Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Going Home--Release from Prison


When I write short stories and novels, I like to feature characters who live on the fringes of society



and have problems most of us have never faced, or perhaps even considered.


Sometimes I draw a blank on what might happen in a given situation, and I have a number of people who help me with details of how things work (or don’t work) and the feelings stirred up by being in situations where there are few solutions.

And I try to help them out when it makes sense to do so.

Right now, I’m trying to lend a hand to a friend, Smiley. He’s a long-term prison inmate who, two years ago, got a delayed parole date for this November. The parole board requested he be given work release for the maximum time available so he would have some money saved up to get a start on life outside prison.

Over the years I’ve known him, I’ve turned to him numerous times with very specific questions about how the prison and parole system work. It often takes a few weeks from the time I write a letter to ask something before I get an answer back in the mail, but I know time means very little to someone who’s been locked up for years.

A bit of background—there’s no doubt Smiley is a “career criminal.” He is in his mid-fifties, but has spent fewer than 60 months “on the street”—not locked up—since he was a young teenager. He got his start as a burglar when his father boosted him through small window openings so he could go around and unlock the doors. The last he heard, his father was incarcerated in another state.

Smiley has a history of substance abuse, and admits he turned to drugs and alcohol when things got rough. He doesn’t even remember all of the crimes he committed, or attempted to commit, while under the influence. His present incarceration began seventeen years ago, in 2000, and he claims he has been drug- and alcohol-free the entire time.

The whole delayed release on parole process has been a mindless nightmare. It took a few months after the hearing, but he was transferred from a medium security prison to a minimum security one with a pre-release unit. He tried to get an appointment with his classification counselor to be assigned a job (inmates make around $1 a day, and for many of them, it’s their only source of income) until he could be transferred to work release and begin the difficult task of finding a job.

Several more months went by before he could get an appointment. At that meeting, he was offered a “road crew” job (think the inmates you sometimes see picking up trash by the highways) and of course accepted it. Not only did it pay, it was something to occupy his time, and it was outside in the fresh air, or as fresh as the air next to a major highway can be.

He came under a lot of pressure from fellow inmates who wanted him to try to bring contraband into the prison. Cell phones left in strategic places by the road, drugs left in the port-a-potties the crew used, etc. Smiley refused, citing his need to remain infraction-free if he was going to keep his delayed release date.

That didn’t make him very popular with many of the other inmates.

His request for work-release status went nowhere, but being minimum security and working a job outside “the fence” did indicate that he was willing to work and was not going to walk away from the prison. As the weather got colder and the roadside trash pickups cut back, he was assigned to a cleaning crew in a state facility. Once again, it was an “outside” job, where he was not within the secure perimeter of the prison. The crew returned to the prison every night.

On this job, disaster struck. Smiley says he’s not entirely sure what happened, but he was written up for trying to access a computer in one of the offices.

He’s never used a computer, and I don’t think he has any real notion of how computers work. The ones in the state facility would have multiple layers of security. As far as he can determine, someone must have seen him trying to clean the computer. The monitor would often come on as he dusted the keyboard, but he never worried about that.

He was immediately reclassified to a higher security status and transferred to a maximum security prison to await a hearing on the “ticket,” or infraction notice.

Much to his relief, he was not found guilty of the infractions, so his delayed release date was not revoked. However, higher security level prisons tend to hold re-classification hearings annually for each inmate. He was told he had to wait a year for a reclassification hearing, so he’s stuck at a maximum security prison.

Absolutely no possibility of work release or outside work details.


But so far, at least, the November release date stands.

“Going home” is the term usually used, but some people, like Smiley, have no home to go to. He needs a home plan. His mother is dead, his father and brother are incarcerated elsewhere, and his sister wants nothing to do with him (which he understands).

Since he was not able to get work release, he has no money to pay for a place to stay or for any other aspect of living.

Given that and his history of drug and alcohol abuse, his best bet is probably a transitional house for recovering addicts that accepts released prison inmates.

Resources to find that type of information are not readily available, especially at a maximum security prison, which handles very few releases. I could be of some help here, doing the research on available facilities and sending him the information to write to them. Telephone calls are difficult and expensive, often over $20 for a three minute call. Stamps, paper, envelopes and writing implements are in short supply, and he has no job, so no funds to purchase what he needs. He managed to scrounge paper up, fashioned some homemade envelopes, borrowed pens, and somehow obtained stamps.

Out of 24 letters he sent out, he’s gotten three replies, all negative. It’s impossible to tell whether the others are ignoring his letters or taking a long time to reply.

I spoke to a chaplain at the minimum security prison where he’d been until he hit the computer problem, and was able to forward some information about a sober house that is willing to take his application.

Of course, he has no money. Here’s another place I can help out—I will pay his first month’s fees. Supposedly a loan, but in the back of my mind, I will consider it a gift, because there’s a distinct possibility he will never be able to pay it back. If he does, great. I have money to help someone else. If he doesn’t, I didn’t really expect it back anyhow.

If this all works out, he will be released with the clothes on his back and “gate money,” probably $50.

Fortunately, this system is one that sends people out dressed reasonably appropriately. Some correctional systems release inmates in the clothes they were wearing when they were arrested. Which may be shorts, flip flops and a tee shirt, even if it’s now the dead of winter. I remember seeing a situation where a judge was quite upset because a woman was sent into his courtroom without pants. She had not been wearing pants when she was arrested, so she had none to wear to court.

I have a basic “release kit” that I have assembled several times for friends in similar situations. I visit thrift shops, especially on their season’s end “bagful for five dollars” sales. I can usually stuff several shirts and pants plus a warm jacket in the bag. If the prison supplies a jacket, it will be woefully inadequate.  The jackets they issue are deliberately skimpy, just warm enough to keep inmates from freezing going between buildings, but not warm enough to be useful in a cold-weather escape attempt.

Some placements supply things like bedding and kitchen ware. If not, I will look in thrift shops for bedding and basic items, like a coffee mug, a bowl and a set of cutlery. I’ll watch for sales of underwear, socks, and hygiene items.

Will Smiley’s release date remain the same? There’s a good chance it will, if for no other reason than the system is sluggish and no one is likely to review the release order.

Will Smiley beat the recidivism odds? Avoid drugs and alcohol so he doesn’t lose his housing before he finds himself a job and is able to move on from the sober house? I don’t know.

But I think it’s worth the effort to give him a little bit of a helping hand. Because we’ll never know if he can be successful until he’s given a chance, and as a member of society and a taxpayer, I want to see people out of prison, which costs in the neighborhood of $35,000 a year per inmate, and joining the tax-paying workforce. It's better for all of us.




18 comments:

  1. Interesting post KM. My financial side objects strongly to our incarceration system as being expensive and worse, inefficient, in preventing crime. As a society we are penny wise and pound foolish on so many issues and this is one of them.

    ~ Jim

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  2. Well written -- a mix of compassion and practicality of a system that needs evaluation.

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  3. As powerful as your books, Kathleen. I hope it all works out for Smiley.

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  4. You've opened the eyes of a lot of people, Kathleen. I didn't realize how difficult it is for a person to make the transition from prison. This is part of what makes your books so gripping - the view into a world that so many of us don't see.

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  5. I agree, Jim.

    While there are some people who need to be kept away from society indefinitely, I would rather we spend less on actual incarceration and more on re-integration. The trend has been to do away with parole, but most inmates will be released at some time. Wouldn't it be better to release them when there's still some control over them, and put some money and effort into providing an opportunity for people to have a reasonable chance to be successful? Granted, not everyone will use the opportunity wisely, but as it is, someone released who has no support and no place to go will probably be committing a crime before tomorrow, even if it's dumpster-diving to get something to eat.

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  6. I'm sure you've seen a lot of discouraging situations during your career, Debra. Evaluation is certainly needed. What is the purpose of our "corrections" system? To keep people away from society for public safety? To punish people? To provide an opportunity for a person to actually "correct" his/her behavior? Most inmates come out more accomplished and better criminals than they were going in.

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  7. I've got my fingers crossed, Margaret. I hope I can provide enough of a start that he will be able to pick up, find a job and survive on the street.

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  8. Shari, while I don't want to get on a soapbox, I do like to present realistic situations that many people face when trying to rejoin society.

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  9. So many things are stacked against someone released from prison. In MO the ex-con did not qualify for welfare. So no welfare, no job, what does that leave which is legal?

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  10. Thanks, Kathleen. The surprise in your post for me is how little -- zero -- resources are available to help Smiley find a suitable placement after his release.

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  11. I agree with Jim, although like you said some people should be permanently locked away.
    I think it's wonderful how you held people like Smiley. I only hope this is the beginning of a new series or a continuation of your current one. I miss your Jesse Damon series.

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  12. Such sad situations for so many of the released prisoners. One of the charities that I support is Prison Ministries from our diocese. A little nun goes into a local prison and tries to provide some comfort and guidance. Thank you, Kathleen for all you do and for bringing awareness to the plight of released prisoners.

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  13. What an intensely interesting post! I love the insight you're able to give me into this system. I hope it works out for Smiley, although I know it's a long shot. He seems determined to try for it--best of luck to him. And bless you, Saint KM.

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  14. You're so right, Warren. I remember a CO (corrections officer) who had transferred from the old penitentiary downtown. It was maximums security, so the inmates there had enough behavior problems that they had never been moved to a lesser security level. That didn't mean that they would never be released. He said that when their release date came, they would be given street cloths and their gate money, and let out the front door (some of them had to be physically shoved.)

    This happened at four o'clock in the afternoon. With no one to help them and no idea of where to go, they'd sit on the front steps for a few hours until eventually they'd wander off. There's no doubt in my mind most of them had done something with 24 hours that could get them locked up again.

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  15. Leslie, there's a very strong feeling among many people that prison inmates deserve what they get, and no one should help them. This ignores the reality that when someone feels they have been placed in a hopeless situation, they are not going to be successful. And thus a self-fulfilling prophecy is established.

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  16. What kind words, Gloria! I do have a new novel partially written (Ponzi scheme operating in churches!) for Jesse, but I've been putting more energy into short stories.

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  17. Grace, thank you and your Prison Ministries for your work. It's very difficult to ever know whether you're making a positive difference or not. So many inmates are chameleons--the old "Fake it to make it" mentality. You'll never know until it's too late whether someone will take the opportunities you provide and use them as a foundation to build a better life.

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  18. Kaye, I hope you're right. I have no doubt that Smiley is determined to work things out, at least at this point. Whether that will continue or not, I don't know.

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