of the songs, hit too close to home. They remind me of love lost, of loneliness, of the family and life I miss so dearly. I watch in small doses. Sometimes it’s too painful.


Recently, I came across an artist named “Orianthi”. One of the guys had her CD and let me listen. In a letter I was told to listen to “According to You.” She sings about a new man who found her beautiful and witty. “Why aren’t you that man”, she asked? “According to you, I’m stupid. . .” I listened and my heart broke. I wasn’t the guy who said she was stupid, but somebody in their letter was telling me I was. Orianthi’s words pierced my soul. It was music as a weapon. I wanted to write the person and tell her “you know that’s not me,” but I couldn’t.


The second track began and I listened. Orianthi sang about “courage”. She described the effort it took to go on, to keep hoping. I turned the CD off, kept my mind off the videos.


I realized the answer wasn’t in a song lyric or video. I started to pray.