Good...Bye...

“In the clearing stands a boxer, 

And a fighter by his trade 

And he carries the reminders 

Of ev'rye glove that laid him down 

And cut him till he cried out

In his anger and his shame,

"I am leaving, I am leaving." 

But the fighter still remains”

Simon and Garfunkel's "The Boxer" reminds me of two dear friends who left this past week. Chuck and DC both have gone home to begin new lives, real lives, lives outside this cesspool with family and friends who love them and respect them and understand they are not the total of their "update sheets."

DC--like an older brother to me; 43 years--imagine that number, 43 years, locked up. He was ruthless and cruel and ignorant and now...now he is a man with dreams and ambitions and knowledge. He never shirked responsibility for his wrongs. That was one of things I loved about DC. He always told me he got what he deserved. I don't think so. I think he got more...so very much more than he deserved and he never complained. More importantly, he never gave up hope.

And Chuck? Chuck was just a decent guy; a military retiree who on one night made a terrible mistake. And it cost him. It cost him a marriage, and time with his three sons; and the birth of a grandchild; and his job; and his freedom; and his self-respect. And Chuck wore his guilt and his pain much like I do. But the beautiful thing about Chuck was, he never let it sour him. He cared about people; he helped people; and he found the inner strength through his faith to make a difference in a lot of younger men's lives in here.

Chuck and DC were my "go to" guys. On those days--more than I care to admit--that I felt the whole world crashing down around me, it was those two who would listen and then tell me to fight on, see the good, and never give up.

Prison is not a place for relationships and yet I love these two men like a brother loves his brothers. They were real in a place where almost everything else was phony. And I miss them both dearly, but know they are doing great.

Don't misunderstand me--I hate this place; I hate what it stands for; I hate the waste of money, and lives; and I hate the lack of accountability and the lack of honesty from those in charge. Prisons are failures--nothing, I repeat nothing, good comes from doing time. But these two men, good men, men who would stand with you no matter what, they survived and thrived and overcame this place in spite of the system's failures.

The boxer--my friend DC was a boxer and I know from his stories he was hit and knocked down and left on the mat more than a few times; but he always got up. "The fighter still remains."

If there is a silver lining to all this, it is in the fact that even in an environment like this you can find humanity. And, even when it looks like someone is beyond repair--even when we think there is no hope a person will ever be "right" we never can tell what is in that person's heart.

So Chuck is watching his beloved Red Sox in Tampa, and DC is going to see his Skins, and I'm still here a much better man for having friends like them.

“I'm on your side. When times get rough 

And friends just can't be found, 

Like a bridge over troubled water

I will lay me down.

Like a bridge over troubled water

I will lay me down.”

Old Paul and Art knew what they were singing about. Live wonderful lives my two dear friends.

Postscript: I've been thinking a great deal this summer about the meaning of incarceration, faith and the failure this system has to actually rehabilitate the vast majority. See it every day; you will see it on the pages here for the next few months. Governor McAuliffe is looking at parole--he needs to know the truth about this place. And if he reads the upcoming blogs, he will. 

J'accuse

In 1894 after the disastrous defeat of their army in the Franco Prussian War, the French looked for a scapegoat. They found one in the guise of a Jewish military officer named Alfred Dreyfus. After a trial of seemingly vague evidence and anti-Semitic references concluded, Dreyfus was found guilty of treason and sent to Devils Island.

That was not the end of the story, however, because the truth always wills out. French writer Emile Zola risked his own financial success, his reputation, and his very freedom to publish an essay, "J’accuse" in which he took the French military to task for lying to the citizens about Dreyfus. Demand grew in the public and Dreyfus, on retrial, was released.

Today, the same thing goes on in Virginia's corrections gulag and it's high time the public knows the truth. While the director of the department signs letters urging the Federal Dept. of Justice to fund college programs to teach technology to inmates in prison, his security chiefs have investigators tell students they can't participate in the very activities the programs being funded require.

Case in point: we have ten hand-picked students taking an IT certification class requiring 96 hours of prep time before the exam. If these men are successful, more opportunities will arise. Part of the program is to get inside a computer box and see how it works, where all the parts fit, what goes with what. What has been security's reaction here? They swoop in and tell the men "no." Ironic isn't it. At the notorious San Quentin prison, men are training as code writers and are even being hired by outside companies at real wage levels while still behind bars; here, the only job security that men are working toward is bathroom cleaning.

The chief of security here is a political hack. I hate to be blunt, but he is not qualified for the post. He doesn't believe in the "mission" of DOC (at least the published mission); he disrespects the men--dehumanizes them at every chance; he lacks both the intellectual background and "people skills" to successfully manage his staff and the offender population. His officers suffer from low morale; the inmates despise him; and, things get worse. How is he in this job? Good question. The answer, I believe is that no one is paying attention.  DOC wastes money.

"J'accuse." Zola understood that it is too easy for those in power to make up excuses to explain their failure. DOC spends over $1.2 billion each year of Virginia taxpayer money yet the Commonwealth isn't made any safe. Worse, what goes on inside actually leads to more crime--men and women released are likely to return--RECIDIVISM-- after a stay in a prison. Why? Because prison robs an individual of his or her dignity; it makes you institutionalized; it breaks down your empathy, your humanity.

There is no relationship between what they tell you goes on with "corrections" and what actually occurs. DOC talks big about "re-entry" but in reality the reentry program is a joke. They spend millions on programs that don't prepare anyone for return to society with layer upon layer of administration. The re-entry coordinator here is inept and not to be trusted. The really good counselors and staff are leaving, pursuing other opportunities because this place is a swamp of ignorance, despair, and failure.

What works? Education... a college education. You want to make a difference, Governor McAuliffe--start letting low custody offenders out and push education, spend money on college and post-secondary technical training, and for the love of God, make the people you put in charge responsible for ensuring that those programs are carried out. Don't let inept, politically appointed 'Majors" hide behind "security" to avoid getting men and women educated and trained.

"J'accuse." I'm sure a number of folks thought the blog was over. I hadn't posted anything new in almost 2 months. During that time, folks in charge here--folks like investigators who monitor what I write--spoke to me about my writings. I'm sure people thought I'd given up. No, the manager of the blog was moving. She's now settled and I'm back! My goal has always been to write the truth ad let things fall where they may.

I recently read Bernard Kerik's memoir of his fall from NYC police commissioner on 9/11 to federal inmate. The most eye opening part of Kerik's story was he saw the same things I see and write about daily. Our prison system is corrupt, it is morally and financially bankrupt and it is time for courageous politicians to step up. "J'accuse." If Emile Zola could do it, then so can I. The truth matters; the truth will be known.

Each week I will give you insight into this life and the issues that affect the lives of the men in here and their families. You may not always like what I write, but you'll know it's the truth.

Cuccinelli’s Prison Reform Op Ed

            Ken Cuccinelli, former Virginia Attorney General and GOP candidate for Governor has come out in favor of prison reform. In a June 19^th Op Ed in The Washington Post, Cuccinelli – a stalwart conservative – wrote the following:

            “In short, we must reserve our harshest and most expensive sanctions – prison – for violent and career criminals while strengthening cost-effective alternatives for lower-level, nonviolent offenders …

            With today’s sophisticated assessment tools, we can better sort offenders and match them with the levels of treatment and community supervision that offer the best chance for them to stay crime free.”

            Mr. Cuccinelli is right. It’s time for the Republicans and Democrats in Richmond to come together and reform Virginia’s broken, expensive criminal justice and corrections system. Too much money and lives are being wasted.

            Governor McAuliffe, reach across party lines and embrace Mr. Cuccinelli’s stance. Do it for the good of the Commonwealth.

           

Swampland – PT 3: The Cost

So the Richmond Times Dispatch reported the other day that the Justice Policy Institute presented its study on the Virginia prison system to Governor McAuliffe.  In one glaring item, the JPI noted that “community corrections” in Virginia costs less than $2 per day per offender versus almost $14 per day to keep a person behind bars.

Governor McAuliffe may be ready to lead Virginia to real prison reform, the kind of reform that will lead to the release of sizeable numbers of incarcerated men and women doing excessive sentences for non-violent felonies in facilities where meaningful rehabilitation is non-existent. 

As I have written numerous times, prison will not rehabilitate a person.  It is a mind numbing, soul crushing, dehumanizing experience.  There are so many more cost effective ways to address the majority of criminal behaviors. 

Prisons drain resources that could go for better schools, better mental health services, more effective drug and alcohol treatments. 

The swamp that is Virginia’s prison system only survives because it is fed with taxpayer money and politician’s lies and distortions.  It’s time to drain the swamp.