Prison Stories

A couple of recent newspaper and magazine pieces about the current state of “corrections” around the country jumped out at me. I recently read “Chicken Soup for the Prisoner’s Soul” and was deeply moved by so many of the stories represented there. But, I found the following cautionary quote each of us must consider when we approve of the status quo with incarceration:



“Does society understand what they create in the men they wear down by time? The whole concept of punishment seems to teach offenders how to effectively not be part of society, the unmaking of a man.”


Prisons do more to perpetuate crime than they do to rehabilitate. Money is spent on housing and holding instead of educating and rehabilitating.


Ohio recently began exploring an overhaul of its criminal justice system. As the Columbus Dispatch recently reported, Ohio’s 1996 enactment of “Truth in Sentencing Law” led to an exponential growth in the number of inmates and the cost to hold them. Ohio is now 33% over capacity and unable to sustain current prison funding requirements. In 2008, 10,000 convicted felons went to prison in Ohio on property and drug offenses at a cost of $189 million. “Few received rehabilitative treatment while in prison.” As the chief sponsor of a bill calling for sentence reform, Republican Bill Seitz said:


“You can’t fit 10 pounds in a 5 pound bag. That’s what we’ve been trying to do in Ohio. The time for talk is over. No more sticking our heads in the sand.”


Supporters of the change are as varied as Conservative Republican John Kasich and the ACLU.


Virginia, at 164% capacity according to DOC’s own spokesman (here’s a hint: if DOC finally admits to a capacity problem, it is probably higher than what they’ve admitted), has the same “Truth in Sentencing Law” as Ohio. Where is Virginia’s courageous conservative Republican Governor on this? Governor McDonnell talks a great deal about his faith. Perhaps now is the time for him to put his faith in action.


The San Francisco Chronicle reported that California, in a move to close its $60 billion budget deficit, slashed rehabilitation programs for prisoners. The budget cuts included planned layoffs of 850 academic and vocational instructors in the prison system. At the same time, California continues to violate a court mandated release of inmates from its prisons due to the unconstitutional conditions inmates have been living under.


And, in another case involving California’s Corrections Department, it was reported corrections officers are the primary conduit for up to 10,000 cell phones finding their way into inmates’ hands. Even Charles Manson has had two cell phones in the last four years.


So, the people employed to watch the “criminals” are themselves lawbreakers, being paid up to $1000 by inmates for a phone. One officer made $150,000 in cash in one year transporting phones into the prison. His punishment? He was terminated from employment. California does not prosecute guards who bring phones in for a fee.


It was reported Governor McDonnell and the Virginia General Assembly failed to properly fund regional jails (coincidentally, it is by using the regional jails that DOC keeps 3800 inmates housed rather than further taxing its already overcrowded prisons by moving them to DOC facilities).


McDonnell assured Sheriffs who are facing staff layoffs themselves that the shortfall will be addressed. Governor McDonnell, in the words of the Ohio Representative, “you can’t fit 10 pounds in a 5 pound bag.”


And finally, Mike Vick visited a Florida prison the other day with his mentor, Tony Dungy, to speak with the inmates. While there he said one of the most profound things I’ve ever read:


“If I was standing outside a prison two years ago with what I know now, and you gave me the choice of going in and changing my life or staying out and continuing to live the life I was living, I’d go in…I needed the change. God gave me a timeout.”


I thought about Mike Vick’s words a great deal. Sometimes we don’t realize how blessed we are in our trials. It’s something I have to remind myself of every day. I’m not sure where I’d be right now if God hadn’t given me a timeout. The losses I’ve sustained have, at times, been unbearable. But learning to live righteously in this environment has been worth it. Mike Vick was right.

Lindsay, Charlie and Lunenburg

A great deal of press attention was focused this week on Lindsay Lohan. She is again in legal trouble, this time for the alleged theft of a $2500 necklace. If convicted of grand larceny, she will also face probation revocation on her earlier conviction. The prosecutor wants her to be sentenced to three years in prison.



Much of the attention this week on Lindsay and the other “out of control” celebrity – Charlie Sheen, focused on their repeated run-ins with trouble. “They just don’t learn.”


I have a high level of sympathy for Lindsay Lohan and Charlie Sheen. I see a whole lot of men in here who have behaved just like them. Frankly, I behaved just like them. It maybe difficult to understand if you have never been through it, but we all hit our breaking point at different times. We all try and kid ourselves things have hit bottom. Truth is we aren’t completely broken yet.


I see young guys in here on their third eighteen month “bid”. I don’t get it. I just don’t see why anyone would risk coming back in here. “What is the matter with you?” I want to scream at these guys who have been out then choose to “come back in”.


Then, I think about myself. I had, by all appearances, a perfect life. Why would I risk all that for money? I didn’t need the money; I didn’t need the guilt I lived with every day; I didn’t need the consequences. They clearly outweighed the risks.


People, in general, look at the Lindsays, the Charlies, the Mike Vick’s, and ask “what are they thinking? They have everything.” None of us, however, know the demons they live with. Perhaps, we should be more empathetic, more sympathetic. Perhaps, we should be thankful we don’t have the same demons.


Demons. There are such things. I had my own share. What else could explain knowing what you’re doing is wrong, knowing what you’re doing will, upon discovery, destroy everything you hold dear, and still act in such a reckless manner?


I looked at the news and saw the film of Ms. Lohan in court this week. She is incredibly beautiful. Yet, there was a sadness, a fear, a brokenness in her eyes. She was trying to comprehend exactly what was happening to her. I know the look. I had that look. I hate that look.


Two friends in here told me I was taking too much on. “You’ve got to learn to say ‘no’, slow up, do for you.” I can’t. I throw myself into the students and the law. Some of my reasoning is self-serving. The busier I am the less likely I am to dwell on all I gave up. But the other reason is I want to give these guys a chance, a chance to lose that look.


Brokenness is a terrible, horrible moment in your life. It is just short of giving up, quitting, dying. I don’t mean a peaceful, “I’ve lived my life fully” death. It is the worst possible feeling known and, at least in my experience, necessary to overcome the demons.


I don’t know if Lindsay Lohan or Charlie Sheen are there yet. For their sake I hope they are. Every night I pray for the men incarcerated here; that their hearts can be opened, their demons slayed, and their futures bright. The weird thing is most of those men aren’t at that point. They’re still more interested in hustles, in drugs, in a host of mind numbing, law breaking behaviors that will land them back here.


I hope they break before it’s too late. There were so many terrible nights during this trial. But, one will always stand out. One when I just wanted it all to end. Something got me through that night. Worse days came along, but my demons were gone. I hope, for Lindsay and Charlie, and the 1200 other inmates here that they too have hit bottom.


I also hope we all remember, “There but for the grace of God go I”.