Saturday, December 27, 2008
Read Your Pre-Sentencing Report
Today I had breakfast with another prisoner who arrived at Taft Federal Prison Camp three weeks ago. Alex is a witty, balding, corpulent man in his late forties. Like me, he is serving time for fraud, although his sentence is 33 months. Alex had been COO (Chief Operating Officer) of a small technology company in Irvine, California. He is also a fellow Trojan.
Over coffee and french toast, Alex provided details of his first team meeting last Friday. Team meetings measure an inmate's progress. All new inmates can expect to have an initial team meeting within 28 days of their arrival to Taft Camp.
Alex was furious because the case manager and counselor told him that in order to earn maximum good time credit, he would have to enroll in classes to earn a GED or high school equivalency certificate. All federal inmates qualify to earn a maximum of 54 days in good time credit each year. My 18 month sentence grants me 71 days of good time credit. Good time days are issued each year automatically to inmates who avoid disciplinary infractions, provided the inmate has a high school diploma, or participates in the GED program.
Alex felt insulted because the staff failed to recognize that he had not one, but two degrees from USC. He immediately pointed out that there was no way he would waste his time studying basic math, English and social studies. Staff was equally direct in their response. They explained that Alex's PSI (pre-sentencing report) failed to mention that he had graduated from high school, let alone college. He would have to remain in the classes until the problem was fixed.
Immediately following the meeting, Alex telephoned his wife, who in turn mailed a copy of his college degree to the counselor. This minor problem was fixed, but not without stress.
Staff members rely on the PSI to learn any and everything about a defendant. I encourage anyone entering the criminal justice system to spend the necessary time with their attorney to ensure its accuracy.
Justin Paperny
