Town Hall Meeting
Well, the candidates are having town hall meetings, so why should prison be different? Last Saturday, our unit manager conducted a town hall meeting. Our town hall meetings are a little different than the ones you have been watching on television with the presidential candidates. Every now and then, our unit manager gathers all of us in front of the unit to discuss an issue applicable to most of the prisoners. We are required to attend the meeting but only about half of the prisoners show up. The meeting discussed prisoners seeking transfers to other institutions. This is a subject near and dear to my heart as I have been trying to transfer for the last two months. Our unit manager told everyone to be patient. She also stated a number of other things trying to dissuade prisoners from attempting to transfer. What concerns me was some of the statements she made contradicted certain BOP regulations. (the lawyer in me still pops up every now and then!). At the end of the meeting she took questions from a number of disgruntled prisoners who wanted to know why their transfer requests had not been addressed. I didn’t say a word as my transfer request is “in the system”. I am hoping this disruption does not affect the timing of my transfer. (selfish?).
In any event, I have adopted the attitude that every day that I spend here is one less day I so not have to spend at another BOP institution. Patience is a virtue.
Ken Flaska
