Labor Day 2011 with Corey

It was a busy holiday Monday at the Camp, a “free” day (love how that sounds!), filled to capacity. As the years pass I see fewer people I know in this visitation room, many of the new friends I’ve made here have been other mothers or wives of prisoners, but as transfers and (happily) releases take place, so go my friends. Some remain in touch, for others, just moving forward with their lives is all consuming and the connection is lost. It is bitter sweet. The same holds true for my son, but much more so. These men form friendships stronger than most they had on the “outside”, thrown together in tight confines, living under conditions and stresses most of them would never have envisioned at an earlier time in their lives. Some of my sons friends from inside have long since been released, or transferred elsewhere for one reason or another, and though he continually makes new friends (there is no shortage of “offenders” our system seems bent on imprisoning rather than finding alternative approaches to encarceration) there are those he sincerely misses and feels a definite void in the space they once occupied in his life if only for a brief, if intense, period of time.

The way our system works makes it difficult to continue or nurture any of those friendships, remarkable as many have been. While serving their sentences,Federal prisoners are not permitted to correspond with other prisoners confined in other prisons or who have been released. But it goes further than this, even once released, most all prisoners will serve a period of time on “supervised release”, or probation. Corey will be on “paper“ for 5 years once he walks away from prison walls. The sentencing judge told him, when handing down this “second” but consecutive sentence, that THAT is exactly what it was...a SECOND and CONSECUTIVE SENTENCE, and to make no mistake about it. During this time of supervised release, with its own strict set of rules and consequences for breaking any of them, prisoners may not be in touch, or associate with, other previous “felons” either.

Clearly the “fear” is that these men will form alliances aimed at committing more crimes in the future. After all they are felons! This is the Governments excuse leastways for that (to me) ridiculous law. SO, even though they have been punished, have paid for their “crimes”, life for a felon will be forever more difficult and opportunities greatly reduced. Of course we know the concern they express does happen IF one is intent on furthering past criminal dealings, but for most, and judging from the men and their families I have met inside the walls on this journey, I have to believe that is the furthest thing from their minds! For my own son it certainly is. In seeking to be back in touch with friends from the inside, from a time when both were sharing the most difficult of times, they are simply looking to reconnect with someone they feel comfortable with, can identify with, who lived the hardships and traveled the road they have traveled. Men who have walked that mile in their shoes. Why must we deny them even THAT small comfort?

I’ve come to see America is not the “Land of Second Chances” that President Bush (and others) liked to pontificate about, when he signed H.R. 1593, The Second Chance Act April 9, 2008. The President stated "America is the land of second chance, and when the gates of the prison open, the path ahead should lead to a better life." The goal of the Second Chance Act (H.R. 1593) was to help transform lives and build safer communities by helping prisoners who are returning to society break cycles of crime and start new lives…help prisoners effectively reintegrate into the community. Additionally, the Second Chance Act enhances drug treatment, mentoring, and transitional services for ex-offenders through partnerships with local corrections agencies and faith-based and community organizations.

One has to wonder at the truthfulness of the stated purpose to reduce recidivism. The follow up stories I hear from inmates I’ve kept in touch with belie the purpose and scope of the Bill, or to the Bureau of Prisons stated policies aimed at "successful re-entry" into society. Recently in correspondence with a young man released in 2009, still on supervised release, after being denied jobs due to his “felony conviction”, and fired from more than one, post facto (in desperation he was leaving that “box” unchecked on the app form), he told me how he went about, with the help of his family and fiancee, setting up his own food cart business. After every attempt was thwarted by his probation officer - who preferred to see him working at 7/11 or some other low level job - he was successful only upon his hiring an attorney and fighting tooth and nail to move forward with his food cart business. Which, by the way, is a huge success and gets wonderful reviews!

It is not so much our friends' help that helps us, as the confidence of their help. ~Epicurus