California Prisons Continue

California Prisons Continue to defy federal judges and play with prisoners lives by having inadequate health care. I live in a California State prison and I can, as I have, tell you that the level of health care is less then I would get in a 3rd world country. The federal courts have rightly pointed to over-crowding of prisoners as the main cause. And for ten plus years the courts and the state have gone back and forth over the issue of health care and mental health care. The bottom line is men and women are dyeing while the states politicians refuse to act. They are so worried about being made to look soft on crime that they are willing to allow inmates to needlessly die. The blame also goes to the Federal judges for allowing this problem to linger and not forcing the California prisons to actually do something. All that comes out of the federal courts over seeing this issue is talk, talk, talk, and the Schwarzenegger administration just talks and files appeals. In the mean time one inmate dies a completely preventable death every week due to this failure by both sides to act. Right now I’m more insearced at the federal courts. You three old men die being played by the California politicos like violins. You old men sit there an act like Moses handing down order after order from on high. While the California politicos are dancing around a golden California and thumbing their collective noses at you. At this point you judges look like fools! And I say stop! Stop allowing the State of California to continue thumbing their noses at you! The three Judge Panel needs to get on with it and issue a final order detailing the process for parole with a date for the order to be implemented. That’s what I have to say on that – for now. I also want to address the various published reports of 40,000 inmates to be released, that’s only part true. The real number to look at is the cap of 110,000 inmates to be housed in the California state prisons. That means at any one time only 110,000 inmates will be housed in state prisons so first the 40,000 will be released; then the county jails will dump all their convicted felons into the prisons system. As a result the state prisons system must parole more people – to stay at or under the cap, so as I said it not just 40,000 to be paroled it’s the 110,000 cap. Lastly a few blogs ago I wrote about cutbacks to prison rehabilitation programs. Mainly vocational training and education. It’s now becoming a reality. The pink slips are going out to the teachers. See, now that is the way the state cuts the fat. It gets rid of the two programs that have been proven to cut future crime and recidivism. This sends a very clear message the state doesn’t care about your safety. With a 70% recidivism rate in the state of California they are all but ensuring that new crimes – thus new victims – will happen. By cutting two proven rehab programs the state of California is simply throwing its citizens to the wolves. If I were governor and I knew that the feds are going to release 40,000 – 100,000 paroles in the next year (about the regular 90,000 that parole every year anyways) I would mandate re-entry classes for every inmate that might possibly be paroled. I would organize countries and cities to begin halfway houses. In short I would do everything in my power to help all the men and women who are about to be paroled. Because it’s the right thing to do and I would have a sworn duty to protect California’s citizens. Because if the state does as I expect, which is nothing, there is going to be a very messy release, when it comes. So Judges and Lawmakers wake –up this is going to happen – plan for it! To the reader: Thank you for reading this. Please try to do something to help all the new paroles. With Respect, VERITAS

Veritas and Football

Well, the football (pro & college) season is upon us. And in prison, at least in my experience, that’s a big thing. I have run a paper and pencil fantasy football league for two years now. I really enjoy it—and so do the other players. There are five buildings on this yard and each one seems to have a league. Each league has between 8-12 teams. My league has 8 teams. Last year we had two leagues in this building. This year I had a hard time just getting 8. That’s due to a lot of transfers to Soledad State Prison. I am told the North yards of that prison is being turned over to SNY. And the yard I’m on here is being turned into a mental health yard. Good luck with that. The mental health care here, at PVAP, is so lacking as to be non-existent. I mean there is a “Mental Health” office on the yard. It is not staffed. Has a few odd bits of furniture in it. The whole thing is like a store front film prop—looks good from the outside, but nothing behind the door. All that is for another time. Besides we get more use of practical social skills by playing fantasy football. A person has to be responsible and put in a team roster every week. A person (owner of a team) has to interact with other men to do player trades and drops/pick-ups. Also, it gives the guys who are playing something to talk about other than prison stuff or trying to think of things to stop the boredom. Right now we spend more than half our normal program time locked down. Most of the time it’s due to staff shortages—so we are told. As a result, all of us in cells spend lots of time reading, as I do; watching TV, as a lot of guys do. Some work out in the tiny cells. I figured out a way to do crunches off the edge of my bed. They kill my abs! The key to cell/prison living is to stay active. I have a very bad back from a car accident. So if the pain pills I take don’t knock some of the pain out—I just want to lie in bed. That’s what I used to do. Now I force myself to do crunches and squats and of course push-ups. I have found that the prison Medical doesn’t give a shit if I or any other man in here is in pain or dies. So it’s up to each individual con to push medical for what they need. And those poor uneducated cons just suffer because either they don’t know how or aren’t able to file a medical appeal to get proper care. I try to help those guys, there are just so many. It gets so damn depressing. I just have to get my mind off it. So like I said, I read, work out and now a new season of fantasy football. Just anything to keep my mind off the suffering and bullshit that goes on in here. Because I know some men that just won’t leave their cells—except to eat and shower. They each have their own reasons or reason. I know one fellow who says he just can’t stand to be around all the assholes outside his cell. Yep, there are a lot of jerks and assholes in prison, but this is where we are so I say learn to cope with it, because there are assholes outside the prison walls, too—how are you going to deal with them??? Well, at least I talked him into playing fantasy football. Maybe I’ll be a social worker if I get out. I don’t know, I just don’t like to see others suffer. Maybe it’s my way of atoning for the fucked up shit I did to other people. Because I did some bad things and they never leave me. I feel like Marley’s ghost in Dickens “A Christmas Carol”. The business partner who had to wear a bunch of chains and weights around him for eternity. I already wear the mental burdens of my misdeeds. I’ve tried to atone and help others but there’s only so much a person can do in a small cell. That’s one big reason I write this blog. Yes, most of what I write about is how screwed up the prison system is. But, it seems to me that just because a man or woman is in prison it does not mean that the guards can just do what they want. That’s why I also write because there is so much wrong in here it starts to be viewed as right. And it must be told. To the reader, please give me some feedback. I want to know what you think. All for now, With Respect, Veritas