Corona/Prison Update

We’re still on a modified lock down status, but we’ve entered what Staff calls “Phase 7”. Now I don’t know what all goes into phase 7, you know, how it affects other areas of the prison yard, but for us, it has changed things a little bit.
Remember when I outlined how we were being allowed 2 hours three times a week out of our cells… and being allowed to make 5 minute phone calls? Well, under Phase 7 that has been altered, we are seeing what I guess could be called a gradual opening process. Under phase 6, we were intermingling with 11 cells, 22 people, under Phase 7 we’ve went to 16 cells and 32 people. In addition to the extra people, the 2 hours out of the cells has been increased to 3 hours…. a bit of an improvement.
In addition to this extra hour we are also being allowed outside for 1 hour a week; my cellblock goes out on Sunday…. the same 32 people or 25% of the cellblock. I’m the first section out, so my time is from 6:30 to 7:30AM – Hardly any sun at that time, but, I ain’t complaining. The air is fresh; I really appreciate being given an hour outside. So think about that the next time you’re sitting around the house bored stiff – get the hell up and go for a walk, enjoy freedom, because some folks dream about having that opportunity.
Phone calls – I told you before that the Warden, Ms. Rios, had cut the duration of our phone calls down from 15 minutes to 5 minutes per call – I told you why I thought she did the right thing, so I won’t repeat it here. I will tell you that under Phase 7, this 5 minute call has been increased to 10 minutes per call… I don’t like that. Well, here’s my reason – even with the extra hour, we also have 10 extra people waiting for the phone. (We have 4 phones in total) and when you throw in the 4 or so guys out EVERY DAY, ALL DAY, to clean, who use the phone on our time – the increased 5 minutes make it difficult to get to the phone unless you’re willing to spend a significant portion of your 3 hours standing in line – my vote is to go back to the 5 minute call, but hey, no complaints, I must admit that the Warden has done a damn good job – we’ve had zero infections here at Three Rivers.

Visits

One of the, no that’s not right, THE MOST IMPORTANT privilege we are afforded in Federal Prison is that on weekends we are allowed to receive visits from friends and family. There are some folks in the Prison Administration who want to do away with these contact visits. Why? Well, Dope! They say that dope is being introduced into the prison system through personal contact with family members. Much to my chagrin, I must admit that this is true – I have spoken on this subject, on this blog site, multiple times. But I will point out to you that we ain’t had visits since this Corona business began, and, in addition to that, we were locked down all of January and half of February – remember, I have told you about those event as well. To put this into perspective, this entire year we’ve had maybe, 3 weekends where visitations were allowed. so, with little or no visits, the Dope business should be shut down–right?

GUARDS

Last night my cellie was standing at our cell door watching TV through the window, when this guy, who’s on his 3 hour bit of time, slides a piece of paper under the door. My cellie thought someone was sending us a kite (a letter) and was stunned to see that when he opened it up it held some Seboxin (Dope, probably misspelled) and a list of things to buy at the store to pay for it. My cellie freaked out and gave it back – the guy was embarrassed when he realized that we were not his customers, we had recently moved ito this cell.
Let me say that there are lots of guys getting high in my cellblock – lots! Everyday, or every couple days I can hear from my cell as a dope deal goes down … So, my point is this. If the dope is coming in through visitation, through contact with our families – but we ain’t had visits, how can this be possible? It can’t. So if the dope is not coming through the Visitation Room, then where is it coming from? Well, there can only be three possible answers! 1.) There is one hell of a stockpile on the yard or 2.) They are somehow getting Seboxin through the mail – spray on drugs, yes, Seboxin, I don’t think so, which can only leave us with, 3.) It’s being brought in by Prison Guards! Booyah! There it is. There simply cannot be another answer. So, don’t let them take away our right to contact visits with out families because SOME guys do smuggle dope in through the Visitation Room — because – – the bigger problem is — Dirty Cops.

A Message to Dirty Cops- From me to you

I want a few things too! No not dope, But I would like to have an MP3 player with some good meditation material on it… in fact, I want the entire Gerald O’Donnal “Remote Influencing” course. This is a wonderful step by step course- it costs $300- I will pay extra of course. Also, I need new glasses. I’m at an age where my eyes are getting worse almost yearly. In addition to this unfortunate reality, I have “light sensitive” eyes. Yeah, and they’re getting worse – Hell, if I watch TV for a couple hours my eyes are so strained, red, and watery, that I look like one of those Seboxin guys. Yes, I have asked the Medical Department to Order me some tinted lenses, they do at other spots, but so far, here at Three Rivers, I have been denied … Yes my medical records reflect that I have “Light Sensitive” eyes, but like I said, the last time I had a pair was the ones issued to me while at Pollock, nine years ago! Anyway, if there are any Dirty Cops reading this — hey- *wink wink* do something good for a change and hook an old guy up!

Well, that’s my rant for this time.

As always I ask you to “Share” this with your friends. Peace be with you and stay safe … and don’t forget to take that walk! Mark

Three Rivers, 5-27-20