Unforeseen Happened

I didn’t go to the “Beef something” dinner since I was full and the beans were not to my liking. I stayed back in the dorm with a few more dorm mates who stay back for dinner. I continued to write during this time and I heard the remaining dorm mates making some noise as they were looking outside. I stood up from the bunk to see what all the noise was about. I looked out the window and realized the yard alarm must have been sounded because all the inmates going and coming to the dining hall were laying down on the ground as is required when the alarm goes off. There was one inmate who did not comply with the regulations of the alarm as he was running back and forth through the yard away from the CO’s who were chasing him. It was quite comical because this inmate did not appear to pose any threat to the other inmates or the CO’s. In fact as some of the CO’s chased him around the yard, I could see the other CO’s looking on with smiles on their faces. Finally, after a few minutes of running, this inmate stopped and started talking to a CO. After a few seconds of conversation, the CO dropped to his knees and clipped the inmate’s legs (had this been a play in the National Football League there would have been a penalty for clipping). Once the inmate’s legs were clipped he fell down to the grass and the CO handcuffed him. This was in full view of everyone on the yard and as the inmate was handcuffed the CO lifted his arms in triump only to be met with a chorus of “boos” from the inmates laying on the yard. The inmate who was handcuffed was then led away presumably to the “hole”. This little show was over as the inmate was escorted to the “hole” and the yard went back to normal. It was a very interesting show and as the inmates booed the CO, I kept my opinion to myself. I agreed with the CO (not the fact that he raised his arms in a victory celebration) because this inmate was not following the rules and the rules must be followed in the real world and most certainly in a place like this.

Often I find myself disagreeing with my fellow inmates on certain issues such as this incident. The other day as we were discussing the “Landmark Supreme Court” decision – which has no bearing on me or many of my fellow inmates – I found myself disagreeing with one of my dorm mates. We were discussing “enhancements” which are additional terms added to the prison commitment. For instance I received a 2 year enhancement for the state tax charges I received resulting in an additional 2 years being added to the original term of 2 years giving me a total of 4 years. The dorm mate was discussing how he received a 4 year enhancement due to a prior prison term. This inmate felt it wasn’t fair and I disagreed. I believe everyone should get some type of leniency for their first crime as long it is not of a violent nature. This inmate’s crime was non-violent but it was the third time. My position was – you should have learned from the first offense and most certainly the second offense – but did not – so the enhancement was warranted. Amazingly, the more I explained the position the more this dorm mate agreed with me. I know drugs are a difficult addiction, much like all addictions, and if the state is not willing to provide for rehabilitation; the inmate has to take responsibility for their actions somewhere down the road. They also must do something to recover or history will continue to repeat itself. I can see the state’s point of view where the enhancements should discourage further crime. However, if the main cause of the problem – in this case, drug addiction – is not properly dealt with the behavior will stay the same no matter the consequences. I would have hoped the two prison sentences were wake of calls but obviously they were not. This is exactly why the state must look at the reason behind the crime and not exclusively the crime in order to effectively reduce criminal behavior; otherwise the cycle will never end.

Last night was tougher than usual because the unforeseen happened and the evening yard never opened as I remained in the dorm all night long. At a little past seven, one of my dorm mates pointed out that 7 CO’s on this yard went running to the Level 1 Yard. They never returned and the prospect of having evening yard evaporated. It is wrong of me to label this unforeseen because I should be grateful anytime the yard does open since it is very foreseeable for things to go wrong. When they do, the yard doesn’t open. An example of this was Friday night even though it was not my tier’s turn for evening yard it never opened due to the problems of the level 3 yard. All of the 3 yards are separate; however, when things go wrong on any one of the yards it affects all. Once again circumstances were out of my control and my acceptance is certainly required to maintain sanity which is what I do.