The Inside Scoop

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...

  Since I’ve been down, I’ve been to a few prisons. I did time at Tracy Reception Center (DVI) and that place is really run down. It’s a good thing they’re shutting it down. I’ve done a layover in Wasco, and that place was very dirty, plus the food was terrible.  So far, most of my time was done in Calipatria (CAL). It wasn’t dirty and the food was halfway decent, but there were no options for jobs or self-help programs, and there wasn’t a lot of dayroom or yard… but it’s a level 4.  The place I’m in now is Sierra Conservation Center (SCC) in Jamestown, CA. When I showed up it was Disneyland. All day programs, lots of job options and self-help programs. But, ever since covid hit, all that pretty much cut in half, which is better than most other places.  I have heard that Mule Creek, Stockton, and Donovan are pretty nice, but everyone has their own opinion of nice. It’s all still prison. If anyone feels like they would like to write to me personally, that’s fine wit...

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,...

So, imagine what your kid eats at meals and I mean like a 7 or 8 year-old. If you don’t have kids, just imagine a Happy Meal from McDonalds. That’s about how much food we get—just of lower quality. According to rumor, people used to eat pretty good in prison, but within the past ten years they have been slowly diminishing the size and quality of our meals. They say it’s for health reasons, but how is a 200 lb. young man with a high metabolism supposed to keep himself in shape when he barely gets 3000 calories a day? That might seem like enough to people who want to sit on their butts all day, but that’s not a healthy lifestyle. How can a 3000 calorie diet promote good health? On top of all that, they’ve taken sugar out which doesn’t prevent diabetes. People need to learn self-control—otherwise, too bad! The replacement for the sugar is much worse than the real stuff. I’ve personally stopped using sugar substitutes because people say they can cause cancer. I’ve had bowel issues, cog...