Who we aspire to be

THIS BLOG WAS WRITTEN IN DECEMBER, 2014.

 

            They beheaded him. It made “Breaking News” like all the others before him. Was he a journalist, an aid worker, or just a guy who saw abject suffering and it gnawed at him until he decided to do something, to witness what horrors man continues to inflict on his fellow man and to say, “At least with me, no more.” They cut his head off all the while filming the entire brutal, ugly incident. They filmed and they scoffed.

            And we react with revulsion at the barbarism and inhumanity, at the lack of moral clarity in the act and the words. We cry out for “justice,” yet it isn’t justice we seek, its vengeance. We demand retribution all the while ignoring the blood that is on our own hands.

            The issue, we are told this week, is whether “enhanced interrogation techniques are effective in stopping terrorism.” The issue, we are told, is given the nature of our enemy, what is acceptable in a “war unique in the annals of history.” I respectfully disagree. The real question is: does our conduct in war – and peace – keep with the ideals of this country? Or, as Senator John McCain so eloquently put it, “Does this represent who we were, who we are, and who we aspire to be?”

            I speak of the recently released report on CIA activities during the days following 9/11. In truth, I speak beyond that to the foundational notion that exceptional nations act exceptionally. Americans understand in their gut that the reason government must always vest “in the people” is because governments – like all human – failed creatures that we are – institutions are capable of evil. As a believer in the redemptive power of God’s grace. I understand all too well that we are all fallen, we are all sinful, we are all capable of doing the “wrong” thing at any given time. But, we are called to see, as President Lincoln, described it, “the better angels” in ourselves. When we justify the use of torture in the name of a “war” against anyone, we are no more moral, no less evil, than those who attack us.

            Fear causes us to do extraordinary things. I remember those first weeks after 9/11 when we weren’t sure if more attacks were coming, when we weren’t sure even how many were dead. There were rumors attacks; anthrax scares. And my immediate reaction was one of bloodlust. “Kill them all,” I thought. That was hardly a unique perspective.

            It has been that way throughout our collective history. In the Civil War we held soldiers in horrendous prison camps. Sherman burned a path through Georgia and the Carolinas; Lincoln usurped the Constitution and set aside habeas corpus relief. In World War I, German-Americans were rounded up; Congress passed numerous laws which denied basic First Amendment rights of dissent and speech. World War II and we rounded up American citizens of Japanese descent. We put them in “internment camps” and took their property.  In the name of victory we bombed cities in Germany: Cologne, Dresden, Hamburg, killing tens of thousands of innocent men, women, and children, noncombatants. Against Japan we vaporized two whole cities.

            During Korea we allowed Senator McCarthy and his band of red-baiters to destroy fellow citizen’s lives by declaring them “communists.” Vietnam and we watched our air force drop napalm on villages, Agent Orange defoliage on our own troops; we had My Lai and other atrocities. No, our history is replete with our own acts of barbarism.

            Men have been held at Guantanamo Bay for over thirteen years without charge. Our government tortured men: waterboarding, “rectal” feeding, threats with sexual attack, sleep deprivation, solitary confinement, cold and chained to a wall; in the name of saving our country. But what is worth saving if we commit to that type of behavior?

            “Who we aspire to be.” I have the utmost respect for Senator McCain. He knows full well the pain and anguish of torture. In the hands of our Vietnamese enemy, McCain was repeatedly beaten. He was hung by his arms until his shoulders came out of socket. He was kept in solitary confinement, deprived of food and medical care. Senator McCain says he would have done anything, said anything, to stop the torture. Torture is just that – torture. I read in Louie Zamperini’s amazing biography, “Unbroken,” of the horrendous treatment he withstood at the hands of sadistic guards. Is that who we aspire to be?

            British philosopher Edmund Burke said “the only thing necessary for evil to succeed is for a few good men to do nothing.” Evil is never overcome by evil. You overcome evil by good. An editorial cartoon published on the day the CIA report was released shows a grinning OBL in hell holding up a sign that says, “We win.” “Who we aspire to be.”

            For the last six and a half years I have seen some of the worst in men … and some of the best. I have had to rethink every preconceived notion I held about justice, law, and my obligations as a Christian, a citizen, a human being. I know that evil will never be overcome by evil. We must aspire to be like the Good Samaritan, to show mercy to those in need and forgiveness to those who cause us harm.

            As the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer was led to the gallows, the SS doctor observing his execution noted he had never seen a man so at peace as he faced his death. “They may kill your body, but they can’t kill your soul.” Those words are in the Gospel of Luke. They killed Bonhoeffer on a spring day in 1945 but his memory, his writings, his faith lives on. And his executioners? Long forgotten. Who do we aspire to be?

 

Iceberg Dead Ahead

DOC settled a 1st Amendment lawsuit on September 23 with the publishers of “Prison Legal News”. DOC agreed to pay PLN $125,000, allow issues previously banned to be delivered to inmate subscribers, and change the book/magazine subscription policy to allow third parties to order books and magazines for inmates.



This is a major victory for advocates of prisoner rights and 1st Amendment rights and another costly lesson for DOC – and Virginia’s taxpayers – for their hubris. DOC has long thought that Constitutional safeguards didn’t apply to them. This year, they are learning, at taxpayer expense, that they do.


For those “get tough on crime” readers: get ready. You want long sentences for inmates. It’ll cost you. And, the cost is staggering, over $1 billion a year.


This year DOC has already lost/settled three significant 1st Amendment cases. Beside the PLN lawsuit, DOC’s prohibition on spoken word CD’s was overruled. An inmate, prohibited from ordering CD’s of a minister’s sermons, successfully sued and had the DOC prohibition on spoken word tapes and Cd's thrown out.


As reported in an earlier blog, another inmate successfully challenged DOC’s censorship policy. U.S. District Court Judge James Turk found the DOC policy void as in violation of the 1st Amendment.


Still pending, a suit brought by the National Lawyers Guild over DOC’s refusal to give inmates access to a legal self-help manual.


Each of these suits cost taxpayers thousands of dollars. And, each of these suits could have been avoided, but for DOC’s arrogance. DOC is its own worst enemy. They are charged with the rehabilitation of incarcerated offenders. Instead, they create and enforce arcane rules that bear no legitimate relation to the safety, security, discipline and order of the institutions they manage.


In the PLN case, DOC took the position that inmates could not have access to court case citations and reviews. In the case before Judge Turk, a senior DOC Director attempted to suggest James Joyce’s classic novel Ulysses was properly banned because “inmates were bartering the book to read sexually explicit passages”. The Judge himself found DOC’s position “laughable”.


As I’ve noted on this blog before, DOC is broken. Literally, inmates are running the asylum. Virginia clings to the hard-hearted, illogical, unsupportable notion that longer sentences mean less crime. Study after study concludes that premise is wrong. Virginia abolished parole in 1995. At that time, there were approximately 9,500 inmates in the system. Fifteen years later, there are over 38,000 in DOC facilities and another 5,000 housed in regional jails awaiting transfer.


Over $1 billion is spent annually on DOC. Yet, the vast majority of that money is for housing and maintaining the inmate population.


Rehabilitation programs are laughable. Big S attended alcohol awareness. It met once a week, 30 minutes, ten weeks.


In my situation, I owe more than $1 million in restitution. Assuming I have to complete my entire sentence, it will cost Virginia taxpayers in excess of $300,000 to house ad maintain me. On my release I will be eligible for Social Security which is not subject to collection. I will pay nothing toward my restitution order.


Instead of creating a system that rewards good behavior, a system that gets an offender to confront his wrongdoing and make amends; DOC oversees a system that tries to make inmates feel hopeless. And, out of hopelessness comes anger and resentment.


Guys in here will challenge any rule. And, every challenge costs money. And, asinine rules cost lots of money. It is becoming painfully clear; there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of lawsuits on the horizon waiting to sink DOC and Virginia’s taxpayers.


Everyone knows the story of the Titanic; the ship that was “unsinkable”. The owners and the crew placed so much credence in their own abilities that they saw themselves as creating the indestructible. But on a dark, starless night a watchman looked up and yelled out the immortal words “Iceberg dead ahead”. Little less than three hours later the “unsinkable” Titanic went below the water.


DOC is the Titanic. Difference is, it’s already hit the iceberg. It’s taking on water. But, it doesn’t have to sink. It will take drastic efforts to save it. First, a complete new mindset. That means the old way of doing things must go. Those senior staff who have presided over this corrupt system must be replaced.


Second, reinstate parole. Have a sliding scale for inmates. Nonviolent felons would be eligible for release after 10% to 30% of their sentence is served; violent offenders’ eligible after 40% of their sentence is served. But, make it based on merit. Work hard in prison, show remorse, seek to rehabilitate, you then earn parole.


Third, make rehabilitation really mean something. Have real treatment programs, more education and vocation opportunities. And, institute “restorative justice” as a central tenet of DOC’s mission statement.


Write your delegates, write the Governor and express your views on prison reform. Better still, suggest to him that he read my blog and meet with me. I’m available 24/7. Through this experience, I’ve been given a life preserver. I don’t want the ship to sink, but I’ll be OK if it does.

Karma Gets Me Again

Every time I begin feeling like the guys I’m locked up with are decent, intelligent men who’ve just had a run of bad luck, I get bombarded by a series of really stupid conversations and situations that make me remember why there are prisons. This week, I had run-ins with a number of guys who convinced me, once again, I’m the biggest idiot out there, because I risked – and lost – the most.



There’s Chris – a teacher’s aide – who is a college grad and, oh yeah, back in prison a second time for an assault conviction. He clearly has an anger issue. So how does he address his issue? He decides, in a fit of rage, to go after his bunkmate with a ballpoint pen. Now his bunkmate is a 6’5” 250 lb. black guy who bench presses right at 400 pounds. Chris is 5’10”, 190 lb. He didn’t get within two feet of his bunkmate before “BAM, BAM”, down goes Chris. He’s in the hole with a black eye, busted nose, fighting charge (which means automatic loss of job and good time). Good move Chris. Way to keep your anger in check?


There’s GT, a guy in my writing class. GT tattooed his neck with the “@” sign. Why? “It’s ghetto.” The guys in class call him “at”. He doesn’t get it. He thinks he’s going to write the greatest “gangster novel” ever, full of “pimps and ho’s, crack and bling”. When I pointed out to young Hemingway that it is “which” not “witch” he replied “spellins for white mo fo’s”. I can see it now: “and the 2025 Nobel Prize for Literature goes to At.” Problem for GT: he refuses to read. Dostoevsky, Hemingway, Hesse, Melville? “Who they?”


I had a serious discussion with Will the other day about the 1st Amendment and censorship. At issue: Will was denied access to his September issue of Playboy (men’s magazines are allowed, but particular issues are censored). Will is an absolutist when it comes to the 1st Amendment. “Anything I can read on the street, I should be able to read in here.”


I tried to explain to him that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that inmates don’t have an absolute right to any books or magazines they want. Security, discipline, and rehabilitation are more important than an inmate’s access to porn.


That’s not acceptable to Will. Censorship is wrong. He’s an adult and if he wants to look at porn, that’s his business. Did I mention Will’s entering year six of a nine year sentence for “carnal knowledge” of his own seven year old daughter? I’m sure this is what the founding fathers had in mind when they debated the First Amendment.


Perhaps nothing showed how inane these guys can be than the uproar over the new DOC guideline on 5% mandatory withholding.


Every inmate owes something: court fees, fines or restitution. I owe no fees or fines, but the $1 million plus I owe in restitution is a real debt. DOC has now mandated that 5% of every inmate paycheck be set aside in a forced savings account. Six months prior to your release, DOC will contact the court you owe and make arrangements to send your withheld amount to them. Don’t owe anything? The money is yours on release.


Guys went ballistic! “They stealin my money. I already work for only 20 cent an hour.”


Here’s reality:


1) The 13th Amendment outlawed slavery except involving inmate work. They don’t have to pay us.


2) Work is required to earn good time.


3) Inmates owe the fines, fees, and restitution. Paying is a requirement of probation.


If DOC want to take $2.70 a month out of my check to pay down my $1 million plus restitution order, more power to them (forget the fact it will cost more than $2.70 to account for it – ah, the joy of bureaucracy!).


Guys need to get real. Want people to seriously consider prison reform, act responsibly. Setting up a payment plan while incarcerated is a step in that direction.


Karma, you’re killing me!

Common Fare

This prison has a special diet tray available to inmates who are religiously “qualified”. More on the qualifications later. The tray is prepared with kosher (and proper Islamic) dietary requirements. Every tray features fresh fruit and vegetables. There is no processed meat. It is an extremely healthy, vitamin rich, daily food service. And, much to the Commonwealth’s consternation, expensive to provide.



The United State Constitution (1st Amendment) and federal law (“The Religious Lands Use and Incarcerated Persons Act”) specifically requires states to provide for inmates’ “religiously motivated dietary needs” unless a penological concern (i.e. breach of security) is shown.


For years, Virginia provided these special trays at almost all their prisons. However, with the rapid growth of inmates since parole was abolished, the number of “religiously motivated” inmates is going through the roof. To make it more difficult for inmates to get the “common fare” tray, Virginia reduced the number of prisons that offer it to about a half dozen. Then, they instituted an arbitrary (and as I’m actually arguing) and illegal process for inmates to be approved for healthy food.


Why would Virginia not want to provide healthy meals to its inmates? Cost. Virginia can feed inmates for a few dollars a day. The food is bland – cabbage at least once a day; 2 or 3 starches every meal; low grade meat; little in the way of fresh fruit and vegetables.


Is it cost effective? Probably not. Medical costs per inmate are through the roof. Of the approximately 1200 inmates here, roughly 200 are diabetic; another couple hundred have high blood pressure. We’re talking guys in their 20’s with high blood pressure! I’m 51 with a normal range BMI (22), perfect blood pressure (120/74) and no diabetes.


Now, I can eat anything. There is absolutely no meal I will pass on. There’s a famous story from my married days. We had just gotten married. My wife, while I was out on a long run one day, decided to make us supper - tuna casserole. I came back, cleaned up, and we began to eat. She looked puzzled as she ate. I, on the other hand shoveled it in. She looked over at the counter and realized she had left the tuna out!


“Why didn’t you tell me?” she burst into tears.


“But, honey, it’s delicious!” I replied.


“You don’t count. You’ll eat anything!”


And so it went. I’d try anything. No food was “beneath me”.


Prison food is supposed to be lousy and truth is, guys in here complain way too much. Want to eat better meals? Don’t get locked up! Plus, there are people world wide who wish they have the food we inmates get (I started saying “grace” at every meal while in jail when a young Guatemalan man told me his entire family of six in his home country ate less than he received on his three jail trays each day).


Back to “Common Fare”. I read my Bible, pray and meditate almost an hour each and every morning. The C.O.’s talk to me about my “discipline” (it’s actually my favorite time of the day). I decided – during my study – that I need to be more conscious of what I eat. I avoid meat and processed food (I eat “bean trays” every day).


The prison has a policy that in order to “qualify” as a religiously observant diet participant, you must attend “approved religious services” for six months. The prison then gives you the list of “approved services”. These include:


• Non –denominational Evangelical Protestant


• Roman Catholic


• Messianic Jew or Orthodox Jew


• Sunni Muslim


• Shia Muslim


• Nation of Islam


• Moorish Society


• Rastafarians


• Jehovah Witness


• Native American “Mother Earth” worship


I filed a grievance objecting to being forced into a service that doesn’t represent my faith. I’m going to rely on case law from federal courts around the country. Here’s the test an inmate must meet to be religiously eligible:


1) A deeply held religious belief;


2) that allows participants to keep a special diet;


3) that doesn’t pose a penological concern for the prison. The prison (the courts have ruled) can’t establish that concern if they already provide the diet tray.


More importantly, under the 1st Amendment, the prison can’t compel inmates to participate in their church services.


The other problem here is the chaplain. He is a rude, maniacal, egotistical ass. He runs the religion programs “his way”. He technically isn’t employed by the prison. Chaplains are provided to prisons in Virginia by a non-profit organization that funds the offices through inmate funds (abut $750,000 worth) and donations from churches.


The “good chaplain” puts down Muslims, Jews, and Catholics. He is trying to prohibit my friend’s church from doing a “Celtic Vesper service” (“we don’t do that there”). He refused a Koran to me – “you ain’t got no need for that; you ain’t Muslim.” A great Christian leader!


I’ll push the issue, not just for me, but for the guys in here who carry on their faith in quiet. They don’t need to beat their chest in front of 200 guys about God. They just say their prayers, read their Holy Scriptures, and act decently to the staff and the other inmates.


Plus, doing the right thing has its own reward: fresh broccoli, cauliflower, tuna, and cottage cheese.