Today Charlie, a new prisoner at Taft Camp, sat down to talk with me in the room where I write. He self-surrendered to the camp two weeks ago, and amazingly, in that span of time he’s been able to surmise all that is wrong with the prison system. Charlie is serving a nine-month sentence for credit card fraud and he wanted to advise me on what I should write about in order to improve the prison system.
Charlie suggested that instead of writing the blogs, articles, and book projects to apprise readers who want to learn more about the prison system, I should spend my time more productively by writing only to the U.S. president and individual members of Congress. He said that I should work to persuade our country’s leadership to enact laws that would send prisoners into the armed forces. Rather than wasting time in prison camps, anyone serving time in prison should instead be inducted into the military. The armed forces would teach discipline and train the prisoners for productive employment, Charlie said, and the military could benefit from the additional troops.
I agreed with Charlie that his position had merit. In fact, I told him that in times past, authorities did make better use of those who served sentences for violating criminal laws. More than 100 years ago, for example, Alexander Machonochie made a name for himself by contributing to the settlement of Australia with British prisoners. Machonochie was the warden of Norfolk Island and he governed his prison colony with the use of incentives. Every prisoner, he believed, deserved the power to earn freedom through merit. Rather than wasting taxpayer funds by warehousing people, the British prisoners at Norfolk Island off the coast of Australia worked. Through their contributions the prisoners earned gradually increasing levels of freedom.
Even judges in the United States once offered offenders an option of signing up for military service rather than serving time in prison. Those days have long since passed, however. I explained to Charlie some of what I’ve learned through my long journey in prison. Today’s prison system is one of isolation and warehousing, without even the pretense of an effort to prepare individuals for law abiding lives upon release. We’re fortunate at Taft camp, where opportunities exist for us to work on independent study projects or goals that will improve our lives. But the system isn’t designed to reward such behavior. Besides that, lobbyists who represent recipients of the $60 billions of taxpayer funds that keep these human warehouses afloat resist changes that would slow the easy money.
My remaining time in prison is limited and I must it wisely while I am here. I don’t have the platform yet to devote my life to prison reform. Instead, I told Charlie, I must continue working to ensure I emerge from prison strong. That’s why I will stay on course with the work I’ve been doing for so long.
I ran 5 miles and did 400 pushups
[consecutive running log: 4,222 miles in 476 days]
[pushups in 2010: 33,300]
Friday, 2 April 2010
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