Previously this week, the felonista was bitched slapped. In Episode 1, the
fools name was withheld, and she was identified as Ms. Bad. She does not deserve
that protection- her name was Dimeta Good! I have to give it to Dimeta- it took
a lot of heart to bitch slap me!
There are 88 counties in the state of Ohio. Marysville is the first stop to drop
off sentenced inmates for classification and processing. The three major cities
that sentence and transport the most inmates annually to Marysville is Cleveland,
Columbus, and Cincinnati Ohio.
Prisons have an internal culture of its own, and Marysville was no different.
Marysville was built to hold a maximum of 200 inmates. There were four cottages
originally. Elizabeth, Lincoln, Washington, and the A-Building were the names.
New Cottage was constructed after the main four, to accommodate pregnant women
and their small children. At the turn of the 20th Century, for the first 30 years,
prisons were constructed with the purpose of rehabilitation. One of the goals was
to preserve the family structure. Small children remained in the care and custody
of their mothers. Regular weekend furloughs home along with trailer visits with
your spouse and children were the norm. Mississippi and parts of New York still
offer family and trailer visits for the weekend for inmates.
All four cottages had single rooms that an inmate could work their way to, in
a short period of time. The upper floor of the administrative building was used to
house lifers and women that qualified as honor status. It took on the average
of five years minimum to gain consideration for an honor unit. Most inmates did
not qualify for honor housing. That was fine with me. I was simply passing through.
When the prison system turned into a business, the population of Marysville
increased like all other facilities, from the capacity limit of 200, to 2000 by the end
of the Twentieth Century. A maximum of 100 inmates, or 5% are actually violent
and should be housed in prison. Canada does not support prisoners as a business,
and neither does other countries. In Italy, non-violent offenders sentenced to
under two years are placed on house arrest, allowed to go to work, and continue
to pay taxes. The famous, magificent designers, Dolce and Gabanna recently
were sentenced to 27 months, but still running their business daily and living
in their own homes. They are also paying taxes and supporting their families.
Imagine that.
How Ohio increased their population 10-fold was by adding units. J.G., which was
originally the officer's unit, was coverted as an inmate housing unit. Then the
Arn complex was built, consisting of Arn One, Two, Three and Four, with Arn Four
serving as the segregated housing unit. Shortly after, Hale and Kennedy 1 was
completed. I heard that the construction of Kennedy II was in the making, and
a new admissions building was constructed outside of the fence.
All over the country, state and county governments announced a "build and they
will come" initiative. Cities were given low income loans and bonds to pay for new
construction of prisons. The politicians that supported mass incarceration labeled
prisons as cash cows, and guaranteed job security and income for otherwise default
cities. Every small city around the country that built a prison stayed alive because
of prison business and job creation. However, because the country did not take the
money or the time to create proper water systems, state prison water is either not
safe to drink, or doesn't work consistently. An example of this is Alderson Federal
Prison Camp. The camp population was approximately 1200 inmates when I was
housed there. The city of Alderson's total population was only 1000. The prison had
more women concentrated in a small area than the entire city. Needless to say,
Port-a-potties and bottled water were the norm. The city did not put in a new water
and irrigation system when they added the prison. The system in place could not
facilitate 1200 women showering, washing clothes, and drinking water all day.
Water problems are the norm.
State sentences were given out by the degree
of felony. A 5th degree felony carries county time, or up to six months in prison.
A 4th degree felony carries from 6 months to 18 months maximum time in prison.
In the state of Ohio, you only do two-thirds of your sentence, so an 18-month sentence
equates to one year in prison if you earn all of your good time credit.
All felonies that are lower than a fourth degree felony commonly involves an act
of violence, or an enhancement. Robbery, kidnapping and murder is designated as
a first degree or second degree felony by the Ohio Revised Code governing crimes.
There are three states in America that sentence people to life sentences, without
any possibility of mitigating circumstances or parole; Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and
Massachusetts. Ironically, these three states are commonwealth with their own
constitution and statutes. They also were the last to join the Union when America
became the United States. The other clear result of housing inmates for life with
no mitigation or possibility for parole for identified crimes is the states large number
of inmates. The three states mentioned are severely overcrowded. The death
of the inmate serving LWOP will always decrease the population by one. Crazy, but
real.
Ohio considers 15 years a life sentence. After completing 15 years, a lifer is
eligible to see the parole board. Lifers often receive at least one flop. A flop is when
an inmate goes before the parole board panel after completing 15 years, and then
given an additional flop sentence of five years. Even with excellent behavior, the
parole board considers public safety and plays it safe. An additional Five years flop
is the norm for Lifers sentenced in Ohio.
Once a Lifer serves 20 years, the possibility for parole becomes realistic. Parole
is where an inmate remains under the supervision of a parole officer for a determined
amount of time. The parole board decides the number of years an inmate will remain
on parole, as well as the conditions and restrictions of parole.
The justice system has evolved full circle. The 20th Century began with rehabilitation
of inmates throughout America. The prison system developed into a caste system
and a prison industrial complex, aiding big business. Author Eric Schollser and Civil
Rights Activist, Angela Davis has wrote extensively about the perils of the prison
industrial complex.
Many government and state leaders, along with politicians joined the initiative
to warehouse human beings. The goal has been an agreed minimal of 10% increase in
the prison population. That number has been exceeded each year by broad sentencing
laws, and mandatory minimum laws for non-violent and low level offenders. Within
the 20th Century, America has evolved into a prison country, and politicians are afraid
to take a stand against the capitalist, oppressive system, because they want to win
elections.
Another way that the system has come full circle is that the same initiative that
promoted cities building new prisons across America is now defunct. Georgia, Texas
and several other states filed law suits early this year against city, county, state and
federal government officials because they did build, but the large cash cow structures
are sucking up their cash. Cities already strapped built new prisons, waiting for inmates
to come, only to find themselves stuck with additional taxes, utility bills, and large
empty new buildings. Good for them. Instead of the inmate population growing as
promised by the politicians participating in this farce, the number of inmates being
sentenced all over America has declined right along with the number of crimes being
committed. Cities and states can no longer depend on inmates for income growth.
Since the recession, city and state budgets have been slashed. America is releasing
inmates and looking at Alternatives to sentencing. The taxpayers can no longer be
persuaded to support an 80 billion dollar prison bill at the Department of Justice, when
the system is broken, and has always been broken.
Now, cities and states are being forced to release low level, non-violent offenders
to home confinement and other punishments, and allow them to pay into the tax base
like everyone else. Jails are closing each year all over the country. Because I understand
why they were created in the first place, this result is very exciting for me. Also, it
is to be noted that according to the crime report from the United States Department of
Justice, over the past three years, since the closing of many state prisons, the crime
rate has decreased slightly in some categories and more noticeable in others.
Can America redeem herself from being a prison Country?
Time will tell.
Today, Eric Holder, United States Attorney General is not afraid to advocate for change.
He is the head
of the Justice System, and is now playing a dual role of abandoning the capitalist system,
and rallying as a Civil Rights leader. One of the lead reporters that is not an Eric
Holder fan stated that "Eric Holder is using the Department of Justice as a Civil Rights
Shrine." Mr. Holder is, and I am very proud of him. At first, I was in inner conflict
about this. His picture is hanging in the main lobby of this prison for all visitors and inmates
to see. President Obama represents the leader of the free world, but Eric Holder is unmistakably
the head of the locked up world-all prisons belong to the Justice System, and he
is the number one in charge. I asked myself was it possible that I had been locked up too
long and converted to the "house nigger" syndrome that many institutionalized inmates
embrace? I wrestled with the concept at first. Prison is an extension of slavery, and
is backed by Amendment 13 of the constitution. During slavery, a captive that praised
the person and master, was none other than a house nigger. How could you respect and
idolize the person who holds you captive? I had to process this. This is the first time
I have spoken my true thoughts of Eric Holder out loud- GO ERIC HOLDER- Go Eric!, Go
Eric!, and he even deserves a two-step dance from me.
I am here witnessing the women coming through the prison doors with very short sentences
that haven't existed in over 20 years, since mandatory minimum sentences were put
into place.
April 10th, 2014, the Sentencing Commission will vote on the all drugs-minus-two law.
That will give all drug offenders approximately 11 months off their sentence, and Eric Holder
is in support of this amendment fully.
There is not much on the table for white collar offenders like myself at this time.
The Recidivism Reduction bill was extremely watered down, in order to eliminate people
like myself. I was sentenced under a criminal history category VI,and according to the
politicians, people like me, who have been statistics of recidivism are not eligible. This
is backwards, because we are the ones that need it most. How can they think that I am
the same person as I was ten years ago? We either get better or worse, but no one is the
same. Of course I will file all the way to Washington to get the same credit as all other
inmates for good behavior.
Eric Holder has implemented a clear agenda on prison reform, and reducing the 80 billion
dollar a year taxpayer's burden spent for babysitting non-violent offenders.
I respect the work that he is doing and appreciate the change of direction.
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