Swampland – Pt. 2: Rats

            Years ago, my younger son – then in Kindergarten – came home and announced at dinner that his best friend wasn’t speaking to him. When we inquired why, he matter-of-factly announced, “I told the teacher on him.” My immediate reaction was right out of “Sopranos”: “Son, dead finks can’t squeal.” He laughed and for weeks after that, as we would run around the yard, I would hear him giggle and repeat my words over and over, “dead finks can’t squeal.” It also gave my then wife and I a chance to instill a life lesson on our son, one I had to call on a number of times since my arrest: Namely, unless there is an imminent danger of harm to someone, I won’t be a teller.

            Rats – no one in prison is as despised as a rat, a guy who goes to those in charge and tells on his fellow inmates. And yet, this system couldn’t survive without guys ratting each other out. There is no honor in telling. Usually the guy doing the telling is already implicated in his own wrongdoing. “Tell us what you know and we’ll go easy on you.” Too often, that is what passes for “good” police work.

            In here it happens daily. And, it’s usually the guys who beat their chests the loudest and say they hate guys who talk. Case in point – two idiots in here (Heemer and Fat Dom) steal a case of laundry detergent from the loading dock. Why? Who knows. The dock area has a camera and when the case turned up missing, “let’s go to the video tape.” Both knuckleheads are locked up for theft. Here’s where the “rat” comes to play.

            Fat Dom is a scumbag. There’s no other way to say it. He tries to act like one of the five percenter philosopher kings, spouting off multi-syllable words, which he neither understands nor correctly pronounces, yet he is one of the most ignorant men I have ever met in my life. He sells out Heemer. Before you know it, Fat Dom is out of the hole – guilty plea on a theft charge and loss of a little good time (but hey, his “bid” ends in May!). Heemer? He’s being transferred. The irony is, Heemer is a follower. Dom is the truly corrupt one. But Dom regularly is in the officers’ ears so his behavior is overlooked.

            And that’s the problem with Rats. You never know when they’ll come after you. Piss one off and your name gets in front of the officers.

            What does it say about the system that they rely on guys telling on each other to maintain order? George Orwell, in his classic novel “1984” described power vesting in “Big Brother” who knew your every move, even your thoughts. And “Big Brother” made sure folks told on each other. Big Brother is alive and well in here and relying on dishonest, dirty inmates to tell on other inmates. It’s just another sign of how dirty this place is.

           

"Healing" Orwell Style

There was a time in America where high school students were required to read great literature in English class. Twain, Hemingway, Steinbeck were part of the curriculum. So was George Orwell’s “1984.” It’s tough to believe that I was in school before 1984, the year Orwell’s novel declared – “Big Brother” would be the interwoven with every facet of your life. It was a portrait of a world where freedom was usurped by pure, unadulterated government power. It was a world of “wordspeak” where words such as “peace” meant the exact opposite. It was a world very much like prison.

            I know, the people behind bars deserve to be treated the way we are because after all, we broke the law. That’s a great way to look at things until you – or a loved one – find yourself on the wrong end of that relationship. You’re no longer an “us,” you’re a “them.” And, there’s nothing worse than being a “them,” when all the power is vested in the “us.”

            Wordspeak is alive and well in Virginia’s Department of “Corrections” (corrections – “to effect change, to amend.” Funny, prison does none of that).  This past week posters appeared throughout the compound that our little slice of heaven here was now classified as a “healing environment.” What does that mean? We are being housed in a “kinder, gentler” facility, one where punishment ceased when we walked through the gate. Everything here is now geared to rebuilding the errant man and preparing him for “successful recently into society as a productive citizen.” Beautiful! The words bring a tear to my eye. Except …

            Except that it isn’t true. At the same time that the posters went up about “healing,” and “respect,” and “restoration,” memos were put up in the building advising the population that “Big Brother is watching” –  more video surveillance; more audio surveillance. Stricter visitation rules, general movement rules, and living area rules were put in place with the proscription: “Failure to comply will lead to disciplinary charges and a reduction in the offender’s good time earning level.” Doesn’t sound very “healing” to me.

            And that’s just the point. Prisons are not organized and operated to be places of atonement and redemption. They are filthy, crowded, violent places where control matters more than correction. They are places where individual wardens wield virtually unyielding power to put rules in place as they wish. Each prison becomes a mini-fiefdom for the warden in power and, like nations around the world; some prisons are run like Norway while others operate like North Korea.

            Can you create a healing environment when the population, largely uneducated, ignorant, and feeling bitter because of the clearly inequitable treatment meted out by the American justice system thinks the “new and improved” re-entry initiative is just a rehashing of the tired, old re-entry programs of the ‘80’s and ‘90’s? Can you create a healing environment when the Commonwealth falsely declares it’s “truth in sentencing” laws and it’s abolition of parole have made the state safer; when sentences don’t provide for sizeable early release for those truly committed to rehabilitation, taking responsibility for their actions and returning to society as productive citizens? Can you create a healing environment when those released are treated like second-class citizens denied full restoration in society?

            Prison is Orwell’s “1984” come to life. Funny thing is, the “street” is getting a whole lot like prison, what with expanded drone use by Federal and state government and with security camera use on the increase.

            Orwell understood you can’t be truly free and secure at the same time. Too often, in the name of safety and security, Americans casually cede their inherent, God-given freedoms. And, wordspeak like “Patriot Act” become common place terms all the while more freedom is eroded.

            In here, guys expect the worst. The more hopeful it sounds, the more it’s going to be used to control and add time. Perhaps Orwell was a seer because he understood what prison was all about in the 21^st century. Funny how prison mirrors life.

 

Counselors

Every inmate ends up relying on their “counselor”. That’s a strange word to use, given there is no counseling that actually takes place. Much like George Orwell detailed in his great novel 1984, there isn’t any counseling done by the counselors, it’s just a word. Like the term “jumbo shrimp”, calling these folks “inmate counselors” is an oxymoron.



The concept is good. Each inmate is assigned a counselor who develops an “annual plan” to move the inmate toward release. Problem is, every inmate’s “plan” says virtually the same thing: “Keep charge free and get a job.”


The other problem is the people that work in “treatment” (that’s “DOC speak” for the counselor’s department at the prison) are lazy and not very bright. That may sound harsh, but the truth usually is. Counselors – more than any other operation at the prison, except for security – are the crucial link between an inmate and his release. Each building has an assigned counselor with an office in the building itself.


But, the counselor never shows up to the building to meet with inmates. We’ve seen our counselor less than two hours over the last two weeks.


DOC procedures require each inmate to have an annual review with their counselor. August is almost concluded and yet none of the August inmates have had their reviews. And this isn’t an aberration; this is “standard operating procedure” – run 30 to60 days late on reviews.


The counselors avoid meeting with inmates because, well candidly, they don’t understand their own policies. Take the case of Kareem. Kareem was sent to prison at the age of 17 for a second degree murder. Four weeks ago, at the age of 31, he left prison. He should have left the first of June, moved to New Jersey to live with his Mom and start college. Why didn’t he? Good question.


Six months ago he met with the counselor and filled out the interstate compact forms that are, in essence, a request from Virginia to New Jersey to accept a released inmate. The counselor lost the paperwork. Without written authorization from New Jersey to accept him, Kareem had no home plan. No home plan and DOC can hold you an additional 30 days. It normally takes 90-120 days for interstate compact approval.


It took Kareem’s family in New Jersey raising hell to expedite the paperwork. The counselor just shrugged it off.


Then there’s Malik. Malik has been locked up for the past 20 years. Throughout his entire bid, his wife remained by his side. They decided to renew their vows for their 25th Anniversary. Malik meets with the chaplain and the warden and the ceremony is approved. He submits a list of guests to the counselor who will be coming in for the ceremony. Security approves the list (background checks had to be run).


The “big day” arrives and the guests file in. All that is except for the wife. The counselor “forgot” to include her on the list. The ceremony had to be postponed and rescheduled due to this “small glitch” (the counselor’s words).


Two examples out of dozens collected. Fact is, you want to know something about a DOC policy or procedure – research it yourself.


Each day guys are given incorrect information; paperwork is lost and/or improperly filled out. These are the state professionals charged with getting inmates rehabilitated. Is it any reason there’s a 40% recidivism rate?