Yesterday afternoon I interviewed a man who returned to prison at Taft Camp because he violated conditions of his supervised release. He cited a list of excuses for the decisions he made that returned him to prison, though as I probed him with further questions, it became clear to us both that the man is serving an additional prison term because he did not plan properly.
I began writing the story at 3:30 this morning, and I finished writing it in the late morning, after completing my exercise. Carole will post the story on supervised release after it’s typed. I learn a lot from interviewing my fellow prisoners. Mostly, I find reinforcements for my certainty that a man must set clear plans in motion to succeed upon release.
Listening to people who return to prison after release both educates and troubles me. I pepper them with questions about what I can expect to encounter once I walk out from prison boundaries. I ask about halfway house restrictions, about travel requirements, about issues like health care, obtaining credit, insurance, and so on. The information I gather helps me prepare, though I’m also troubled by the precedent they have set.
Every time a person fails upon release from prison, I know that authorities and citizens become more cynical about all people in prison. I expect to encounter severe prejudice as a result of the bad decision I made when I was in my early 20s. Although I can make significant efforts to contribute and reconcile with society, I am sure that many will always consider me as the young man who was arrested in 1987 rather than the middle-aged man I’ve become after 22 years in prison.
At 7:00 this morning I reported to health services for an allergy pill. The pill has removed that dizzy spell I was enduring and I’m grateful to feel healthy and strong, and alert. I ran 10 miles, followed with 200 pushups, and returned to resume my work. I wrote a long letter to Dr. Joan Petersilia of Stanford Law School, then concluded the article I began writing in the early morning.
I continue reading An American in the Gulag, and I’m daunted by how much better this author writes as compared to me. I must work harder.
My running tally now stands at 1,693 miles over the past 192 days.
Monday, 22 June 2009
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