Every Adventure Requires a First Step!

Our title comes from the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. It is such an appropriate statement and a more perfect source to call upon given our topic - the Criminal Justice System. Once you or your family become part of this sub-chapter of life, you will understand more about why I use this quote.

My oldest son wants me to dig deep and go to the root of the problem. While I agree this is a task for someone, I have chosen to take a piece of the puzzle to see how I might help make a difference. I am also trying to keep my focus on women’s issues because there is just too little being done to help this segment of the incarcerated population. Most of what you find works with and deals with men’s prisons.

So, the first step is to recognize the real problems. The apparent issues show up first. Why is it that the only commercial places people can live or work, being surrounded with so much non-compliance, with lack of most any safety rules, or neglect for regulations or OSHA compliance, is a property or establishment owned or ran by our government? I asked while in the cafeteria one day, “Do we have to be OSHA compliant here at the camp?” My response from the CO (corrections officer) was that we absolutely did! Then why aren’t we?

For a women’s camp, I think the first thing you notice is that you are being fitted into men’s clothing. Why? You are only supplied with sports bras (unless and until you have the funds to buy a regular bra). Your shoes are men’s shoes. The towels provided are not the quality you would get to wipe down a car at a car wash. And then you only get two of them. Another immediate realization is that you are being put into very unusual living circumstances. Initially you almost always go into what is called a Bus Stop. In my case, that meant a tiny room that holds 5 rusted metal bunk beds. Some have broken or sprung springs, and some were just a flat metal base. I got one of those. The metal stairs leading to the upper deck are not easily maneuvered, but you have to learn. If you are over 60 years of age, and I was, you should automatically be given a bottom bunk pass. But not one of the multitude of younger girls in your area will volunteer to trade beds while you sort it out. There are no slats on either side, and some of the beds have no wall for support. You can fall off on either side. And if you do, you will come into contact with nothing but metal and then a filthy tile floor. Some windows don’t open and one there is one door. Each year the Fire Marshall shows up and shuts these bus stops down, but once the dorms have filled back up, the administration goes right back to the bus stop use until they are shut down again. You get a cotton blanket and two sheets. No pillows, no pillowcases. Our supplies, food, and clothing are stored indented and rusted metal lockers that are about three shelves high. Again, every edge is pointed if it is not bent and rusted. You do not want to fall. You will hurt yourself.

There are four showers for four alleys and one bus stop each. While you do have privacy for showering, you may need to sanitize the shower before using it. More than once or twice a day, someone staying on the compound and using the facilities manages to defecate in one of them. Even if that has happened, the showers are lined with moldy tiles and rusty plumbing. The tiles that have no mold are where the tiles are missing altogether. I still think it is helpful to know you have a private shower for your use. If you are new, you still have to buy soap, shampoo, a raiser, or any other toiletry you might need. Nothing and I mean nothing is available for you. You need shower shoes, but you will have to buy those too.

I got told by a couple of men I interviewed to find out what it was like to go to a camp, that they looked out for each other. They got into small groups of like individuals and showed each other the ropes. These individuals became your base of friends. This does not happen in a women’s camp. Women aren’t that nice. They watch you. They see who you are and how you are. Someone might give you a pair of sweat shorts or a t-shirt to sleep in so that you can get out of your white jumpsuit the first night. They do look out for each other by race. The Hispanics look for things to get their group. The Blacks look out for their own. The native Americans are looking out for their own. The only group that does take care of their own is the white ladies. Unfortunately for me, I look white though I am Hispanic, so there was no help to be found.

Why share all of these details? Because one of the first things we can do as a society is figuring out how to get changes made regarding the essential toiletry and supplies that are provided when someone first arrives. Not so much as a comb and when the prison gives one out, it’s one of those little black travel combs. I ran big sisters and gave out the minimal items that are provided every other week by the camp. They don’t give out enough toothpaste (travel size or smaller), a toothbrush (these are in high demand), two envelopes, one small writing pad, and two lead pencils. Often there are not enough to make supplies for the new people coming in and those already there are looking for replenished supplies.

Most importantly, there is no first call. You have no money on your books immediately, and you cannot share phones, nor do people want to give up there time on the phones to you. To be able to implement a system that allotted (.30) thirty cents on every new person on each lady’s phone to make a call home when they would be astronomical. Some never have enough money to make a phone call to their loved ones. But let’s start with the beginning and try to get women a chance to reach out and call a loved one to tell them they are there and safe. It is a terrifying moment, and I know to personally have to wait even to get to speak to my husband just added to the horrific situation I was already dealing with for my first night at camp

A fundamental problem to solve is to do a fundraiser to raise funds to put a minimal amount on every inmate’s phone for an initial call. Those traveling through Con Air or on the prison bus system, they could have been out of pocket with their families for weeks and even months.