Around 9:15, Gary (who is sick) was allowed to join us, and we were so happy to see each other and be together -- even in prison.
Prison employees seem oblivious to the fact that prisoners and prisoners' families are human beings, with human feelings and needs. In fact, what prison employees do is directly harmful to prisoners and their families. I saw yet another perfect example Sunday, something that was done repeatedly, and it made me unbearably sad.
JB: What was it?
JW: Our country's mass imprisonment of our fellow men (and women) is a societal and systemic problem, the importance and impact of which cannot be overstated. Children are the most vulnerable victims, no matter the age of the "child." The BOP has endless written words extolling the importance of families and visitation and keeping the home fires burning and family ties intact. That's because the lowest rates of recidivism are among former prisoners with strong family connections. But that is the exact opposite of what the BOP really wants -- prisoners are a valuable commodity converting to tax dollars for more prisons and more jobs for prison employees -- and those "policies" are only wasted ink on wasted paper, for which federal employees are paid wasted tax dollars to compose with a wink and a nod, with no intention of complying with their own policies, written by themselves.
AL helmet antenna topper by Crimson Tide Planet website
JB: So, how does the BOP encourage and support family ties?
JW: That's the thing; they don't. The razor wire surrounding federal prisons is more symbolic of how the BOP acts to separate prisoners from their families. Prisoners are allowed to purchase only 300 minutes for telephone calls each month, amounting to an average of less than ten minutes a day, with which they are supposed to "maintain family and community ties." Ten minutes a day to be a husband, daddy, son, brother, and friend - so he has very rarely been able to talk with the kids, and never in almost three years with any friend, as that would mean he wouldn't be allowed to talk with me. The remaining 1,430 minutes a day are spent being a prisoner -- enslaved, abused, treated as worthless by BOPers.
Visitation -- recognized in federal law as a "right" -- is summarily and unlawfully terminated and withheld at the whim of any BOPer who wants to do so. THE BOPers GAVE HIM SIX MONTHS WITH NO CONTACT AT ALL WITH FAMILY OR FRIENDS AND THEN ADMITTED THERE WAS NO VALID BASIS FOR DOING SO. And prisoners are most often assigned to prisons far distant from their homes and families. I DRIVE ELEVEN HOURS EVERY WEEK ACROSS FOUR STATE BORDERS TO VISIT MY HUSBAND FOR LESS THAN SIX HOURS, AND EACH AND EVERY TIME I GET ABUSED BY FEDERAL EMPLOYEES EACH AND EVERY TIME. These policies harm every prisoner and every person who cares about a prisoner.
Roll Tide purse by Judy White collection
JB: Agreed. What does this have to do with the prisoners' children that day?
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