Hey all,
I got this email from Marti a few days back. Chris had protested the low wages of his job as a justice issue and ended up in solitary confinement for 6 days! He is doing okay and will still be eligible for early work release if he continues to behave. Check out what Marti has to say.
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Dear White Rose Community,
Blessings to you this passion week!
When we visited Chris this Sat. he was well and feeling good about the ministry of presence he is involved in in the jail. For the last 2 weeks he had not been reassigned a work duty. Due to budget cuts in WA State, the education program has been cut so he can't do ESL for his job(He continues to work with one man on ESL informally.). He said that since it is getting closer to the May 16th date they might just let him slide...The other inmates respect him for his stance. After the 6 days in solitary they decided that for now they will still aim for the early release but took all but personal hygiene and health items of the commissary list as punishment for 90 days. Then when he bought toothpaste and exchanged it for candy bars and "boasted"of it in a letter out, which they read, they took his e-mail privilege away for 45 days (which he hasn't been using anyway).
He said that he can only be released to an "institutional" half way house"so he cannot stay in White Rose in mid-May. They are looking at somewhere in South Chicago.
Also, we are having a prayer vigil for Chris, POC's, SOA and prisoners in general at our church on May 13th. In the meantime there was a partial prison message on the phone from yesterday which means he tried to call, which he hasn't been doing since we have been visiting weekly. Don't know what that means but a friend is visiting today so we'll see.
We will see Chris for Easter, I am making cards for him and a prisoner he asked us to write to as he so wishes to have some mail...I WISH I could sneak some Easter candy in but we'll be there with hugs and prayers.
Easter blessings to you all
Marti Spicer
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Read these Factoids about our US Prison System!
13 March 2011
Dear Anne,
"A stray sheep was Israel that Lions pursued; formerly the King of Assyria devoured her, no Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon gnaws her bones." Jeremiah 50:17
When it costs $0.30 for Ramen soup, the basic wage [in the prison] of $0.12 an hour doesn't do much good. "It's like I just read in Grapes of Wrath," Greg says. In one month's work, dorm orderly Greg makes $5.25. "That's forced labor." Indeed, we will be sent to the hole if we don't work.
Sunday concludes with some lessons from Greg:
Chris
Dear Anne,
"A stray sheep was Israel that Lions pursued; formerly the King of Assyria devoured her, no Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon gnaws her bones." Jeremiah 50:17
When it costs $0.30 for Ramen soup, the basic wage [in the prison] of $0.12 an hour doesn't do much good. "It's like I just read in Grapes of Wrath," Greg says. In one month's work, dorm orderly Greg makes $5.25. "That's forced labor." Indeed, we will be sent to the hole if we don't work.
Sunday concludes with some lessons from Greg:
- Rates of recidivism for probation violations -- 85%
- Double jeopardy is a myth. If you've done time on a state charge, you'll get brought in for a federal charge.
- Prison gives housing to third world refugees.
- Prosecutors force guilt with no proof theories. They have no evidence, just a witness who lays the blame in exchange for a reduced sentence.
- The basic cost of housing a federal inmate before medical is calculated by the Bureau of Prisons at $21,000 per year.
- 2.3 million people incarcerated, 200,000 in federal prison
- 25% more people per capita in prison in the US than anywhere else...per capita!
- Felons are no longer afforded the basic moral rights due Americans.
Chris
Possibility of Early Work Release
Hi folks,
I spoke to Marti, Chris' mom, today. She saw Chris over yesterday and apparently there is a real possibility that Chris might be able to get an early work release, possibly as early as May 16th. That would be about 6 weeks early. If he were released, he would have to go to a halfway house and work at least part-time. It turns out that there is a possibility that the Catholic Worker White Rose community in Chicago could be his halfway house, which would be ideal. So please pray that this may come about, if it is God's will for Chris!
Blessings,
anne
I spoke to Marti, Chris' mom, today. She saw Chris over yesterday and apparently there is a real possibility that Chris might be able to get an early work release, possibly as early as May 16th. That would be about 6 weeks early. If he were released, he would have to go to a halfway house and work at least part-time. It turns out that there is a possibility that the Catholic Worker White Rose community in Chicago could be his halfway house, which would be ideal. So please pray that this may come about, if it is God's will for Chris!
Blessings,
anne
Friday, April 1, 2011
Workin for THE MAN
Hi folks,
I got this update from Chris' dad Dave on March 28.
Hi Anne,
I had a great meeting with Chris tonight. He is doing very well and has adjusted to his new environment. He even has a paying job working in the kitchen handling sanitation related who-knows-what. Chris even manages a crew all for the hourly rate of 50 cents/hour. High pay since the lowest entry level starts at 12 cents. How do they get away with those wages???
Dave
Hmmm, that's a really good question. How do they get away with that? Does anyone know if SeaTac Federal Detention Center is run by a for-profit company? If so, they are making out pretty darn good. They get the cheapest labor around to work for their business, barely having to pay a buck for the labor it takes to run a prison. And on top of it, the money pay out really just goes back into their own pocket since the guys mostly use it for commissary where everything is marked way up. What a brilliant system they have orchestrated! Looks like Wall Street has been giving them lessons!
I got this update from Chris' dad Dave on March 28.
Hi Anne,
I had a great meeting with Chris tonight. He is doing very well and has adjusted to his new environment. He even has a paying job working in the kitchen handling sanitation related who-knows-what. Chris even manages a crew all for the hourly rate of 50 cents/hour. High pay since the lowest entry level starts at 12 cents. How do they get away with those wages???
Dave
Hmmm, that's a really good question. How do they get away with that? Does anyone know if SeaTac Federal Detention Center is run by a for-profit company? If so, they are making out pretty darn good. They get the cheapest labor around to work for their business, barely having to pay a buck for the labor it takes to run a prison. And on top of it, the money pay out really just goes back into their own pocket since the guys mostly use it for commissary where everything is marked way up. What a brilliant system they have orchestrated! Looks like Wall Street has been giving them lessons!
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