November 01, 2014
Living here in the cell isolation unit (better known as cell ice) is very similar to the day to day life I once lived at the level 3 prison, Lebanon I left from more than 1 1/2 years ago. Every inmate on cell ice are locked in our cells 23 hours a day, with the exception of walking to and from the chow hall and one hour of each day to spend in the dayroom area, enabling us just enough time to link our JP4 tablets to the kiosk and take a shower. Fortunately for me, I get a few extra hours out of the cell each day for horticulture class. Horticulture class is from 12:15 to 3:15p.m., unfortunately my dayroom schedule is from 2:30 to 3:30p.m., which makes it difficult for me being in class at that time. The regular shift guards that are here know that I miss my regular dayroom time, so they let me out of my cell for an hour some time in evenings to shower and plug my JP4 into the kiosk, but when a guard that doesn't normally work in this unit covers a shift in here and I try to explain my situation they assume that I'm just trying to take advantage of them and get an extra hour out of the cell. This means sometimes I don't get a shower or a chance to check my emails, which is okay because I can understand from the perspective of thinking that an inmate is trying to abuse the system and get over on the guard, besides I remember several countless occasions at Lebanon, walking up to the showers only to discover inmates having sex in the showers, wanting no part in such things, immediately having to turn around, return to my cell and wash up in the sink. Exercise can be even more difficult, working out in the cell is fine, but having to wait all day to take a shower after sweating profusely can be uncomfortable, sitting through class after washing up in a sink just isn't the same as taking a shower and changing into clean clothes. I would have to say out of everything the most uncomfortable part of being locked in a cell with another man all day is having to take a bowel movement; this never gets any easier to do. The terrible tasting processed food we're forced to eat everyday doesn't sit very well in our digestive system, needless to say that the smell of another man on the toilet is almost unbearable, so is having to inflict such discomfort on another man. I try hard to wait until our dayroom schedule to do such things in the cell alone, which makes for an uncomfortable day of restraining nature from taking its desired course.
Steven Dybvad
