Tomorrow is Easter, and nothing seems to be going on. When I first came to the BOP, it seemed like there was a cursory trace of activities that might be enjoyed for the more positive-minded of inmates. However, it has gotten more so over the years that the announcement of activities to celebrate holidays is little more than that; inevitably some sort of staff shortage or other ’emergency’ condition is fulfilled that precludes the canceling of activities. I used to go to bingo nights every holiday, but after the one held this last Christmas, there were no further instances of the occasion. Overcrowding is the flavor of the day, as some facilities hold twice the normal capacity of human cattle. A recreation center might comfortably hold fifty people with another fifty in the gymnasium, but that is pushing it.
Why is there overcrowding? Well, it’s because you all know darn well we’re not going to avoid over prosecuting everything that lands at courthouse doors, and heaven forbid our legislators start believing in redemption and therapeutic investment having the best returns. Oregon already re-criminalized the use of drugs and it’s been less than a decade since the experiment even began. Considering how many decades it takes for a government to work out a proper solution to anything, I am not surprised. It does not help one bit either that cases must file under seal so the media doesn’t parade everyone around and encourage the thought that criminals are ‘depraved monsters.’ So, gotta build new prisons for all the depravity. Violent crime is the only thing we should send people to prison for? Well, good thing we’re considering changing the definition of “Violence” in criminal code. Illinois boasts not one person is serving a life sentence for drug convictions (a dubiously specific claim in itself), but there are plenty of non-violent ‘violent offenders’ in our prisons, mixed in with all the actual violent ‘violent offenders’, of course. Which makes managing prisons a practice of insanity in the least. I was born and raised in Chicago’s south side suburbs, this isn’t my first rodeo, so to speak. Which is ironic considering I’d never spent a day in jail before.
I am still waiting for someone to come to me and say, “Tell us who really did this and we will exonerate you.” My attorney insinuated that I might have some relief by becoming a snitch, but also said that there was no intention of ever letting me go even if I had given them the right person for the crime. We both would have gone to prison. Why? I still don’t understand that enough to answer. I guess I still believe too much in such childish concepts as “justice” and “patriotism.” The US Marshals escorting me to the courtroom told me that I deserved to be raped and killed. How distinctly “patriotic” of them to perpetuate rape culture… so long as it’s against someone nobody cares about.
-Chris
