All These Questions

I have all these questions that keep popping up every time I hear some politician comment on the need for "get tough" policies that keep folks incarcerated for long stretches.

Here I go:

1. What’s the real cost for locking someone up? Yeah, I know you claim it costs $27,000+ a year to keep someone behind bars; but that person also isn't working and paying taxes; and, if that person has kids, chances are that child is living under the poverty level and getting government aid; even worse, that child's likelihood of ending up in here dramatically increases. So, what is the real cost to society?
   
   
2. You talk a lot about Virginia's low recidivism rate, yet every independent study conducted on state recidivism rates always notes that Virginia's approach to collection is different from the rest of the countries. And, as low as it is, it hasn't changed a bit since parole was abolished back in 1994. It's still a little below 30%. The difference is, back in '94 there were 9500 inmates; today there are about 40,000. And today, Virginia spends over $1.1 billion on corrections even though there isn't a whole lot of correcting going on. Programs for drug and alcohol treatment are a joke. Mental health treatment largely consists of high doses of antipsychotic meds. Safety? Go to a higher level and see the number of stabbings, rapes, assaults. Drugs are everywhere in the system; officers and staff are walked off every day for fraternizing with offenders. No one is held accountable--wardens and security chiefs keep their jobs; money gets flushed every day. There is no one who is held responsible. Rules--such as daily schedules and policies--are routinely ignored by the officers while offenders are nitpicked over silly housing policies which breeds further contempt and distrust. We always hear how low the recidivism rate is; yet most adult offenders started out in the Virginia juvenile system-- how effective is the Department of Corrections really?
   

3. Why is it that DOC signed a consent order and settled a class action law suit brought by 5 women at Fluvanna over the poor medical care in the system, yet the same problems that existed there exist at every facility and still DOC fails to take control over the medical care? Hepatitis C positive inmates are daily denied access to treatment; injuries requiring surgery are put off; specialist’s orders are ignored by contract doctors who know that their private company's profit margin will only exist if treatment is denied. And still, DOC does not comply with the order of the Federal Court.
   
   
4. How much does GTL, Keefe, and the other corrections- industrial corporations spend on lobbying Virginia politicians to keep their contracts in place and how much does Virginia receive as "commissions" under those contracts? How much does Virginia spend each year in legal fees and expenses when DOC loses cases for violations of inmate rights?
   
   
5. Why do states--mostly under the control of Republicans--that have implemented prison reform with early release show better results in their DOC's than Virginia?
   

Yeah, I have a lot of questions I'd love to ask those in charge. Problem is, they don't want to discuss the issues, nor do they want to come out here and see what takes place behind bars. But hey, all I've got is time. So every fight, every OD, every wasted dollar, I write down. And one of these days, someone will listen. Prisons are needed; but the way things operate in Virginia does nothing to alleviate crime, nor prevent a person from coming back. And the sad fact is, most in here have neither the education, the job skills, or the hope to make it on the outside without changes. 

Prison Profiteers

The other evening a poster went up from JPay, announcing the formation of a not-for-profit foundation, "Creative Corrections Education Foundation”. The poster states that 100,000s of children have a parent behind bars. "For the cost of a candy bar" an offender can make a $0.50 donation each month to the foundation in the hopes that $3 million will be raised to create scholarships for children of the incarcerated. How noble of JPay. Meanwhile, JPay gouges inmates' families for the "privilege" of sending money to their loved ones behind bars. JPay makes millions off sweetheart contracts negotiated with state DOC staff; they spend millions each election cycle to "buy" influence; and the state reps are more than happy to oblige. Sorry, but Mr. Smith ain't going to Washington anymore. Politics is about corrupt money influencing policy.

Were it only JPay doing this, you could write it off (no pun intended) to the state trying to simplify a process that--like everything else in prison-is long on time consumption and short on results. But it isn't just JPay. There is a prison-industrial complex that makes billions off the taxpayers of this state, this country and lines the pockets of politicians and CEOs alike. If the state believes in prison then so be it; but, don't outsource a fundamental government function. The loss of freedom is as massive and intrusive a power that the government has; they should not be allowed to sell that function off to the highest bidder for private profit.

Who is harmed by this prison profiteering? All inmates and their families, which, as we know, are mostly poor, uneducated people, people without a voice, people for whom the American dream is but a false myth.

Why does the state contract out phone service and charge inmates and their families more than a 20-minute call to an overseas location? Why does the state sign such a contract and then get a "commission" (a fancy word for kickback) on the contract? Why do we claim that we believe in the free market except where it relates to services for inmates and their families?

Funny questions to ask. Here are a few more: If it costs $27,000 a year to house and hold an inmate, how much of that is really cost attributable to the inmate? Answer, less than 5%. The rest is to support a VA DOC bureaucracy that has over 15,000 employees with salary, benefits, etc. Think those people are in favor of prison reform?

What does the state do with all the money it gets from contract commissions? It certainly isn't used for drug and alcohol programs; at the last general assembly, a state rep proposed that the phone commission be used specifically to fund prison re-entry and education programs. That bill was tabled. Interestingly, GTL-the phone profiteer--has a full time lobbyist at work at the Virginia General Assembly. Can you guess what GTL thought of the bill?

Prison profiteering is, besides being immoral, a waste of taxpayer money. It is wrong. Where is "Mr. Smith" when we need him? He’s probably on a golf junket with some prison contractor!

A Tale of Three C’s

            Three white guys whose names all begin with C stroll around this compound. Much of what I consider problematic with prisoners is represented in the three Cs. For I fear, as a lay psychoanalyst and observer of human behavior, that prison has done nothing except bring out the worst in them.

            C#1 is on his second trip to “the rodeo,” that’s what guys doing time three or four years at a time – the installment plan – for fifteen or twenty years call it. The guy is an accomplished artist. He can draw or paint anything. Beautiful cards; posters; embroidery. But, he’s a scumbag. He runs dirty hustles all over the compound. Want a watch? See him. He gets ten to twelve watches smuggled in. Religious medallions too.

            Then there’s the forgery scam. Guy wants money for drugs, or gambling, or a cellphone. C#1 got hold of a “college transcript” form. Inmate pays him $50; C#1 creates a “college transcript” showing the inmate pulled A’s in his classes. Transcript sent home with a heartfelt letter. “Mom, I’m working hard, getting my education. The next class cost $275 (or $375 or $150) and I have to pay by next week.” Mom, who’s seen her son come in and out of prison three, maybe four times, willingly sends the money in. Trouble is, the guy isn’t in college.

            C#1 partners with a notorious child rapist to con guys on their electronics. The partner – a mid-thirties white guy, who looks like he stepped out of a GQ ad, is doing twenty years for forcible penetration of a pre-teen when he was eighteen. At a higher level, this guy would try and run under the radar. Fear is an effective deterrent to a lot of nonsense in high-level security facilities; fear isn’t very prevalent down here.

            So this guy – who works as an electrical vocational aide – teams up with C#1. You need new wiring on your headphones and C#1 tells you, “I got a guy.” Problem is, your speakers are coming out, replaced by older, crackly ones in the shop. And your speakers? They’re going in someone else’s headphones – for a price of course.

            And C#1, well he’s gone from church group to church group. He’s a Jehovah Witness now. He’ll spout doctrine and verse all the while pocketing his thirty pieces of silver.

            Then we come to C#2. This guy has the skin color of the Speaker of the House. He too is on his return trip to the rodeo – third in all. He lost most of his twenties, part of his thirties, and now at 41 and with two years remaining – his entry into his forties. C#2 is a prick; sorry, but there is no other way to describe him. He is angry, hateful, bigoted, and smart enough to be dangerous. He is a very smart man and that may bother me more than anything else. He’s smart and yet so dumb to the reality of life around him. He sees color and class and judges by those arbitrary lines.

            C#2 is inmate assistant to the Catholic deacon who comes every Sunday – 52 weeks a year – and leads a dozen or inmates in worship (once a month a priest comes with the deacon to perform confession and communion). This seventy-year old man felt called in retirement to work in prison, ministering to Catholics behind bars. His assistant professes to be devout, yet his words – about blacks, Hispanics, gays, and women – speak louder than his faith.

            I asked him the other day – as he was charging his usurious interest rate on store-boxed ramen noodles and cookies, “What kind of store-box would Jesus run?” His answer: “Fuck you Larry. Jesus never had to do time with these assholes.” Couldn’t argue with that logic!

            C#2 represents all the separation you see in here. Guys feel no loyalty, no comradeship, no empathy that “we’re all in this together.” So, prejudice and ignorance fester and guys are drawn to crazy theories – on both ends of the spectrum.

            “What’s in it for me?” That’s the mantra of C#2. And, I don’t recall seeing that anywhere in the Sermon on the Mount. I can’t help thinking old Karl Marx (the unfunny Marx brother!) must have coined his expression, “religion is the opiate of the masses,” inside a prison. Because in here, guys use religion exactly the opposite of what God intends. C#2 is an apostle alright, an apostle of anger, hatred, and separation.

            Finally there’s C#3. I must confess I am conflicted by #3. He can be charming – especially to your visitors when your paths cross in the VI room. I’ve seen him give to those without. But then … suffice it to say, this isn’t his first rodeo – nor will it be his last rodeo. Simply put, he runs too many hustles, is too dirty, to avoid detection.

            Need cologne? See C#3. Certain religions are allowed access to “prayer oils.” C#3 fronts dozens of orders through Muslim inmates. The bottles come in; he breaks them down by dram. We’re not talking “Sandalwood” and “Myrrh” available on the commissary. We’re talking CK, Polo, Kenneth Cole, Hermes, you name it. And most of these guys have never worn cologne or aftershave so they bathe in it.

            Then there’s his phone scam. He sells “Google numbers” for $25.00 a pop. A phony local address and one of his 100 local Google numbers gets you $0.99 per minute calls instead of $2.00 or $3.00 per minute via DOC’s provider GTL. C#3 recycles the numbers to new inmates when current “users” transfer or go home.

            What C#3 doesn’t realize is the Feds (who are already looking at him for something else) know all about his “Google scam.” A few months ago, DOC put out a directive prohibiting money orders for “fronted long-distance numbers.”

            Finally, C#3 had his wife send in “going home” clothes to guys with thumb drives sewn in the waistband or hemline. One of those thumb drives found their way into another building and was confiscated during “computer crisis #1.” And yes, the powers that be here know he’s dirty.

            C#3 sits around reading books by TV preachers telling everyone he’s down to 15 months at which time he’ll leave and live a fairy tale life with his wife. I think it’s called cognitive dissonance; your behavior is opposite your words. In here, its C#3 being C#3.

            I watch and shake my head. It’s no wonder two out of three guys are back inside within 36 months. The sad thing with the three Cs is they all have strong family support. They are all smart. They don’t need to run the prison cons; they don’t need the anger, the arrogance, the conniving. They have a chance at a real life outside of here. But, they blow it. They didn’t learn anything from their first trip (or trips) to “the rodeo.” This is a moral tale with no happy ending. I wouldn’t expect any less in here.