Thursday, February 19, 2009
Eighty-Nine Days Until My Release From Taft Federal Prison Camp
My release date continues to approach at a rapid pace. I like it. Other prisoners I've met have expressed deep anxieties about returning to society. They all wanted freedom, of course, but they left trouble behind when they began serving their sentences. During the months, years, or decades that they spent inside prison boundaries, they adjusted in ways that would ease their confinement, but they did not plan effectively to meet the challenges they would face upon release.
I feel fortunate in that regard. I had better guidance. Others who had experience in moving through the system helped me understand adjustment strategies that would ensure each day passed productively. I didn't have too much time to serve. Yet during my year of confinement, I felt that I made as much progress as possible. The choices and the discipline have brought me more confidence to confront the crises ahead.
In prison, it became easy to disengage from the wider community. Here at Taft Camp we had wonderful recreational facilities and relatively comfortable housing conditions. I saw photographs of other prisons, where men were crammed together in open dormitories and assigned to triple bunks. The conditions we enjoyed did not absolve us of the stress that came with separation from family, but we had it easier than many people in prison.
Whether a prisoner was confined in easy or hard conditions, the onus was on him to stay alert to the challenges he would face upon release. I had never been confined before, and it followed that I had never been released from prison before. Guidance I had, however, helped me contemplate steps I could take to prepare for the challenges ahead. I attributed that guidance to the confidence I felt as my release date approached. Many of the readers who stumble across my blog writings anticipate that they soon will begin serving time in federal prison camps. I know this because I've received messages and letters. I always emphasize that those individuals ought to seek counsel from people who have not only survived prison, but thrived through prison. Attorneys may have been helpful in leading the defendant through the criminal justice system. Prisons, however, were different social structures entirely. A dynamic existed inside prison boundaries that was absent in any other American community. That was the reason seven out of every ten people who experienced prison returned to confinement upon release.
This morning I heard government estimates that unemployment rates could top 9 percent before the end of this year. Despite those dismal predictions, people in prison could adjust in ways to prepare. For me, that meant mastering discipline. It meant working early, reading extensively, writing prolifically, and thinking constantly. As a consequence of my deliberate adjustment decisions, I felt ready to leave the turmoil of conferment, and contribute to the making of a better America. Eighty-nine more days.
