My Personal Journal

I recently read a story in the newspaper about a man who was held in solitary in a New Mexico jail for 22 months. During this time his physical and mental health deterioriated, and numerous pleas to see a doctor, lawyer, judge, anyone, were disregarded. He ended up getting a $15 million settlement from the county, but that will not bring back the time he lost or the damage that was done to him. (he was waiting for a hearing). This reminds me of Ron's first 2 weeks at Taft, and for those of you who either didn't know me then or don't remember what happened to him, I will tell you here and now. Of all the things Ron is, at the top of the list is Planner. He always prepares for every situation, so when planning for incarceration he made sure that all his ducks were in a row. The most important thing, he'd been told, was to have your paperwork in order, your orders from the judge, your medical papers, etc. Our lawyers assured us that everything was handled, and that upon arriving at Taft, after a day of filling out more forms, he would be transferred to the camp. Not so. It was almost 2 weeks before Ron was finally transferred to the camp, and no matter how he tried, he could not find out what had gone wrong. They threw him in a cell (SHU-Security Housing Unit) by himself where he remained for almost 2 weeks. He had no idea what was happening, nor did I. I expected to hear from him by Thursday. (I had dropped him off on Monday). He came to Taft with money for the commissary and phone, so I knew it wasn't that he didn't have any money. I couldn't figure it out, and as the days went by, I got more and more concerned. I called Taft, and of course they could tell me nothing. I called my attorney, and she couldn't do anything either. She said to just wait, that they'd had people who'd gone to prison and had not been heard from for several weeks. Easy for her to say. She never told me that beforehand, and she assured us that the transition would be smooth. Apparently because Ron arrived on the Martin Luther King holiday, they were short staffed, but that still doesn't explain the 2 week delay. Fortunately an orderly took pity on him, and gave him paper and pencil to write me a letter, and got him a stamp. After about a week, I got a letter telling me that he was in solitary, had no idea why, and was getting more frantic by the day. I got 2 more letters from him while he was in solitary (I can never thank that orderly properly for giving him paper, pencil and mailing his letter), and each one sounded more desperate than the last. He was in the cell for 23 hours a day, out for an hour of exercise only. They would wake him up at 3am to give him breakfast. It was so dark he couldn't see what he was eating. He was sleeping on a metal frame, with no mattress. No one came to tell him what was going on. He was feeling desperate. He would sing to himself, recite poetry, read if they gave him something to read, and think. Finally, on day 13 someone came and told him he was moving to the camp. He was never so happy in his life! The guards took him to the camp on a rainy night in January, and when he arrived, he felt he had just checked into the Hilton. People were friendly, helping Ron get settled, get his bearings, and recovering from 2 weeks of hell. To this day we don't know exactly why he was held in solitary for 13 days, and probably never will. I do know that whatever your lawyer tells you may not be true. They know the rules, but when you get to prison, anything can change at anytime. You are no longer in control and if things aren't right, there's really no one to help you. The story about the man from New Mexico reminded me how difficult things can be in prison. I can totally relate to the feeling of helplessness this man in New Mexico felt, as in just 2 short weeks, I could see Ron's mental health quickly deteriorating. The first 2 weeks of the prison experience was definitely the worst. I kept the letters Ron wrote to me at that time, and looking back, I can hear the helplessness in his words. It's a feeling Ron will never forget.