JW: I am very happy to share details, along with lots of emotions all around, not the least of which is, unfortunately, anger. As we had discussed before, Gary should have been home immediately upon enactment of the First Step Act of 2018, which the president signed on December 21st. Gary has been unlawfully imprisoned every day since, and that includes now, as he is not free, not released, still "imprisoned" but on home confinement, which, as we will share, is completely abusive, aside from being illegal, with the most destructive part being that the BOP and halfway house have continued to violate the Eighth Amendment - federal courts have held the Eighth includes medical abuse, refusing to provide needed medical and dental care, as "cruel and unusual punishment" - and they have indisputably committed medical abuse against Gary. More about that later. Let's get to the happy part first.
JB: Please do. It's nice to have some good news for a change.
JW: On March 5th, I picked Gary up in the parking lot at the entrance to Maxwell Air Force Base, the parking lot he arrived at five years ago upon being transferred from Forrest City, Arkansas, and the same parking lot I found myself spending too much time in almost every weekend since. Again, I was parked and waiting. And waiting. Finally, a prison van arrived, pulled over to the curb, and a prison employee helped Gary remove from the van the few boxes containing all his "personal property" from over eight and a half years - Gary's treasured art and art supplies, books, letters, clothes, medicine - all thrown carelessly onto the curb by the prison employee, as if it was trash. The prison employee then jumped back in the van and drove away, leaving Gary alone outside the prison, as I made my way over to him. It was a very emotional, teary moment with desperate hugs and real kisses. And we took Gary's first ever "selfie" - because selfies were not a "thing" when Gary was sent to prison.
Our happiness and freedom were to be only brief, though, as I had a short time to drive to Birmingham and find the assigned halfway house Gary was illegally being sent to, then our hearts would be broken anew as I would have to leave him at a new and different kind of prison. But we had the drive time, during which Gary also made some "freedom ride" calls to speak with our children and a few very dear friends and family members, some of the ones who have really loved us through the darkest times.
JB: What was it like for Gary to be suddenly "outside" after all that time?
JW: It was exhilarating. And overwhelming. Gary was able to have "real food" for the first time in such a long time. I had prepared several of his favorite things, and he had plenty of options and things to eat, but options and choices are hard for prisoners/former prisoners, as they have not been allowed to make any decisions for themselves. Then there is riding in the car, something that caused Gary a good deal of stress and anxiety. Imagine if you had not seen roadways, been in an automobile or on the interstate except for a very few, mostly illegal moments in almost ten years. I am a very safe, conscientious driver, yet there were moments when Gary was clearly distressed, and I almost expected him to go into a fetal position with his eyes closed. He tried - really tried - to be calm. But he has said several times that he feels like a caveman suddenly transported from the dark ages. Or like someone frozen in time then shocked at what he finds when unfrozen. Think about the differences in technology, social media, and common everyday things. Sounds upset him. He can't stand for timers to go off, such as the microwave, and the alerts from the car, such as when you change lanes without signaling, for example. I had to get a new washer and dryer in Gary's absence and they make sounds that upset him. It highlights the PTSD and lingering damage the BOP does to prisoners.
JB: Indeed.
JW: Getting back to the halfway house, in our case, a halfway house run by Keeton Corrections. The First Step Act made it clear that prisoners such as Gary were to go directly to home confinement rather than to a halfway house. Aside from freeing up halfway house space for prisoners who have nowhere to go home to, the law is reasonable, as there is absolutely no benefit whatsoever to Gary or other prisoners who do not need a place to live. But just like with so many other laws they don't like, the BOP ignored - and continues to ignore - the law's directive to send prisoners HOME.
The day Gary left "real" prison was also the day he had to go to the halfway house, which in reality, is just another kind of prison in a different location, even worse in several ways.
JB: What do you mean by that, Judy?
JW: Gary arrived and "reported in" to the halfway house, which was utterly filthy, to the point of being a health hazard. But the halfway house had no bed for Gary. Despite the BOP breaking the law by sending him to a halfway house rather than home, the halfway house was not prepared for Gary to the extent they did not even have a place for him to sleep. Gary had to spend the entire day he arrived sitting on a hard chair. Just sitting. Nothing to read, no email or phone, no painting, no classes, nothing - which really stressed Gary even more, aside from causing him a lot of pain as his hip has been worn out for some time and all that sitting really hurt. Late that night, after I had spent the day trying to find him a cell phone without internet connectivity and without a camera - because that is what they require - and after picking up some other items he needed, and after making numerous calls and emailing complaints about the situation, Gary finally had a bed FRAME, and it was considerably later when the halfway house "found" a mattress for him. He had to use a rolled up blanket for a pillow that night, which left him without a blanket to cover up. Later, he was issued a pillow, only to have it subsequently confiscated with the threat that he was "not allowed" to have the very pillow they had given him. And in prison, Gary had usually been in a two-person cubicle, but the filthy halfway house just had dozens of men, over 60 men, stacked in one large room, like sardines in a can, with the added noise of loud television, which, of course, caused Gary to be unable to sleep. Sleep deprivation began to affect Gary really badly, and each time I spoke with him, I noticed further cognitive decline, which was alarming.
Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
6
5
4
