Letter from Soledad Prison

Submitted by JTjaden on Tue, 05/20/2008 - 18:16

[Things aren't always what they seem to be portrayed on Fox News and right-wing radio. I'm not saying that all prisoners are innocent, most are guilty ... but what about those that are innocent? Did you know that: California houses over 161,000 inmates at more than $ 5.7 Billion dollars a year. The prisons are crowded, which will soon cost taxpayers more than our Colleges and Universities, and that's not counting the broken and costly prison healthcare system. And that many, if not most, prisoners are there for nonviolent crimes like for drug use ... wouldn't it make more sense to treat those prisoners for addiction? Rather than incarceration? And save that many billions or hundreds of millions of dollars. This blog is an insight into the daily lives of those who are behind bars in our name.]

Letter from Soledad Prison
Sunday, January 28, 2007
by Sara

[...]

I received your letter yesterday, and I noticed you'd sent $ too. Thank you.

We are on lockdown status -- all of us. There was an incident in the hall outside my cell. An inmate was cut up pretty bad and nearly died out right in front of us. He was just left laying there for too long before help was summoned.

That was Wednesday. The investigation doesn't start until Monday, and lockdown will continue until they get a name. It's a very timely incident: COs [correction officers] get hazard pay until it is resolved. This close to the holidays, it only makes sense to put off the investigation as long as possible.

Your complaints about the new package restrictions are well warranted. However, it is only one wasp in the hive. There are lots and lots of other profitable ventures going on unbeknownst to the public.

Take money orders. State law P.C. 2085.5 states that mainline institutions must take 33% of all incoming inmate funds for "restitution." I guess I wasn't clear on that when I told you not to send more money. (Besides, [my wife] needs that money much more than I do. I'd rather she get it.)

This restitution is based on a mandatory $200 fine imposed on all convicted felons to become wards of the state. It's designed to compensate for another state law that guarantees $200 to inmates at release. It's called "gate money."

Another scam is the library. No, I don't get "points" [toward release or better conditions] for contributing to it -- I only feed the machine. Upon checking out a book, you sign a trust release for the amount of the book. These are processed every week. When a book isn't returned in seven days, you are charged for its full cost.

But availability to the library is only given every TWO weeks. I didn't know this, until I was charged for two. Both books were turned in at the next available date -- but too late to avoid paying for them. This way, one book will pay for itself over and over.

By the way, these books are ALL donated by inmates.

I was also charged for two T-shirts. I received them sleeveless, and was charged for destruction of state property. They'll go back to the laundry, and be re-issued to another inmate, who will be charged for them, too -- as was the person who got them before me. The shirts have cost me $15 apiece so far. They were made by inmates in Prison Industry Authority jobs.

So far, I've been charged $7.50 and $5.95 for books, $30 for the shirts, and $60 for restitution. I've haven't even tried being hit by medical yet....

Medical services are no longer free. You must pay for them before your appointment. If you have no money on your books, it's deducted from your gate money. If it exceeds your gate money, you are billed by the parole board. Failure to pay is a parole violation, and lands you back in [prison] for 90 days.

I have a friend [in a previous prison] who was given an appointment, charged for it, and stood in line for two hours at a time, two days a week, NINE times without getting to the doctor. He filled out another request to receive his medication (previously prescribed), and was charged again. He still had not received his medication when I left -- charged twice for medication he never got.

I thought if you wanted to put yourself in a position of an active role, you should know what you're up against. It's not wise for inmates to call attention to these injustices -- they follow you to your parole officer, and you are judged a troublemaker. So inmates do very little to resist the system the way it is. We all just want out, whatever it takes.

[...]

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http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/2007/01/letter-from-soledad-prison_28.html