The Inside Scoop

The relationships an inmate has with people outside of prison or jail makes a big difference on his or her state of mind and outlook on life. There are those who never had anyone to begin with, which is very sad to think about. I can only imagine the hopelessness they must feel. Without anything to lose you’re more likely to make decisions that lead to even worse predicaments. Then there are those who have burned all their bridges. Some gangs intentionally make you prove that they are more important than your family. Other people are having a hard time with drugs. I know a few people who are trying after many years to fix their relationships, but a lot the times their family or friends feel like they’ve given them too many second chances. Last, but not least, are those who never lost their relationships (or they got them back over time). I believe having friends and family to talk to prevents total institutionalization, which can hinder entry back into civilization. You’re more lik...

This is just a general idea of what a day of mine might look like--they are by no means constant though. 6:00am – Wake up, get dressed, and make bed. 6:30 – Go to chow and eat SOS or something close. 7:00 – Brush teeth, stretch, and prepare for the day. 8:30 – Go to dayroom, work out, and phone call or shower. 11:00 – Back into cell to eat lunch. 12:30pm – Go to substance abuse/self-help class. 2:30 – Come back and work on college material. 4:30 – Count time! 5:00 – Watch world news. 5:30 – Go to dinner and eat slop or close to it. 6:00 – Come back, brush teeth, and see what’s on TV. 7:00 – Unroll mattress and make bed. 9:00 – Go to sleep unless something really good is on TV until 10:00 10:00 – Bedtime. Time management can be a challenge because you are always at the will of the institution. Sometimes they will pull everyone out of the building, out of nowhere, for a search. Another example is how I have to plan my exercise around when I can get a shower....

Life in prison is never a walk in the park, but in the USA no one is to blame but ourselves. This is certainly not the case in third-world countries as well as a few others. If I had to speculate, I’d say that the quality of living in a country is directly related to the quality of living in its prisons. Most of them do not provide opportunities to better oneself. The gangs are given freedom to control what goes on inside and inmates are mistreated by staff. They are notoriously unsanitary, the food is sparse, and the justice system that populates those prisons are usually as corrupt as can be. All in all, I’m very happy I’m not doing time in a different country, even though it can be hard to have our human rights recognized, at least we have a fighting chance here. I would like to say thank you to all of the inmates and advocates who fought to have our rights recognized in the previous years. We are already separated from society—I don’t believe that there is any reason why someone ...

Our so called “Golden State” has an unacknowledged dark side. It may not be a big deal to everyone, but at least half the state knows somebody who has been to jail or prison. California has a very complex and extensive sentencing procedure. It was explained to me, by a judge, that people study for years specifically to calculate sentences and they have to keep studying just to keep up with all the changing laws. These “new laws” contradict and counteract old laws to no end, and therein lies the problem. They rarely ever get rid of an old law, no matter how bad it is. They just revise and refine, so they never have to give up more than they want. Even with the federal government breathing down their necks. We’ve all heard that processed food isn’t good for us, so why would refined laws be good for the state? For the individuals being sentenced, it’s very frustrating not being able to double-check or hold them accountable. Sometimes your public defender or lawyer will tell you one th...