Sam’s Jail Blog: Tuesday, May 12

Tuesday, May 12:

I was reclassified earlier in the week and sent down to the gymnasium, aptly renamed the MPR because housing prisoners in a gym is considered inhumane. There are 27 metal cots, 4-6 of which are typically empty. There’s one bathroom, no shower, a multi-function workout station, and a door that leads to a fenced-in yard. The door is opened sometime in the morning and closed sometime after dark.

The prisoners here don’t seem to care much about the room. They don’t bother cleaning the tables after eating, trash is often left lying around, and the bathroom 20+ guys use is pretty disgusting. The last group had a sense of community. Here the prisoners are primarily in their 20s, many are self-centered, immature, most hold a very negative outlook, and at least two can’t read. The guards (same people) are much more talkative and friendly down here compared to upstairs. The vast majority of their crimes stem from a drug problem exacerbated by the drug war and punitive government system.

This program is the jail’s idea of rehabilitating prisoners a few months before they are released. After spending a few days here, I’m appalled at what I’ve seen. It’s a strange cross between a chain gang, a slave plantation, and a pre-Industrial Revolution company-owned mining town.

Some prisoners request to be moved here so they can work, while others re drafted into working without their consultation. The jobs: prison laundry, night cleaning crew, kitchen duty, the farm, the nursing home, or with a laundry list of approvals, work release.

Let’s take the latter first. These are prisoners, so the jobs open to them are limited. One guy makes $9/hour or about $350/week. Out of that he has to pay $20/day of work to the jail. You can work up to 6 days a week. In his case that’s $100/week. The jail is outside of town so he spends $40-50/week on gas. He has to have a cell phone in case he’s late, the care breaks down or they want to check up on him. There goes another $15/week. Visiting residences is prohibited, so laundry must be done at the laundromat. No one may visit at work or bring lunch. Eating at restaurants is prohibited, so food must be bought at the grocery store in the morning and left in the car where he must also eat if not at work.

Everything he needs at the jail must be bought at the company store’s commissary inflated prices, which just went up. (2 weeks ago a box of saltines, 4 sleeves, cost $1.75, and now 1 sleeve costs $1.30) His car obviously has expenses associated with it, and some how he’s supposed to save money before he gets out. As if that’s not enough, they do site visits to check on people. The problem is, they show up in a Sheriff’s car wearing a correctional outfit. I’m sure it does wonders for his career and professional advancement.

In my opinion, that’s the best program they are offered. Of course my work requires odd hours, occasional travel, and I edit at home. This program is deisgned to put people in low skilled, low wage jobs that turn out good little obedient subjects who pay the government’s taxes and do as they are told. More to come…

Kelly Pouliot corrected me on a previous post maintaining that her cannabis use is part of her past. Last time we spoke on the subject I asked her how she felt about jailing (caging) peaceful drug users. her response was, “I didn’t put them here.” So this time I asked if she would feel the same if it were her or one of her 3 children? She told me “They’re not.” The fact that it’s a personal choice she’s made for herself didn’t seem to register. (nor did the idea of self ownership or victimless “crimes”)

Anyway, to my captors, welcome to FreeKeene.com, and thanks for reading. Check out the “new here” link, and the free audio book. The Market for Liberty does a great job of explaining our ideas and philosophy.

SamIAm