Families of Prisoners Support Group
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Hello, My son had a job in state prison. He loved this job. One morning a few weeks ago he went into work and the person in charge said that the entire staff had been fired due to someone getting on the internet. My son was devastated. There are only 4 inmates working In the department. He said everyone knew who was doing it and that he had been doing it for a while. My son did not personally witness it (I don't think he did anyway). Fast forward a few weeks and he was interviewed for another job. He was so happy until he got a notice later that day that he was not hired for the job because of the previous incident at the last job. He started investigating and he found out the someone blamed the incident on my son. He has not been downgraded and is no longer eligible for jobs that will provide a time cut. He's absolutely devastated. My question is why wouldn't they have asked for a statement from my son? Doesn't he have the right to his statement and to defend himself against lies that affect his quality of life while in prison. I would think there should be some grievance process he can file a complaint or statement to. Please help. Thank you.
I read your post regarding your son's unfortunate situation. Then as I read further down I saw a major train wreck just waiting to happen for your son. I will explain.
Personally, I would NEVER, NEVER file a grievance against another staff member, and I sure as hell would never file a grievance against another inmate. People who file grievances in prison almost always run into major problems at some point. When I was in prison, if I could not handle a problem, I certainly never filed a grievance or went to staff with my problem----the problem just did not get solved and I lived with it.
File a grievance against a prison staff member, and you take a chance of getting your cell shook down on a daily basis. During the shakedown, TVs and radios get "accidentally" dropped and broken. COs miraculously find things in your cell that they use as an excuse to issue a misconduct for contraband. The retaliation factor is rather significant when filing paper on a prison staff member.
Filing paper on another inmate is a good way to get beaten down. I know your son would not file a grievance on another inmate---as that would be seen as snitching---- but I just wanted to mention it. I had a mother whose son was in prison and I was helping a few months ago who filed a grievance against another inmate. They took razor blades to all his clothes, stole all this commissary, beat him up, and sent him into PC.
The nature of prison is that there are a lot of injustices that an inmate cannot control.
Having said that, there are some things your son can do. First of all, your son should never have to take the blame for something like this. He can protest his innocence, but deflecting blame on another inmate---even if it is true---- is a definite NO NO.
Here is what I would do-----I would write up a "Request to Staff"----not a grievance, a polite Request to Staff----asking to kindly speak to the supervisors who both eliminated the program and are preventing him from finding the type of job he desires in prison. If he cannot write a Request to Staff, he can go into their office and ask if he can speak to them for a few minutes. Talk to them like a person. I know your son is a good guy and polite, so he can do this. Tell them that he was wrongly accused and he feels as if he is being unfairly treated.
Prison staffers are not stupid. They will see a young man who is obviously not engaged in the prison culture, but only trying to serve his sentence talk to them proclaiming his innocence. The staff knows that inmates snitch and falsely accused others of doing things quite often. Maybe this will make a difference. I hope it does. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but in the future.
I have a difficult time believing that as your son maintains his good prison record, this will follow him around for very long. Prisons always need intelligent guys who are good workers. Hopefully, he can at least plant a seed during the meeting with the prison supervisors.
No matter what prisons may say, unless it is a state statute or a DOC operative, prison staffers can always make exceptions. I am hoping that the staffers can see this for what it is and give your son a second chance.
Talking to staff, pleading your case, and telling them you are innocent is about all an inmate can do without running into major problems. I know, mom, that this is not fair, but it is the nasty business of "prison politics."
Tell your son good luck and to hang in there.
rewdiazepam
I think you just saved my son a lot of grief. He does need to start realizing that nothing is fair in prison. Actually, I think he lives that reality every day. It's just always something new and crazy and none of it ever makes sense to a reasonable person. It's almost like you have to think the opposite of logic to understand prison.
Thank you. Bless you!
All prison teaches them is that they are deprived of every normal thing, treated like no one is ever taught to treat other people, but then expected to come out and not do anything wrong. And why would we be surprised when people cannot adjust to the real world out here and re offend? It's everything backwards, then BAM they are home and supposed to just act completely opposite again. And they are watched by the PO's and cops and are just expected to fail. SICK SICK system it is.
It even effects when mine comes home. He is so sick of people telling him what to do, when to do it, and complaining even if he did it that he doesn't like me " hovering" over him, doesn't like me to tell him if I don't agree with something he says or wants. He was deprived of normalcy. And he rebels. And then back to the same old stuff. Eventually arrests, and court and prison again. And that is how the prison's have job security. Bet they never lay too many staff off in most of them.
What do we do now?
If he is under investigation, there is not much he can really do at this point, except to sit tight. The investigator will probably interview your son. Just tell him to tell the truth that he is not guilty of what they have accused him. Do not dare mention any other inmate's name, of course. Just deny guilt.
Sit tight and don't panic.
BUT, all his incoming mail will be read word-for-word, so don't say anything that can possibly be misconstrued as a violation. Don't even say anything like, "Such and such is not fair there at the prison" or that you don't like the warden or anything even critical of the prison for a while.
The reason I say this is that I was under investigation once when I wrote to my friend that one of the teachers I worked with in the education department was rumored of having sex with inmates. My friend wrote back and they caught the discussion----and went ballistic.
The case manager called me in and I explained what happened, that I did not accuse her of having sex, but only that I had heard it had happened. Nothing came of it, but my incoming mail was watched like a hawk for a few months.
The prison system normally does not read outgoing mail, but they might---probably will---- read his outgoing mail now that he is under investigation. They sure did mine. Every time my friend received a letter, it had been opened and taped back with scotch tape.
They will monitor his phone calls much more closely now. Most prison systems tape all calls and just spot check ones every once in a while, but they never zero in on any one inmate unless he is under investigation. So, mother, watch what you say on the phone and what you write in your letters, because I am here to tell you they will be watching.
But this will be over in a month or so. They will run their little investigation and probably nothing will happen.
And I have seen this happen a few times-----an investigation clears the suspect. The investigator may uncover something that will make him realize your son is innocent. And they may absolve him of all guilt. This investigation could possibly work in your son's favor. Possibly.
I know I cannot tell you not to worry about it; as a mother, you will, But the very worst thing that could happen is that he might get a misconduct. And I will let you in on a secret. Most DOCs will restore any lost good time if a defendant is so close to his release date that the lost good time would discharge him. When I worked in the law library, I filed a lot of paperwork to get an inmate back his good time credits.
Let me know how this goes. Try not to panic.
Ralph
He said someone in charge of the education department told someone else in charge that they couldn't hire my son because he's being investigated. For what, who knows. He just needs to sit tight and see where this leads. Unfortunately, he is housed in the work dorm and he is currently idle. He is cleaning inside the dorm so hopefully they won't move him.
Nerve wracking to say the least. But your advice helps tremendously. Thank you so much for responding.
Nothing in prison is what it seems, regarding how staff acts, and what they do with people in there.
And yes, be very careful of what you say to him, in any way of corresponding. They listened to our calls, and read my letters, and I hated ever thing they did, hated how guarded our conversations, and what I wrote had to be.
I am a rebel, on calls, I would say, Oh hello snoopers... while that was childish, I was mad, and when they listened in, they got to hear that I as a person NOT in prison did not appreciate them doing this crap. And in his situation it was all because his inmate buddy wanted me to order things for him, and he sent me his credit card number, and the order forms. He couldn't do it in there. But I can order for my fiance but no one else. So this was a big stink. It seemed ridiculous, but my fiance hadn't heard the real truth's about this guy. This guy was not a good person, he had defrauded people, stolen, you name it, he did it. So they thought we might be in on it.
In there, these guy's befriend you, make you think you really have someone you can trust, and they are using you. They don't have anyone to help them, so they find a " sucker" like my fiance who always feeds right into helping someone that seems sincerely a good person when in reality they are not.
It was really tense for us while we knew they were doing it. In letters I did state that I highly felt violated by what they were doing when WE had done nothing wrong. In fact I had eventually refused to help this guy, as his list got longer and longer of what he needed me to do for him. I told him on our calls I would not help this man. So we should not have looked guilty of anything. By now, those guards should of seen WE were being victimized by this smoothe talking jerk. But NOOO, he was written up for it, had some privileges taken for awhile and we lost our only way we communicated, except in visits. Even then they sat us close to the guard desk, so they could listen. We weren't even sure if they had bugged the table we were at. It was awful. A real intrusion of our little bit of so called privacy we could have.
So tell your son, get this over with, do what he has to do, to get it cleared up, but be careful and follow Rew's advice.
Just because they say he is the "target" of the investigation does NOT mean they are zeroing in on your son. EVERYONE who was involved or knows anything about the incident is most likely identified as "targets" of the investigation.
Some inmates have a habit of pointing fingers and doing too much talking when interviewed during these investigations. Someone may spill the beans and the truth will come out.
I certainly hope so for your son and for you as a mother.
The investigation will also give your son the opportunity to tell his side of the story. As I said earlier, tell the truth, but do not mention any other inmate. Just tell them what happened and that he was not a part of any wrong doing.
He needs to keep it short, but continue to say, "" this is so unfair, I haven't done anything."
There is a really good chance that after this investigation is over, he will get his job back or at least be eligible to work there again. As I said earlier, even if they find him guilty of something, it is very unlikely that they would never allow to have his old job back. Prisons have a difficult time finding good workers; someone will want him back on the job at some point.
They don't hold things against an inmate forever in prison. This will blow over.
rewdiazepam
Prison officials do NOT like intelligent inmates. They consider intelligent inmates as a threat to them. They don't want such an inmate to "show them up" by being able to do things they cannot.
Will expand on this later. Have to go for now.
Tell your son to hang in there. He is doing everything right in the world of prison and the world of prison makes no sense at all to a normal person.
rewdiazepam
You said, " I spoke to him last night and he said he received a response from the Superintendent and she states he is NOT under any investigation and he should be eligible for ANY position he desires."
I am assuming the superintendent is the head of the education department. The education department in prison is the only place where they have either a principal or superintendent.
If he or she wants him back, he will get back there at some point. Cooler heads may have to prevail, but he can probably get his job back.
As I said, the prison system does not like intelligent inmates. They see them as a threat; not a threat in that their job----the staffers' jobs-----are in jeopardy, since, let's face it, most intelligent people would not be working in a prison for peanuts. But they see an intelligent inmate as a blow to their ego. The prison system will NEVER admit an inmate can do things or is more intelligent than their own prison staff.
Most people who work for the DOC or BOP do not have a great education. Many are downright ignorant and can barely count the heads during count time. Some who work for the prison system are downright low level street trash. Ignorant people usually have a self-esteem close to zero. Imagine when a clean cut kid with some intelligence comes into the area as a new inmate. How do you think that makes a CO feel who already does not feel good about himself? Well, not good. So the new inmate becomes a threat.
One thing your son needs to do is NOT flaunt or act like he is intelligent. Do not let the staff know he is smarter than average. He needs to be "just one of the guys" even if he needs to dumb down his behavior a little. That is hard to do, but it is part of the "prison game" and trust me, this entire damn thing is a game.
He should remember that fellow inmates can also get jealous and spread rumors. It is never good to mention the amount of money you had on the outside, the good job, or the number of girlfriends you had. Inmates, most of them poor, have never had a job and they see things like this as bragging.
People who survive learn to play the game successfully.
One key to playing the game successfully is to be "just like the other inmates in all respects."----just one of the guys.
Remember, this is prison; it is not the real world. Inmate's values and prison rules are much different than the rules you and I live by every day. The key is to learn to think like a prisoner while you are in prison.
Prison officials have to keep the inmates "dumbed down" as much as possible to save their own sanity. They HATED me in education. I had to teach some grammar classes and pre-algebra classes in GED as their DOC instructor was not competent in those areas. It just KILLED her to have to come into my area and ask me to teach her own inmates.
Her jealousy finally turned to hatred toward me and she finally got me in the end. ha ha Two days before I was to be released, she went to the warden-----she was the education "snitch bitch"---and made up a bunch of lies about me. He told my boss to "get rid of REW." The teacher was through with me---I had done all her work that she could not do--- so she had to get the last laugh by having me fired.
Just before I left, I went into her classroom and said, "Diane, I know you did not like me because you were not qualified to do your job, but you know what?? I am going home in about one hour. I will see my family, but you will still be "playing house" over here with a bunch of inmates who you despise for the rest of your life." I then turned about, laughed and walked off. I knew she could not write me up or give me a misconduct since it takes 48 hours to process a misconduct and I was going home in less than a couple of hours.
This illustrates how petty some staff can be and how innocent people who are too smart for their own good get sacrificed at times. I am sure this is what happened to your son.
You said, " He did say that the other inmates are upset for him and no one can figure out what's truly going on other than the guy who actually did get on the internet lied and probably pinned it on my son."
The inmate that really was guilty and tried to pin it on your son will probably not last long at that medium security prison. Say what you want about inmates, they have a sense of fair justice. They will hate the other inmate for not accepting responsibility and taking his lumps like a man and they will really hate him for placing the blame on your son. Don't worry, something will happen to him. I know medium security prisons; I was there long enough.
You son can rise above this. Just take this like a man, whichever way it goes. He will win a tremendous amount of respect from the other inmates with how he carries himself through this. And, RESPECT, is the most important thing in prison.
Mom, you said, " These issues make me sick. I'm trying so hard to hold it together out here day in an day out."
Your son will get through this and he will probably come out of this a bigger man and a better person. Seriously.
Intelligent people ALWAYS find a way to navigate the system---even at a medium security prison----and land on their own two feet. Your son will find a way to do well after release. I know as a mother you are upset, since this is all so damn unfair. But he will overcome. Trust me, he will. I did it and others have done it.
The prison experience will teach your son the ugly and slimy side of society. Many of the inmates are low life, but many are decent human beings. The staff is no better than the inmates; they just haven't been caught doing things yet.
Try not to worry. Your son will survive just fine. Frankly, you are taking this much harder than he is.
God bless you and anytime you need some help, do not hesitate to contact me or the board.
rewdiazepam
I will be visiting him later this month and plan to discuss all this with him in person. I did tell him he needs to lay low, keep a low profile and let this blow over.
I am taking this hard. It's all I think about from the minute I wake up to the minute I go to sleep. So your words are very comforting. He will overcome. He just needs to survive hell until they release him.
Thanks again REW. If we could have an honor REW day I would be the one to organize and plan it. God Bless you.