Some people may say that I shouldn't be blogging about this. Some may say that it could put hubby at risk of intimidation or retaliation by the prison guards or administration. So let me start by saying two things very clearly:
1. Hubby has no intention of taking part in the planned inmate strike on 9 September 2016, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't have an opinion on it or discuss it.
2. Intimidation and retaliation are just other words for bullying, and if there is one thing I detest more than people touching things that don't belong to them, it's bullies. They only have power if you let them, and by not talking about something like this, you give them power.
OK, now that's out of the way, lets get to the subject at hand: the proposed inmate strike on 9 September. This is a follow-up, and in some cases, ongoing action, from the April strikes that took place in at least 5 TDCJ prisons and several others across America. The reasons for the protest and action are many - when you have around 2 million people affected directly by something, you are unlikely to get a single number one issue. But Texas is unusual in that it does not pay its inmates any money at all for the work that they are obliged to do (don't turn up for your work detail in TDCJ, you'll catch a case and further punishment which can include being placed in Ad Seg, loss of other 'priviledges' such as the already limited recreation time, etc).
Now I do get the argument put forward by many in Texas that inmates get a number of things 'for free' while in prison that they would have to pay for in the freeworld. These include food, a roof over their head, a bed, clothes, running water (from the walls if not from a tap, and you probably wouldn't want to drink it anyway given the levels of arsenic in some areas). I also get that these are people who have been found guilty or plead guilty (two things that do not necessarily mean a person IS guilty by the way) and are in prison as punishment. But just as TDCJ is fast becoming the dumping ground for mentally ill individuals, the Texas public and lawmakers have a somewhat schizophrenic relationship with prisons and inmates (and their families).
First, there is absolutely no such thing as a free anything in Texas (or anywhere else). Just because the inmate does not pay directly in cash for the food, bed, roof, clothes, etc, doesn't make it free. Either the family pay by sending money that is then used to cover some of the medical costs or communication costs or food and other items from the commissary, or EVERYONE ELSE in Texas who pays taxes is paying for it all. And for many, that includes the inmate right up to the day they find themselves in jail.
In a state so adverse to paying personal income tax or any other kind of tax, doesn't it strike you as odd that very few Texans question the amount of their tax that contributes to the monster machine that is TDCJ with it's more than 100 prisons and around 140,000 inmates?
If TDCJ paid a dollar an hour - dammit, even a dollar a day - to inmates who worked, then the $100 annual medical charge (inmates who are indigent are not denied medical attention - I wont call it 'care') would be a little easier to swallow, because it would indeed be coming from the inmate's own funds. But given that inmates do not get paid, it is not the inmate who then pays for the medical charge: it's the friends and family of the inmate who are already paying through their taxes, and are then being told that they will pay TWICE through the money they send the inmate.
It's not just the money, or lack of, that is an issue in Texas. The convoluted and downright deliberate lack of will to assign many inmates any credit or 'good time' if they do behave themselves, is clogging up the system. It is causing (along with the dysfunctional BPP system) inmates to remain in prison long after they make that mind shift from reprobate to remorseful and wanting to give something back to society. The inability of the system to see beyond a crime to the inmate, to measure that inmate against them self rather than against an outdated perception of what an inmate should be, or to see prison as an undesirable millstone around the neck of a community has lead to certain parties within TDCJ and the TX legislature working tirelessly to keep as many inmates in prison as possible just to keep the prison machine going as it is.
Given the size of TDCJ, one possible reason for not paying inmates to work could be that there simply would not be enough 'jobs' to go round. It almost certainly suits some sections of the administration that so many TDCJ inmates are excused work because of 'medical' reasons - when these individuals could easily take part in computer-based occupations (no, not the Internet or unrestricted email), building and repairs, modern farming (rather than the plantation slavery that has men weeding fields on their knees with their hands in the TX summer) and any number of other things that would.... oh, I remember, we don't want the prison population to fall too low do we, otherwise some good ol' boys might have to be let go. Better to keep those inmates in prison until they are too old or sick to contribute as much as they would like to society, so that if by some miracle they do get paroled, it will only be a matter of time before they roll back through the picket gate again.
So will the planned strike change anything?
In short, no I don't think it will - beyond making life even more uncomfortable for any inmates not only involved, but also just in the same prisons as the action-takers. I understand the need to feel in control of ones destiny and to rise up against tyranny, but I really don't think this kind of action will achieve that.
What might go some way to achieving it is for the friends and families of the inmates to stop taking this laying down. Stop taking on the shame of your inmate's crime - let the inmate carry that, and walk in liberation with your head up to that polling booth and vote out the people who are standing in the way of change. Stand for local government yourself, then state government. TALK about this with people, don't let the bullies think they can do what they like and get away with it. Educate yourself, learn the law and use it, start blogs, newspapers, radio shows, join the TIFA, become active. Don't do your inmate's time for them, use the time to make the situation fairer for all now and all who come after. It can be done, you only have to look outside of the US to see that penal systems do not have to be run along the same lines as gulags.
Showing posts with label parole. Show all posts
Showing posts with label parole. Show all posts
Saturday, 20 August 2016
Saturday, 15 August 2015
Burning the midnight oil
The quilt I have been making for my daughter is finally finished! It has taken around £80 of fabric and a good 9 months of stitching (on average around 10 hours a week), and on Friday night I was so determined to take it to her yesterday that I stitched from 6.30pm until almost midnight. But it is done and she is very happy with it, and I am very happy that it will no longer be cluttering up my work room.
Now I intend to move on to smaller projects that will use up some of my yarn stash. Luckily my friend is pregnant again, so I have a good excuse to be working on baby items! My first project is a toddler hat with a small cable detail:
I will be adding a smaller version for a 0-6 month old to the pattern and then it will be available to download through Payhip - this is the digital download service that is commonly used for self-published e-books but it works really well for craft patterns as well. Keep checking my Hare's Moon Patterns page on the right. I also have ideas for bibs and jackets to work on this autumn.
Things on the prison front are very quiet at the moment, which is a good thing. Unlike many other couples where one is incarcerated, we don't have much of the drama that can accompany this situation. It is almost certainly because we are older, and less worried about what other people are doing. But as we approach 11 years down, my husband is starting to put together a plan for things he needs to do in the next 9 years to put himself in the best position possible when he gets a chance of parole. Why start so early? Because laws do change, as do attitudes, and being an older inmate it is not beyond the realms of possibility that he may have a parole chance a little earlier than we current expect. Waiting until the last minute has always been my husband's way, so it's good to see him making a change in that area.
Now I intend to move on to smaller projects that will use up some of my yarn stash. Luckily my friend is pregnant again, so I have a good excuse to be working on baby items! My first project is a toddler hat with a small cable detail:
I will be adding a smaller version for a 0-6 month old to the pattern and then it will be available to download through Payhip - this is the digital download service that is commonly used for self-published e-books but it works really well for craft patterns as well. Keep checking my Hare's Moon Patterns page on the right. I also have ideas for bibs and jackets to work on this autumn.
Things on the prison front are very quiet at the moment, which is a good thing. Unlike many other couples where one is incarcerated, we don't have much of the drama that can accompany this situation. It is almost certainly because we are older, and less worried about what other people are doing. But as we approach 11 years down, my husband is starting to put together a plan for things he needs to do in the next 9 years to put himself in the best position possible when he gets a chance of parole. Why start so early? Because laws do change, as do attitudes, and being an older inmate it is not beyond the realms of possibility that he may have a parole chance a little earlier than we current expect. Waiting until the last minute has always been my husband's way, so it's good to see him making a change in that area.
Saturday, 31 January 2015
Elderly, cold, hungry and alone
There is an elderly chap, we'll call him Joe, who spends most of his days in a small room. Like many others of his generation, Joe has outlived his parents, siblings and even some younger members of his extended family. Friends drifted away many years ago.
Joe tries to make ends meet by being creative. He has a little enterprise where he makes twine from scraps that other people discard, and the twine is useful to occasional interested parties. But making the twine is getting harder as Joe's fingers are developing arthritis, and his eye sight isn't what it used to be. Joe doesn't complain; no one would listen if he did and he prefers to keep himself to himself these days.
Getting up at 3am every day for breakfast is getting harder, especially in the winter. The thermal underwear he was given a few years ago by someone passing through is full of holes but it is still one of his prized possessions. But Joe dare not stay in bed and miss a meal - he doesn't have the means of making a snack to keep him going until the next meal time rolls around, whenever that might be. After breakfast, Joe sits by the window looking out at the sleet falling from a grey sky not too dissimilar from the walls surrounding him. He wonders how many more winters he will see, and whether any will be from the other side of the glass and grey walls. What will happen if his sight goes completely? Will they move him away from his familiar surroundings that he can navigate now if he needed to, to somewhere "more suitable" but completely unfamiliar?
You out there reading this, are you thinking "there are charities who can help Joe"? Unfortunately, Joe is just one of thousands of inmates in America's prisons serving a long sentence with little to no chance of parole. Joe's crime was committed decades ago, when he by his own admissions was "young and stupid". No one got killed, but criminals had to be made examples of. Even if Joe was able to apply for parole, he would not meet the requirements of having a stable address and prospects of employment to parole out to. He is in a catch 22 situation that is only partly of his own making.
This is not a European stereotypical call for all inmates to be released. Some of us over here are more sensible than that, and clearly there are some inmates who continue to pose a threat to themselves or others regardless of their mental or physical age. But they are not the majority.
TDCJ is one of the few corrections agencies that have an official age designation for "geriatric inmates". You may find it hard to believe that it is the age of 55. Prison can preserve a body or accelerate its demise. TDCJ recommend around 450 inmates for early medical parole every year, and yet fewer than 1/8 of those inmates are approved by the Board or Pardons and Paroles (BPP). The BPP believe that it is better to keep these individuals inside a prison and have the tax payer fund their increasing medical bills, rather than release them into a community where the remaining friends, family and social support networks are often willing and able to help.
My husband knows a number of Joes in his prison. We help where we can, but the system discourages inmates from sharing, selling or giving away physical items. My husband officially became a geriatric inmate himself recently and we have another 10 years to hang on before we get to ride the parole roller coaster. In a country that prides itself on opportunity, there is a large pool of unproductive but willing labour at the country's disposal. Imagine, instead of 2 million inmates sucking the life out of the country's finances, what if there were even 1 million less of them and 1 million more contributing to the economy even in a small way and paying some of their own medical bills. Maybe not the land of the free, but more the land of the hard working repentants?
Joe tries to make ends meet by being creative. He has a little enterprise where he makes twine from scraps that other people discard, and the twine is useful to occasional interested parties. But making the twine is getting harder as Joe's fingers are developing arthritis, and his eye sight isn't what it used to be. Joe doesn't complain; no one would listen if he did and he prefers to keep himself to himself these days.
Getting up at 3am every day for breakfast is getting harder, especially in the winter. The thermal underwear he was given a few years ago by someone passing through is full of holes but it is still one of his prized possessions. But Joe dare not stay in bed and miss a meal - he doesn't have the means of making a snack to keep him going until the next meal time rolls around, whenever that might be. After breakfast, Joe sits by the window looking out at the sleet falling from a grey sky not too dissimilar from the walls surrounding him. He wonders how many more winters he will see, and whether any will be from the other side of the glass and grey walls. What will happen if his sight goes completely? Will they move him away from his familiar surroundings that he can navigate now if he needed to, to somewhere "more suitable" but completely unfamiliar?
You out there reading this, are you thinking "there are charities who can help Joe"? Unfortunately, Joe is just one of thousands of inmates in America's prisons serving a long sentence with little to no chance of parole. Joe's crime was committed decades ago, when he by his own admissions was "young and stupid". No one got killed, but criminals had to be made examples of. Even if Joe was able to apply for parole, he would not meet the requirements of having a stable address and prospects of employment to parole out to. He is in a catch 22 situation that is only partly of his own making.
This is not a European stereotypical call for all inmates to be released. Some of us over here are more sensible than that, and clearly there are some inmates who continue to pose a threat to themselves or others regardless of their mental or physical age. But they are not the majority.
TDCJ is one of the few corrections agencies that have an official age designation for "geriatric inmates". You may find it hard to believe that it is the age of 55. Prison can preserve a body or accelerate its demise. TDCJ recommend around 450 inmates for early medical parole every year, and yet fewer than 1/8 of those inmates are approved by the Board or Pardons and Paroles (BPP). The BPP believe that it is better to keep these individuals inside a prison and have the tax payer fund their increasing medical bills, rather than release them into a community where the remaining friends, family and social support networks are often willing and able to help.
My husband knows a number of Joes in his prison. We help where we can, but the system discourages inmates from sharing, selling or giving away physical items. My husband officially became a geriatric inmate himself recently and we have another 10 years to hang on before we get to ride the parole roller coaster. In a country that prides itself on opportunity, there is a large pool of unproductive but willing labour at the country's disposal. Imagine, instead of 2 million inmates sucking the life out of the country's finances, what if there were even 1 million less of them and 1 million more contributing to the economy even in a small way and paying some of their own medical bills. Maybe not the land of the free, but more the land of the hard working repentants?
Monday, 5 May 2014
New forum for those involved with inmates in TDCJ
While TDCJ have improved their website recently, there is still a gap in the general information that many people seek when a loved one goes to prison in Texas, or for those who write to inmates in TDCJ units.
There is now a new forum that aims to provide as much information as possible on all aspects of TDCJ, uncluttered by too much chit-chat and references to what might be possible elsewhere but not relevant to TDCJ.
The new forum is here: Texas Prison Support
You will need to register to see the whole forum, and then you will need to activate your account in order to post.
So if you have any burning questions, don't be shy or think you will look stupid for asking - we were all new to this once!
There is now a new forum that aims to provide as much information as possible on all aspects of TDCJ, uncluttered by too much chit-chat and references to what might be possible elsewhere but not relevant to TDCJ.
The new forum is here: Texas Prison Support
You will need to register to see the whole forum, and then you will need to activate your account in order to post.
So if you have any burning questions, don't be shy or think you will look stupid for asking - we were all new to this once!
Tuesday, 15 November 2011
Reminder - the Sunset Commissions needs YOUR views on TDCJ!
I could write a really involved and long post about this, but the fabulous and informed Grits For Breakfast blog has already done the job. Go there, grab the surveys for individuals outside of TDCJ and also the one for current inmates, fill them in and return them to have your voice heard!
Saturday, 14 May 2011
When is a violent criminal not a violent criminal?
Possibly when they are serving time for a violent offence that was a one-off event.
This is a long blog post, because it is something I feel strongly about and which directly impacts us. I regularly read the BackGate website and blog for current news on TDCJ from the officer's perspective. I'm not one of those people who think all prison officers are the spawn of Satan; many officers try very hard to uphold professional standards of security and care in the face of increasing bureaucracy, unscrupulous colleagues, antagonistic inmates and inmate families who are not much better. Today on the BackGate, they have the results of a poll they have conducted, which makes interesting reading simply because the majority of voters are those who work for TDCJ.
The poll asks "Do you support the release of non-violent criminals from Texas prisons as a means of reducing prison overcrowding and saving money ?"To which the response has been:
Yes: 71 (68%)
No: 33 (31%)
Given the usual vitriol on the BackGate from members towards inmates and their families, this response is a surprise. More so, because releasing more inmates would necessarily mean TDCJ would be able to reduce their staff levels as well, so by suggesting this should happen the officers are talking themselves out of a job.
Normally, inmates are classified as either non-violent or violent by TDCJ (and many in the media use these terms as well). However, this is usually based on the crime the inmate has been found guilty of, and not necessarily the inmate's personality, normal demeanour, or behaviour while incarcerated. This can, and often does mean that individuals who are convicted of murder for example, a crime with a consistently low statistical rate of recidivism for the same crime upon release, can show no signs of violent behaviour while incarcerated and yet not be considered for parole until much later into their sentence than those who commit burglaries or drug offences (often multiple counts with a very high recidivism rate).
The media love to whip people up into a frenzy when talking about the release of "violent offenders", almost as much as whenever sex offenders are mentioned. They would have you believe that the moment these inmates step outside the prison gates, they will immediately seek to run riot through the local community raping, pillaging, and generally behaving as if the End of Days is upon us all.
What the media roundly fail to mention is that a significant number of inmates who are convicted of murder, rape and many other violent crimes are released into the community each week at the end of their sentences, and sometimes with a late parole. These individuals are usually never heard of again; if lucky they find somewhere to live and work, often with the help of family, friends or a local church, and exist quietly for the rest of their days with very few people knowing of their past. TDCJ releases around 70,000 inmates each year according to Scott Henson at the Grits for Breakfast blog. Few murderers and violent criminals receive LWOP (life without the possibility of parole) sentences in Texas and only a handful get the death penalty. Most will be released eventually, so why exclude those who have not shown violent tendencies during their incarceration, or in previous convictions, from consideration for parole at the same point of time-served as any other inmate?
In Texas, inmates do not get automatic parole. The decision is made by the Board of Pardons and Parole (BPP), who on average spend around 45 seconds (yes, seconds) on each file that they receive. It is no surprise that the majority of inmates are denied parole several times over, and often for things that they could not change even if they wanted to (nature of offence, and insufficient time served are two of the most common reasons given, yet neither of these can be altered by the inmate and the second one seems to directly ignore the laws of Texas which state that an inmate is eligible for parole consideration after serving 1/4 or 1/2 of their sentence depending on the type and date of conviction).
But as Texas does have the BPP, surely Texans could rely on them to not release inmates who have displayed violent behaviour while incarcerated - regardless of the crime they are serving time for?
Violent offenses almost always come with longer sentences. No one is suggesting that murderers should receive shorter sentences than someone who commits identity theft. But keeping these inmates in prison is expensive, and the longer you keep older inmates in prison the more expensive it becomes. Sure, let out those serving sentences for non-violent crimes, but that still leaves a sizable portion of inmates who are going to grow old and sick while in TDCJ and who will cost more to look after in the long run.
The alternative(s)?
It is at this point that many people ask "what about the victims?", usually followed by something like "Jane Doe never had a chance to do X, Y or Z so why should her killer?" I understand this sentiment. I also understand that there is no "closure" for the families left behind even if the inmate never gets out of prison. It is another media fallacy used to incite hatred from the mob towards an easy target. In many instances, the murder or other violent crime happens within a family. What if that family forgive the inmate and simply want them home again? Should their voices only be heard when they ask for punishment and not when asking for mercy too?
You cannot live in the past. You can uphold the memory of a lost loved one positively by moving on and not continually wishing for vengeance. That simply makes a person bitter and unhappy, and is unlikely to be what the dead person would want. Those who become consumed by such passionate hatred of the offender can find themselves lonely and avoided - not because of what the offender has done but because of how they have reduced themselves to being what amounts to a full-time victim. Should they wish their own heartache onto the family of the inmate as well?
There are no easy answers to any of this. However, the fact remains that inmates of all types do have the capacity to re-enter society and be productive if given the opportunity. Parole gives a level of supervision that does not exist when inmates are forced to serve their entire sentence and are then thrown out onto the street with no support or guidance at all. That is why Florida's experiment with 100% sentencing failed, and why Texas must look to find positives in parole rather than admitting defeat and warehousing itself into bankruptcy.
This is a long blog post, because it is something I feel strongly about and which directly impacts us. I regularly read the BackGate website and blog for current news on TDCJ from the officer's perspective. I'm not one of those people who think all prison officers are the spawn of Satan; many officers try very hard to uphold professional standards of security and care in the face of increasing bureaucracy, unscrupulous colleagues, antagonistic inmates and inmate families who are not much better. Today on the BackGate, they have the results of a poll they have conducted, which makes interesting reading simply because the majority of voters are those who work for TDCJ.
The poll asks "Do you support the release of non-violent criminals from Texas prisons as a means of reducing prison overcrowding and saving money ?"To which the response has been:
Yes: 71 (68%)
No: 33 (31%)
Given the usual vitriol on the BackGate from members towards inmates and their families, this response is a surprise. More so, because releasing more inmates would necessarily mean TDCJ would be able to reduce their staff levels as well, so by suggesting this should happen the officers are talking themselves out of a job.
Normally, inmates are classified as either non-violent or violent by TDCJ (and many in the media use these terms as well). However, this is usually based on the crime the inmate has been found guilty of, and not necessarily the inmate's personality, normal demeanour, or behaviour while incarcerated. This can, and often does mean that individuals who are convicted of murder for example, a crime with a consistently low statistical rate of recidivism for the same crime upon release, can show no signs of violent behaviour while incarcerated and yet not be considered for parole until much later into their sentence than those who commit burglaries or drug offences (often multiple counts with a very high recidivism rate).
The media love to whip people up into a frenzy when talking about the release of "violent offenders", almost as much as whenever sex offenders are mentioned. They would have you believe that the moment these inmates step outside the prison gates, they will immediately seek to run riot through the local community raping, pillaging, and generally behaving as if the End of Days is upon us all.
What the media roundly fail to mention is that a significant number of inmates who are convicted of murder, rape and many other violent crimes are released into the community each week at the end of their sentences, and sometimes with a late parole. These individuals are usually never heard of again; if lucky they find somewhere to live and work, often with the help of family, friends or a local church, and exist quietly for the rest of their days with very few people knowing of their past. TDCJ releases around 70,000 inmates each year according to Scott Henson at the Grits for Breakfast blog. Few murderers and violent criminals receive LWOP (life without the possibility of parole) sentences in Texas and only a handful get the death penalty. Most will be released eventually, so why exclude those who have not shown violent tendencies during their incarceration, or in previous convictions, from consideration for parole at the same point of time-served as any other inmate?
In Texas, inmates do not get automatic parole. The decision is made by the Board of Pardons and Parole (BPP), who on average spend around 45 seconds (yes, seconds) on each file that they receive. It is no surprise that the majority of inmates are denied parole several times over, and often for things that they could not change even if they wanted to (nature of offence, and insufficient time served are two of the most common reasons given, yet neither of these can be altered by the inmate and the second one seems to directly ignore the laws of Texas which state that an inmate is eligible for parole consideration after serving 1/4 or 1/2 of their sentence depending on the type and date of conviction).
But as Texas does have the BPP, surely Texans could rely on them to not release inmates who have displayed violent behaviour while incarcerated - regardless of the crime they are serving time for?
Violent offenses almost always come with longer sentences. No one is suggesting that murderers should receive shorter sentences than someone who commits identity theft. But keeping these inmates in prison is expensive, and the longer you keep older inmates in prison the more expensive it becomes. Sure, let out those serving sentences for non-violent crimes, but that still leaves a sizable portion of inmates who are going to grow old and sick while in TDCJ and who will cost more to look after in the long run.
The alternative(s)?
- Set the first possibility of parole at 1/3 time for all inmates.
- Make parole an affirmative action rather than assuming a negative outcome.
- Take into account the actions of the inmate during the entirety of their incarceration (education, work record, behaviour, participation in programmes for behaviour modification etc)
- Do not penalise inmates continually for things they cannot change
- Look at the family and community support available
It is at this point that many people ask "what about the victims?", usually followed by something like "Jane Doe never had a chance to do X, Y or Z so why should her killer?" I understand this sentiment. I also understand that there is no "closure" for the families left behind even if the inmate never gets out of prison. It is another media fallacy used to incite hatred from the mob towards an easy target. In many instances, the murder or other violent crime happens within a family. What if that family forgive the inmate and simply want them home again? Should their voices only be heard when they ask for punishment and not when asking for mercy too?
You cannot live in the past. You can uphold the memory of a lost loved one positively by moving on and not continually wishing for vengeance. That simply makes a person bitter and unhappy, and is unlikely to be what the dead person would want. Those who become consumed by such passionate hatred of the offender can find themselves lonely and avoided - not because of what the offender has done but because of how they have reduced themselves to being what amounts to a full-time victim. Should they wish their own heartache onto the family of the inmate as well?
There are no easy answers to any of this. However, the fact remains that inmates of all types do have the capacity to re-enter society and be productive if given the opportunity. Parole gives a level of supervision that does not exist when inmates are forced to serve their entire sentence and are then thrown out onto the street with no support or guidance at all. That is why Florida's experiment with 100% sentencing failed, and why Texas must look to find positives in parole rather than admitting defeat and warehousing itself into bankruptcy.
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