Thursday was a Day Off

The cosmic prison forces were at work yesterday. A low level inmate escaped from a nearby prison yesterday and a few inmates who reside in the gym here may have contacted TB. I’m not sure if the escape from the nearby prison had anything to do with the delays in the afternoon but it did in the morning. The possible TB outbreak has put the inmates who reside in the gym under quarantine.

A memo was circulated regarding the possible TB outbreak and it sounded promising. No inmate has displayed symptoms of TB as of yet but those inmates in the gym have to remain quarantined until further notice. I have realized that this prison is the giant petrie dish and any airborne illness such as TB can grow like wildfire. I have been in the gym a few times to speak with both the old and the new coach but this hasn’t been recently. I will not allow myself to contact this illness and will be out of here to fire camp next week. The power of positive thinking is truly powerful.

Mail call arrived and I received a partial letter from a dear friend. I am anxiously awaiting for the rest of the letter to find out what the good news is all about! The other item I received was a notice of disallowed mail which was from my wife and according to the notification, the disallowed mail were two “very large” newspaper clippings. According to the regulations, only 3” x 5” clippings are allowed and no more than 5. These will be returned to my wife at my expense, I will need to ask what these clippings were about when I speak with her next.

The possible TB outbreak in the gym has wrecked havoc on every yard opening and the evening yard was no exception. The inmates who reside in the gym were fed last and everyone else had to remain in their dorms completely segregated from these inmates to not possibly contact TB. This delayed the evening yard and cancelled the telephone sign-ups. To make matters worse the alarm went off when I got outside; I was down on the ground for 5 minutes before the “all clear” announcement was made. Yesterday was a lost day due to all the delays and restriction to the yard.

As my friend and I walked, we discussed the big news of the possible solving of the prison overcrowding crisis. My friend didn’t understand how this new law will help not only the immediate overcrowding issue but even the future overcrowding as well. He pointed out part of the problem lies in the parole and the sentencing. I can understand what he was saying as at least 60% of the inmates are here are for parole violations. The legislature had a great opportunity to change the sentencing and parole laws but failed. All they did was add more beds to an already overcrowded system and threw some money at some Programs. My friend was not sold that the Federal Judge would agree to this plan. I’m not sure if part of his response was a little denial but he made some very good points. I certainly don’t know what happens next with this law. I do know I have a release date sometime next February or March and after that I will be with my family. Of course it would be wonderful to join them sooner, but that possibility seems unlikely.

The proposal is as follows: The legislation has passed a plan to add 53,000 new beds throughout the prison system and have added re-entry programs for the inmates. The proposal will be passed on to the governor where he will sign it into law. This will cost 6.1 billion dollars which is much less than the 11 billion dollars proposed from the Governor. Apparently the Republicans and the Democrats compromised on certain aspects of this offer. I am a bit unclear as to how this relieves the current overcrowding conditions because to me this plan should take a few years to implement. Also, I am unclear as to whether or not the Federal Judge will have the final say. It was the Federal Judge who gave the state six months to develop a plan and to implement it. I am very interested to read the specifics of this and very interested to see how the Federal Judge rules in the coming weeks.