Prison Journal: Day 8,152
December 4, 2009
Prison Journal: Day 8,152
Yesterday I heard a news report on NPR and CNN announcing that the Deputy Attorney General had resigned. He said that goals had been achieved, but the reporters insinuated that the Deputy Attorney General—who is like the Chief Operating Officer of the Department of Justice—did not have the requisite expertise to oversee the criminal justice system. I hope that when Attorney General Eric Holder appoints a new Deputy to oversee the Department of Justice, reforms will come to make the prison system more conducive to preparing offenders for the challenges that await release.
The prison system is exceptionally effective at warehousing human beings, isolating them from society, and perpetuating a cycle of failure. An appointment of a new Director of the Bureau of Prisons may bring reforms that allow more people in prison to work toward earning freedom. People respond better to the promise of incentives than they do to the threat of further punishments, and I’m hoping that Mr. Holder will appoint a Deputy Attorney General who orders the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to rely upon research in bringing about a smarter criminal justice system.
A smarter criminal justice system would protect society and save taxpayers billions of dollars by reducing recidivism. The method to achieve such goals, I think, is to recognize that although violent and recalcitrant offenders require prolonged imprisonment, separating non-violent and non-threatening prisoners from society for too long eradicates hope, lessening the chances for those inside prison to reform or prepare for law abiding lives upon release.
Instead of eradicating hope, incentives would encourage those in prison to commit toward gradual, measurable change. They could work toward more educational or vocational opportunities, more telephone or visiting privileges, improved access to community. These reforms could begin with a Deputy Attorney General’s appointment of a new BOP Director, and I’m looking forward to one who embraces President Obama’s vision for hope and one who believes in an individual’s capacity to reform.
This morning I ran only three miles because I was expecting Carole to visit me.
[consecutive running log: 3,176 miles over 356 days]
Prison Journal: Day 8,046
August 20, 2009
I’m sitting in my cubicle, with my feet posted on the steel post that holds up my rack. It’s 4:04 on Thursday afternoon, and after a long day of writing, I’m waiting for the guards to walk by for the daily census count. Once they pass, and I finish writing this entry, I’ll lie down for the evening.
I’m pleased with the work I completed today. I finished writing chapter eight of Earning Freedom. This pivotal chapter takes me through early 2002, an essential part of my life because that was the year Carole reached out to me. I’ve been looking forward to completing this chapter because all the future chapters of my life include Carole. I wrote through page 369 of the manuscript.
Following the work on my manuscript, which I began before 2:00 this morning, I wrote a letter to Jonathan, one of the lawyers on my legal team. In a speech, Eric Holder gave to the ABA earlier this month, the Attorney General wrote about the importance of thinking smart on crime. He said that reducing recidivism was an important component of that strategy, and I wrote to Jonathan to express efforts I make to reduce recidivism through my work.
In Earning Freedom, I hope to make this case in a compelling way for readers. I’m on track to finish a complete draft of the manuscript before Thanksgiving.
This morning I ran 10 miles. The tally now stands at 2,228 miles over the past 251 consecutive days of running.
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Prison Journal: Day 8,045
August 19, 2009
A federal appeals court recently ordered the state of California to reduce its prison population by 40,000 people. Many other states are also finding that the prison systems they operate are unsustainable and waste billions in taxpayer resources by confining too many offenders for too long.
I’m used to these news reports that showcase the problems individual states are having with funding their prison systems. I’m more surprised to have seen that Eric Holder, our country’s top law enforcement officer, talk about the importance of being smart on crime rather than tough on crime.
One place Mr. Holder can start is by installing a director of the BOP who embraces the enlightened approach of this new administration. Those who run the BOP continue the tired old policies of “isolate and punish,” demanding that prisoners serve as much time as possible inside costly prisons. I’m in my 23rd year of confinement for a nonviolent offense, and prison administrators persist in refusing me 13 days of good time that my sentence authorizes me to receive.
I’d welcome reforms to our federal prison system and to sentencing policies in the United States. Taxpayers have spent too much confining me already, and another four years serves no purpose but “to preserve the institution of corrections,” as BOP personnel are determined to do, consequences and costs to taxpayers or citizens be damned.
Four more years to go at most, and I’ll use every minute of that time preparing to triumph over the obstacles that accompany a quarter century in prison. This morning I woke at 1:37 to resume my writing of chapter eight for Earning Freedom. I advanced the manuscript to page 364.
I ran 10 miles in the morning, bringing my tally to 2,218 miles over the past 250 consecutive days.
Wednesday, 19 August 2009
Prison Journal: Day 8,031
August 5, 2009
During the 22 years I’ve been confined, I’ve never heard a U.S. Attorney General say that America’s dependence on incarceration is economically unsustainable. Yet that was what Attorney General Eric Holder told the nation’s lawyers at the annual meeting of the American Bar Association.
Mr. Holder isn’t the first high profile government leader to call for smarter incarceration policies. In 2003, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy said the same thing. I’m optimistic that change is coming. At the same time, I recognize that I have an ongoing responsibility for the challenges I will face upon release.
This morning I began my preparations at 1:51 am, when I sat down to outline chapter seven of my new manuscript, Earning Freedom. I feel good about the progress I made, and I began writing the first pages of the chapter. By the time I put my writing gear away, I wrote through page 281 of the manuscript.
I ran 10 miles in the early morning, boosting my mileage to 2,092 miles over the past 236 days.
Following my run, the generous staff sponsor of our youth outreach program, TOAD, provided an assortment of fresh pastries for everyone in our group. That was a real treat, a gesture that everyone appreciated.
Then a bit later in the morning, I enjoyed a lengthy telephone call with a lawyer who has joined my legal team to help me. I’m feeling very blessed to have their support.
Prison Journal: Day 7,905
April 1, 2009
The early morning news announced that Senator Ted Stevens, or former senator, would not be coming to prison. The new attorney general determined that prosecutors had handled the case inappropriately and violated the former senator’s rights to a fair trial. Rather than defend the prosecutorial misconduct, the attorney general made arrangements to dismiss the indictment and conviction against the former senator.
Many men in prison feel as if this is another example of the wealthy and powerful receiving favorable treatment. After all, the government had convicted him through a jury trial. Ordinary defendants serve prison terms after criminal convictions. This defendant would escape the justice applied to others, and the prisoners with whom I spoke expressed outrage.
From my perspective, Eric Holder’s decision to dismiss the indictment against Stevens was a good sign. Stevens had been convicted under the Bush justice department. The prosecutors under that leadership abused their power, and the new attorney general said he would not stand for abuse of power in his justice department. I felt optimistic that Eric Holder would extend the same new leadership over the prison system.
I intend to work harder to write about what I perceive to be injustice in the prison system. Prison administrators do not have the power or capacity to adjust injustice with regard to prison terms for nonviolent offenders, though they play a significant role in shaping the policies by which prisoners live. An abuse of discretion conditions perpetuating cycles of failure. I must work to bring such abuses to the attention of the American citizens who fund this system.
The injustice that irks me most afflicts all prisoners and it contributes to recidivism. I refer to the obstacles administrators erect to block prisoners from nurturing strong family ties. As Congress has found, strong family ties represent the surest ways to lower recidivism rates. Yet in the prisons where I’ve been held over the past 22 years, prison administrators restrict telephone, visiting, and communication mechanisms. Those restrictions obstruct prisoners who strive to prepare for law-abiding lives upon release.
Continuing this pattern of writing about what I perceive as injustice in the prison system, I wrote four blog posts in the early morning today. At 7:00 I walked to the track to begin my exercise. I ran six miles, then interrupted my run because I was scheduled to attend a TOAD meeting. We coordinated and rehearsed a presentation for an audience that would visit the prison in the evening. After the practice session I returned to the track to run the remaining four miles, and I followed the run with 370 pushups. I spent the afternoon organizing and clearing out the stacks of paper that had been accumulating in my locker. My running tally, incidentally, is now 970 miles over the past 110 consecutive days.
Before the evening TOAD presentation began, I wrote a lengthy letter to my grandmother and another letter to my brother-in-law. During the meeting that began at 6:00, all 12 members of the TOAD group spoke for the teenagers in the audience and we performed three skits. I didn’t get to sleep until 8:20, which was the latest I had gone to bed since the year began.
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
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