CDC R You Kidding Me!


Ever since this pandemic started, all the prisons in the world went to some sort of modified program… among those is my prison (Sierra Conservation Center). A modified program consists of below normal amounts of yard, dayroom, and/or jobs, and self-help groups. We understand that it’s because of Covid-19 and we’ve gotten kinda used to it, but for the past couple months my prison has been going through some sort of bureaucratic bull-crap that doesn’t have anything to do with inmates—but affects inmates.


Randomly, throughout the week, multiple correctional officers won’t show up to work and we won’t get yard, or any program at all, and sometimes this happens multiple days in a row. Now, I’m not exactly sure why this is, but I’ve heard a couple of rumors. One is that the union cut a deal so they can take away vacation days whenever they want, just because they feel sick. The other is that nobody wants to work with the new sergeant that took over second-watch. Regardless of all of this, us inmates are already getting screwed on a regular program through no fault of our own. (There is little, to no violence on this yard… it’s hardly even a prison.) Now we are literally locked down randomly throughout the week, basically for no reason, which makes it difficult to organize and plan our lives (an important life skill).


Yes, we made mistakes, and a lot of us did bad things and deserve our punishments, which is to be separated from society for a set amount of time. Some of us are trying to change and do better with our lives, but when you can’t predict what’s going to happen, you really can’t make any exceptional progress. For a yard with no violence, there’s not much incentive to stay on the good path. The weird thing is, the problem lies only with the second-watch—when shift change comes around everything usually opens up, but 75% of the day is gone. If you had plans, they’re scrapped by now. There’s absolutely nothing we can do about it either. Believe me, I’ve tried. A lot of people just become numb, and I don’t think that’s a productive path to rehabilitation.

As always, please post any questions below and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Comments

  1. RandyDecember 1, 2021 at 9:24 PM

    Hi Jordan, i'm on lunch break here. Your Mom sent me your blog and it is great to hear from you. I'll be looking forawrd to following you and keeping up with your life.
    Love from Uncle Randy

    ReplyDelete

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