Prison Journal: Day 7,951
May 17, 2009
President Obama delivered the commencement address to the graduating class at Notre Dame University. I did not hear his speech, but as I walked by one of the television rooms I saw his image on the screen. As he was speaking, I thought for a moment about a commencement speech that a former Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court gave to a graduating class from Pace University, in New York.
I did not listen to Justice Buger’s speech either, but I read the text from the speech in a book many years ago. The title of the speech was “Factories with Fences,” and Justice Burger delivered it in the mid-1980s, around the same time that my prison term began.
The reason that speech stuck with me through all those years was that I found it so encouraging, giving me rise so much optimism. Justice Burger called upon those young university graduates to work toward prison reform. It may have been a peculiar speech for a conservative justice to deliver, as America was then embarking on an imprisonment binge that would quadruple prison population levels. Though a line I read from that speech really inspired the adjustment that has carried me through so many years. He called for prison reforms that would allow prisoners to work toward “Earning and learning their way to freedom.”
As Supreme Court Justice, he did not have the capacity to usher in such reforms. That task had to fall to legislators. They were the only body that could reform laws. In all the years that have passed since Justice Burger delivered his speech, however, the only legislative reforms with regard to the prisons have made the system more onerous.
I don’t expect President Obama spoke about prison reform today. So many problems confront our country right now that the 2.3 million people locked inside prison boundaries do not merit much attention. Upon my release I intend to give a voice to this issue. As Senator Jim Webb said, I too believe our prison system represents “a national disgrace.” I intend to work toward reforms that will help more of my fellow prisoners emerge as law-abiding contributing citizens. As Justice Burger did, one forum I will pursue to launch this cause will be university speeches.
Today I began my writing at 2:47 AM. At 6:00 I went outside to run. After 10 miles, I now have 1,382 miles logged over the past 156 consecutive days. Following my run I strength trained with 150 pushups and a medicine ball workout. I then returned to my writing.
Sunday, 17 May 2009
Prison Journal: Day 7,925
April 21, 2009
At 3:00 this morning, as I waited for officers to walk by my cubicle for a morning census count, I listened to an NPR broadcast reporting on Pesident Obama’s mandate to cut hundreds of millions in wasteful spending from the U.S. budget. That report inspired me to write a few blogs on the need for prison reform.
It really troubles me to read of how massively our nation’s prison population has grown. I feel a sense of duty and a responsibility, a calling, to influence others to support prison reform. I know that Americans do not generally think about imprisonment until it has a direct influence on their life, or happens when someone close to them is arrested. As a long-term prisoner, however, I can think of myriad ways that our dysfunctional prison system afflicts the life of every taxpaying American.
As I continue reading this wonderful book by Professor Joan Petersilia, I’m amazed at the statistical data. In When Prisoners Come Home, I read that our country incarcerated 196,000 people in 1970. Since then the incarceration rate has grown by more than 1,000 percent. the costs for incarcerating so many people have risen to upsetting levels. American taxpayers now spend well more than a billion dollars every week to isolate and punish offenders.
Where do those tax dollars to fund prison expenditures come from? According to the recently released Pew Report, those funds have been redirected from educational funding, health care funding, and funding for other social services. This year I heard news reports that funding was not available for college programs at California State University to the extent necessary; 10,000 university students could not work toward their degree as a consequence.
Prison spending hits every American, and much of it is unnecessary. I have served 22 years in this system, despite my having been ready to make significant contributions to society a decade ago. We need prison reforms to cut this ridiculous program that causes more harm than good to society. I will keep writing about the need for prison reform.
I ran 10 miles this morning, lifting my tally to 1,049 miles over the past 130 consecutive days.
Tuesday, 21 April 2009
Prison Journal: Day 7,890
March 18, 2009
Many of the men with whom I serve time at Taft Camp seem like children on the days leading up to Christmas. They are giddy with anticipation for the prison reform legislation that they feel certain is about to pass. The talk focuses on bills the Congress is about to introduce that will provide more good time, or legislation that will resume the parole program throughout the federal system. When the inmates approach me with questions on what I’ve heard, I always suggest that it’s more empowering to prepare than to wait.
A successful prison adjustment, from my perspective, requires a commitment of emotions and will. I’ve embraced this strategy from the beginning of my term. It means that I never relinquish control of my aspirations to an outside force. With my conviction comes a lengthy sentence. That prison term represents the hand I must play. I never allowed myself to cling to the possibility than an outside force would change my predicament. Instead, I created opportunities to live a life of meaning in spite of the decades I would serve.
That strategy is not always what my fellow prisoners want to hear. I understand. They feel sad and disconnected from society. Prisoners miss their families and communities. The thought of serving four, five, or ten years in prison paralyzes their spirits. In this era of change, it can feel better to cling to hopes for legislative relief.
As I have written elsewhere, I too am optimistic that our country’s new leadership will reform our nation’s prison system. By 2010, I suspect that the Director of the BOP will transition his management style from a Bush perspective to an Obama perspective. That means I would expect more transparency; I would expect prisoners to have better access to family and community; I would expect more encouragement to prepare for success upon release. Besides those administrative changes, I feel optimistic that the 111th Congress will pass prison-reform legislation that provides relief.
Despite those expectations, I think prisoners must focus on steps they may take to prepare. The emotional roller coaster of waiting for outside forces to improve conditions can debilitate a successful prison adjustment. I advise my fellow prisoners to educate themselves, to make contributions to society, to build stronger networks of support, to improve their fitness or expand their consciousness. Efforts to prepare for the challenges that await release will empower them as such efforts empower me. When I offer such guidance, however, I frequently feel as if I am the wicked older brother who tells his siblings there is no Santa Claus.
I, too, want to resume my life in society. After nearly 22 years of imprisonment, I feel eager to taste liberty. My experiences make me incapable of waiting for others to bring me freedom, though. I feel as if I must prepare for it, or create it myself. That’s why I woke at 2:42 this morning, read, then began writing at 3:07. By 7:30 I had finished writing nine blog articles or responses to reader comments. At 8:00 I began my exercise. At 10:00 I had logged 10 miles and six sets of bar dips. My running tally is now at 863 miles over the past 95 days. I wrote four additional articles in the afternoon, and was on my rack reading at 5:30. I was sleeping by 6:15. It was a full day, part of my deliberate strategy to prepare for success upon release.
Tuesday, 18 March 2009
Prison Journal: Day 7,882
March 10, 2009
President Obama made another significant break from the policies of the previous Bush administration when he signed an order authorizing federal funding for stem-cell research. The reports that I saw on CNN indicated that President Obama would not allow the specious value of politics to interfere with the objective findings of science. We have seen this pattern in President Obama’s decision making, and it brings me hope he will continue to rely on the findings of academia and objective data when he tackles the issue of prison reform.
President Obama has launched his presidency with the most ambitious agenda of any president in my lifetime. With each decision, he has consulted and relied upon the documented findings of experts. With President Clinton, it seemed as if public opinion polls guided decisions. With President Bush, it seemed as if right-wing fanaticism was at the heart of decision making. President Obama relies upon scientific data.
This trend pleases me, because scientific data like The Pew Report show the absurdity of our nation’s prison system. That document, together with numerous other reports, including reports recently released by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, show that our country is in need of prison reform. We have one in every 31 Americans under the supervision of the criminal justice system. At more than $59 billion in annual expenditures, as Congress reported in The Second Chance Act, this system perpetuates failure as shown through 70 percent recidivism rates.
When President Obama begins to consider prison reform ideas, I am confident that he will not disregard objective findings by academia. He will not kowtow to prison lobbyists like President Bush, or play to the opinion polls like President Clinton. The decisions that President Obama has made during these first 49 days of his presidency suggest that he will lead. That leadership ought to introduce prison reform legislation that will allow prisoners to earn freedom through merit. To help influence that prison reform, I woke early today to begin my work. By 3:30 this morning I was writing. I finished four articles before 7:00 am, then I went to the track and ran 10 miles. That lifts my tally to 795 miles over the past 87 consecutive days. Following my run, I showered and shaved. I then consulted my notes to prepare for a two-hour class I had to lead in the afternoon. In the late afternoon I reviewed mail I had received. I was in bed before 6:00, but reading kept me awake until ten past seven. That was when I thanked God for the blessings my family has received, then pulled the beanie over my eyes to sleep.
The structure of my life really eases my prison adjustment. I feel as if I am living a life of meaning. My primary motivation continues to be this urge I feel to come home to Carole. I’m still living in the pit of imprisonment. The work I do to come closer to her, however, together with these deliberate and measurable efforts I make, bring me the feeling that I am climbing toward freedom. That was the general message I offered to the class I taught today.
Monday, 10 March 2009
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