Saturday, September 7
Nothing like College Football Saturday! Unfortunately, as compared to being home with all our streaming options, here we have none, we only see the Big 3 networks plus ESPN related sports. But since Disney/ESPN and DIRECTV are in a dispute over a new contract, we are getting no ESPN-ughh… Perfect timing DIRECTV! No wonder you’re slowly becoming obsolete:) We missed last nights NFL game and Saturday nights Oregon game, both only streaming on Peacock. Very annoying…
Otherwise pretty mellow normal day here, other than my head cold still lingering. Was hard to workout this morning so just walked the track for an hour, but had a decent 2-3 afternoon workout.
Sunday, September 8
Still haven’t heard how my friend Derek is doing after his transfer to camp next door, so I sure hope everything is ok for him. No library this morning as still closed. Spent good portion of the day typing or watching football, and had a 6-7:30 workout. Playing fantasy football with the family and my daughters boyfriends family. Kind of different not having a mobile app, just email to pick players from:)
My partner and her sister are about to begin helping me do research for the book, which is a true blessing. It’s like going back to the 1980’s here with no internet or google.
Finished the Hispanic gentleman’s prep and envelope for mailing tonight, so that done. Helping another gent from San Diego get what should be 6 months more credits that he is due. It’s like the BOP “officially” knows what’s proper, admits it in court filings, but the case manager in a Unit doesn’t know or follows outdated procedures so inmates always have to challenge. Really is crazy, unnecessary and adds a ton of extra work on the understaffed BOP anyways.
In my situation, time credits are supposed to be earned at 10 days/month and then 15 days/month” after 2 consecutive” meetings with my case manager. He explained to me how its actually 3 meetings as they want to see me “following the programming instructions the second six months”. But that’s not how I read the policy nor what the BOP has admitted in court. I found a case where the judge and BOP agree its after two meetings, not three. So I’ll file paperwork to get my extra 30 days of credits, which should move me to camp 30 days quicker if this paperwork doesn’t upset someone:) This means every inmate eligible for First Step Act(70,000+/-) are losing a month, or having to file paperwork, a ton of redundancy. Crazy if you ask me, though no one does:)
Otherwise a normal Sunday. Church at 12:30, football on TV, workout 6-7:30, more football. All sprinkled with typing in-between.
Monday, September 9th
Off to a nice slow start. We knew computers would be down 6-12 noon for an upgrade. Will be interesting to see what that means! Fog is in so lockdown anyways from 7-9:30. And library closed all day for sprinkler project which has somehow expanded to include adding WIFI. Its a rumor, so not sure whether to believe what inmates say once again:)
As to the day’s progress, starting to feel like a weekend day. Computers not coming on all day/evening, even phones down. So I got a 12-1 and 5-6 workout with a nice nap in-between, ending with Monday night football!
Good news I’m well organized and ready to type all kinds of things, so hopefully Tuesday will be no fog with computers/email working!
Tuesday, September 10
Well off to a better start! No fog plus email is working! Never any notification, but rumor has it that Library will be open as well. If so, will be one productive day!
Big Presidential Debate tonight. Definitely will be watching in here with everyone. The guys are excited about it as much as football, crazy!
Weekly I get 2-3 legal newsletters from various firms updating case law, usually a lot of first Step Act stuff. Apparently BOP just launched a calculator on its site to see one’s projected reduction ins sentence due to all the potential credits we can get, like First Step and Second Chance Act. Newsletters say its weak, but its a start and I want to see what it does.
At noon met in the hobby shop an inmate needing help with his “show cause” reply to a judge. Basically a way for a judge to say explain to me why I shouldn’t just dismiss your filing. Ironically, he is the lead “Jewish” guy who was pretty rude to me when I went to those first few Friday night services, or Shabbats(sp?) Turns out he can be a bit over bearing, but otherwise a typical electrician , very smart and creative, and socially awkward:)
But he came to me seeking help, admitting his English, meaning writing, isn’t great. So I offered to help with the writing as he has done most of the case law research. The “show cause” basically says “You are seeking First Step Act credits for your first sentence(drugs), even though your second sentence is ineligible. The BOP treats both sentences as one since the second one starts when the first is complete. Explain why you have any standing on this policy to challenge it”. This is a typical example of BOP Policy not being updated for years, early 80’s here, and the courts deferring to regulatory agencies under the Chevron doctrine where the law doesn’t specifically address an issue. Well not every circumstance can be imagined by Congress when they draft laws, though I’m the first to state they could do a better job! Thankfully this year the Supreme Court passed “Loper” which reversed Chevron and said,” Going forward the courts, not the agencies clarify the laws. So it really helps this inmates cause. My job is to only logically frame and write his argument for him to get the judge to understand its his job to rule now, not defer to past policy. I’m just a layman, but one would think judges would have already heard about Loper and know it means they don’t rely on Chevron deference anymore, but guess not.
Wednesday, September 11
Woke up to all the 9/11 ceremonies on TV this morning. It’s still sobering when I see it each year, a good reminder of what danger still lurks. I’ve probably read 10 books here, non fiction primarily, having U.S. Military, CIA, special op’s in the Middle East part of the story, and they’re a good reminder of how many people still despise our way of life.
Spent the day on the inmate’s case plus typing my journal/chapters in the book. Had 2 good workouts, 9-10 and 6-7:30. Really like doing weights in the evening, as it makes my muscles crave protein the evening which helps burn more calories as well. I’ve never been a breakfast person, but I’ve noticed that by 9 am I need protein now to boot!
Interestingly, got my calculation back from the FSA credit calculator and its within 17 days of what I calculated to move from prison to home confinement. 5 years from now. Just praying my appeal works so its only 1 year!
Thursday, September 12
Always fascinating to me how judges work. Helping the inmate get his First Step credit for his first sentence(drugs are eligible) even though his second sentence for a gun is not. The judge cited another case saying “they’re all one” for BOP Administrative purposes, so end of story or show cause as I mentioned the other day. Been thinking about that, wondering how the average inmate without an attorney is going to do that? Pretty ironic when just today Attorney General Garland, held a press conference to announce the DOJ isn’t biased, whether political, racial,wealthy or poor. Like him to explain what the judge was doing to the inmate or take a poll:)
Called my daughter in law as we don’t get a chance to catch up 1-1, and caught her at a perfect time, with her 2 little ones in bed. Hard to believe next week little baby will be 3 months old already, and Mom is going back to work, and in a new role. My two year old+ granddaughter woke up during our call and came on for a bit, and its the first time her words were clear enough to understand “she had gone to the dentist that morning”. Pretty awesome!
Friday, September 13
Nothing like a fog count to start the weekend, though its not really necessary in my opinion:) Woke up to a surprising email that my loving partner of 7+ years sent, surprising me and coming up tomorrow, which will be awesome.
Some weeks all I speak to on the phone is family, but today it worked out with everyone’s schedule to have 2 calls with old friends from Portland. Its always special to pick up the phone and begin talking like we just saw each other yesterday, even though its been over a year in one case.
Finalized the show cause for my friend, so we met at noon in the Yard outside to review it. He’s happy and will type it Sunday, submit Monday. That’s 2 assists in 2 weeks, next week I’ll have more time for typing the book and past journals! We walked a couple laps afterwards, and he told me a story of recently being interviewed by a magazine. Turns out his son is a civil rights attorney in Chicago, and a professor who also practices law. He recently had a very successful trial, similar to Innocence Project, getting an inmate out who was not guilty, and the police apparently did all kinds of wrong things with the evidence which he was able to prove. He then helped the inmate sue the police and county and won $11mm. Apparently this writer followed the story and my friend is now getting help from his son and she wants to cover it. My friend, the Dad here, is focused not on his drug sentence, but the 924(c) gun charge. Apparently most if not all drug offenses,when a gun is around, used or not, get 2x the sentence, and there’s apparently issues around “constitutionality” of this. Will be interesting to watch and see what happens here.
Great workout afterward, relaxed after count, watching Big 12 football:) With the evenings getting cold again, guess I’ll try and do more afternoon workouts and go to the library in evenings, kind a switcheroo!
Praying for Liberty and Freedom and to see my Family and Friends soon! BJ
