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Prison Journal: Day 8,412
August 21, 2010
In 2008 I expressed considerable enthusiasm in the campaign of Barack Obama. I had read both of his books and hundreds of news articles that described his leadership. My optimism surged with his election. Some of the Republicans who were incarcerated alongside me did not share my enthusiasm. Richard was one of them, and today he asked me with sarcasm when President Obama was going to let us out of prison. When I didn’t respond to him, Richard followed up by saying that Obama was like any other politician who would say anything to get elected. I disagreed.
For one thing, I don’t recall President Obama ever saying that he would let anyone out of prison. Nor do I Think that he has a history of saying whatever was necessary to get elected. From my perspective, he is the president I admire most precisely because he doesn’t say what he doesn’t mean—regardless of the popularity of his statements. He leads as he deems is in the best interest of the country. I admire him and my enthusiasm for his presidency remains high.
My support in President Obama was not rooted in expectations that he would open the prison gates. Rather, it was in his philosophy that America needed a strong middle class to prosper. During the decades of my imprisonment, America has become more fragmented and I looked to his leadership to unite us. It is a monumental challenge and I admire him for staying the course.
Certainly, I think the odds of meaningful prison reform are strongest under his leadership. But I’m not delusional about the priority of prison reform as compared to all of the other crises our country faces. We’re still engaged in two wars. We have high unemployment and millions of Americans are losing their homes to foreclosure. The country has problems, and a fragmented Congress makes it difficult for meaningful reforms. In time, prison reform will come—even though I recognize that my release may come before then.
Rather than expecting release to come because of his election, what I felt was greater hope for our country. I remember the crises that came as a consequence of President Bush’s decisions. The country did not support his decision to invade Iraq. There were no WMDs, nor was there an immediate threat. The “preemptive strike” didn’t make sense. We had a budget surplus when Clinton entered office, but the Bush presidency led us into trillions of spending. It led to deregulations that brought the financial crisis. As his presidency came to a close, our economy was on the verge of collapse. People forgot those dark days. It is the leadership of President Obama that is righting our course, pulling us out of the ditch.
I don’t wait for outside forces to change my life. That responsibility is mine. I don’t wait around for prison reform. Instead, I work hard and I work every day to prepare. Bitterness consumes Richard, but I am filled with optimism because of the many blessings that come my way, because I am not sitting around waiting for anyone else to change the circumstances of my life. Rather, I take action.
Ran 10 miles / 5,505 miles in 612 days
400 pushups / 90,900 pushups in 2010
Saturday, 21 August 2010
Prison Journal: Day 8,410
August 19, 2010
I recently received a letter from a man who questioned my commitment to transparency. He believes that I shouldn’t write so much about the importance of transparency because my readers don’t expect prisoners to lead transparent lives. I don’t agree with his advice.
Living a transparent life is a virtue, I think, and I rank it among my highest values. It is the reason that I am so careful about documenting everything I think, say, and do. I intend to leave prison one day and to begin a career that will bring fulfillment while simultaneously contributing to the improvement of our society. Preparing for such aspirations requires daily commitment—it is what distinguishes my adjustment from others who serve lengthy prison terms. By writing about it every day I hope to dispel misperceptions that many people in society have about prison.
I’m aware of the high recidivism rates that plague our nation’s prison system. According to a Senate bill for a panel to study the American prison system, Senator Jim Webb estimates that more than six of every 10 people who proceed through America’s prison system return to confinement upon release. It seems that the longer America exposes offenders to “corrections,” the less likely that individual becomes to function in society.
By living transparently I show the discipline with which I transcend the obstacles wrought by confinement. The more I write about the steps I take to prepare, the more contribution I make to the national dialogue on the need for prison reform. Further, I strive to inspire others in prison who live without hope. They need role models that show how an individual can create meaning in life despite multiple decades in confinement—it doesn’t materialize by accident, but comes through deliberate choices, discipline, and commitment. As Winston Churchill once said, to succeed means to encounter failure after failure without losing enthusiasm. Prisoners who embrace such mottos can triumph.
Confining nonviolent offenders for multiple decades is wasteful, expensive, and stupid. Prisoners who adjust with a 100 percent commitment to succeed upon release can further the argument for prison reform. I live transparently, documenting my every day through this online journal, with hopes of changing attitudes about America’s disgraceful prison system.
Ran 10 miles / 5,490 miles in 615 days
500 pushups / 90,200 pushups in 2010
Thursday, 19 August 2010
Prison Journal: Day 8,409
August 18, 2010
Today my wife had lunch with Dr. Joan Petersilia, a distinguished professor at Stanford Law School. I’m thrilled that Carole had an opportunity to meet with Joan because I anticipate that she will play a role in helping me overcome some of the obstacles that await my release. She has been an inspiration to me for longer than a decade and I feel privileged that she supports my efforts to contribute to society.
I read about Professor Petersilia much earlier in my term, when I was studying America’s prison system through graduate school at Hofstra. She was then a professor at UC Irvine and a leader at the Rand Institute, a think tank in Santa Monica. What intrigued me about Professor Petersilia was her keen interest in prisoner reentry. She recognized a link between education and lower recidivism rates, concluding that it was both wise and cost-efficient to educate people in prison.
Last year I began a correspondence with Professor Petersilia after she invited me to contribute a chapter to a new book she was coauthoring with another professor. Then I read When Prisoners Come Home, her book on prisoner reentry. Since then she has extended a formal invitation for me to speak at Stanford Law School upon my release, and I’m eager to address such a distinguished audience.
Cultivating mentors from the academic community has been an important part of my adjustment. I have always anticipated the resistance I would encounter upon release because of my lengthy prison term. That awareness inspired me to take action. I reached out, inviting people I respected to join my support network. It was a good strategy because it resulted in my finding numerous mentors, including some of the world’s most distinguished penologists to guide me.
I encourage the other prisoners around me to think about the challenges that await them. Prison is only a temporary problem. The real struggle awaits each prisoner’s release. That is when he (or she) must face an unforgiving public and cynical employers. I’m always thinking about such challenges, and I feel well-prepared to confront them successfully. All of my decisions relate to my preparations for the career I want to lead upon release. Such aspirations influence every part of my day: the time I open my eyes every morning, the work I do throughout the day, my daily exercise, the books I read, the sentences I write, the people with whom I converse, and the time I close my eyes to sleep. All of my choices are deliberate because I’m well aware of how my lengthy imprisonment will influence the rest of my life. I’m determined to succeed in spite of it, and success will not come by accident.
Ran 10 miles / 5,480 miles in 614 days
500 pushups / 89,700 pushups in 2010
Wednesday, 18 August 2010
Prison Journal: Day 8,408
August 17, 2010
People in prison should think carefully about the high hurdles they must surmount if they are committed to succeeding upon release. Unemployment rates remain stubbornly high and economic leaders expect them to remain so. If people without prison records find it difficult to build careers, then those with criminal records must plan on facing resistance from employers. Anticipations of struggle upon release and a 100% commitment to overcome them have guided my adjustment through every day of my journey.
A key component of my strategy to overcome was to earn valid academic credentials. Recently I received a message from a caring friend who works to help prisoners. She was inquiring about an education program from a for-profit organization about which I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, I believe that students can educate themselves through all types of structured courses. But on the other, I’ve read numerous findings that report on the ineffectiveness of for-profit colleges. The New York Times has been reporting that people who graduate from for-profit colleges have a much more difficult time finding employment.
I don’t think it is wise for prisoners to invest financial resources to enroll in diploma mills. Those types of unaccredited programs waste time and money. I wrote an article on education programs that described some of the accredited university programs that prisoners may pursue through correspondence. Early in my prison term when I was working toward an undergraduate degree, I completed several courses through Ohio University. The courses were extremely well designed and every credit I earned was transferable to any other university.
If I were advising another prisoner on how to prepare for the challenges that await release, I would encourage the prisoner to study toward meaningful academic credentials. When I say meaningful, I refer to programs that educated people (and potential employers) would respect. It doesn’t serve a useful purpose, I don’t think, to waste money and considerable energy to study toward credentials that others will not recognize and that will not have much influence on opening employment opportunities.
After earning an undergraduate degree from Mercer University and a graduate from Hofstra University I enrolled in a law school that was not accredited. Although I completed the first year of the program, I was disappointed in the school and considered it a waste of money. Since I didn’t value the program I declined to continue. Instead, I studied independently, learning just as much but not wasting money for tuition that would result in a degree that no one recognized.
Ran 10 miles / 5,470 miles in 613 days
500 pushups / 89,200 pushups in 2010
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
Prison Journal: Day 8,407
August 16, 2010
I received a message from Gaby, a college student, who wrote that she is studying in a criminal justice program and that her professor has designed the course around my work. The students are reviewing my books and articles to broaden their understanding of the challenges long-term prisoners have in preparing for successful reentry to society.
Whenever I hear that professors use my work to contribute to the education of others I feel as if I’m leading a meaningful life. Too many people in our country have misperceptions about prison. The prison lobbyists have been extremely effective at controlling the message, inundating the media with misleading stories that promote an irresponsible message on the need for tougher prison terms. Violent, predatory offenders may need prolonged separation from society, but our country confines more than 2.3 million offenders at a cost to taxpayers of $75 billion per year. Tens of thousands serve sentences that are far too long and that do more harm to society than good.
The lengthy sentences for nonviolent offenders of victimless crimes do harm society because the deplete taxpayer resources. Those resources pilfer from budgets of health care providers, educational systems, and necessary social services. I’m glad for every opportunity to contribute to the dialogue on the need for prison reform and I feel honored that Gaby’s professor uses my work to illustrate this need for college students.
I will continue to write content that helps more Americans understand how their taxpayer dollars are misused to fund this bloated prison system. While the private sector suffers from high unemployment rates, our growing prison system requires more and more prison workers to warehouse humanity. Again, prisons serve a useful purpose in society when they confine dangerous, predatory offenders. Legislators and administrators misuse them, however, when they use limited public resources to confine nonviolent offenders for multiple decades.
My term is coming to an end. I look forward to a long career of helping more Americans understand why the system is such a colossal waste of money and human lives. Besides that, I will speak on the need for prison reforms that would make the system more effective in measurable ways.
Ran 10 miles / 5,460 miles in 612 days
500 pushups / 88,700 pushups in 2010
Monday, 16 August 2010
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