Glass House Spring 2024 Edition
TEXT ONLY VERSION
(COVER)
GLASS HOUSE
A People for Change Publication
When DOES Punishment End?
poetry artwork essays prose thoughts
SPRING 2024 ISSUE 2
Table of Contents
(Click a line to jump to that section)
- 03 - 06 About Inside-Out and PFC
- 09 - 22 Viewpoints on: “When Does Punishment End?”
- 25 - 30 Creative Writing
- 31 - 40 Commentary
- 41 - 42 Recipes and Websites
(PAGE 1 - Inset Left)
GLASS HOUSE
Editors:
John
Shadow
Wendell
Spence
Sheano
Renee
Tori
Roy
Tristian
Maddie
Nick
Cover:
John
Graphic Design:
Liv Collett
Bailey Binder
Contact:
Dr. Renee Heberle
Coordinator, Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program
Professor of Political Science
renee.heberle@utoledo.edu
(PAGE 1 - Main Body)
Our Mission:
We engage in education that approaches problems across profound social boundaries to create opportunities for people inside and outside of prison to collaborate in addressing crime, justice, and other areas of social concern. The UT/TOCI Inside-Out Program brings students from the University of Toledo to the Toledo Correctional Institution to engage in coursework in a collaborative, active-learning setting with students who are incarcerated. The program is part of an international effort to bring higher educational opportunities into carceral institutions of all levels while breaking down barriers and stigma that exists on both sides of the wall.
People for Change:
People for Change is the official alumni group of the UT Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program. “We turn prisons into universities and cells into classrooms.” People for Change was founded in 2011 by the first student participants in the Inside-Out program. We organize workshops, study together, publish the magazine, organize community meetings, and invite members of the community in for discussions of matters related to education and criminal justice reform. “Glass House” is the magazine of People for Change. It is a fully collaborative project; all participants in PFC solicit and edit pieces from inside and outside contributors. We discuss together the theme for each issue. All pieces are approved in general by the group. Artwork is done by inside members of PFC, tagged as appropriate. All rights to the work remain with the authors and artists.
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Welcome to The Winter/Spring '24 Issue of Glass House
“People who live in glass houses should not throw rocks.” This admonition is just one association we might have with the phrase “glass house.” We chose our title for its evocative qualities. The cover art by John offers other interpretations. Please notice the careful detail and subtle signals about prisons, houses, transparency, reflections, and location.
People for Change was founded at Toledo Correctional in the spring of 2011. We brainstormed ways to sustain the spirit of the inaugural Inside-Out class we had just completed. A newsletter with original writing, advice, and information was only one of the projects we put into development. Eventually, the newsletter became “The Lantern”, and we published several beautiful issues with indispensable help from volunteer graphic designers. “The Lantern” was written and edited by members of People for Change at the Toledo Correctional Institution for five years. If you would like to read the archived digital issues, please click here. The print and digital versions are distributed across the state of Ohio and the nation, inside correctional institutions, and through online networks.
As we reestablished People for Change after the pandemic, “The Lantern” became “Glass House.” Every issue of “Glass House” has a theme. The theme “When Does Punishment End?” emerged in our brainstorming discussions as we reflected on how punishment has become normalized in many aspects of our lives, inside and outside prisons.
Our debate about what punishment is, where and how it is carried out, and why we take it so much for granted as part of human relationships was a gold mine of diverse reflections, stories, and works of art. Contributors include members of People for Change and friends of our organization.
This issue was collaboratively edited. Every piece was read and commented on by the group, checking in with authors in case edits inadvertently changed their meaning. We finally gave all the materials to Bailey and Liv, fabulous and talented students in the Visual Arts Program at the University of Toledo, to apply their magic and turn the writing and artwork into the publication you have in your hands.
We look forward to your thoughts and comments. You can communicate about Glass House directly with Renee Heberle, Professor of Political Science and Law and Social Thought at the University of Toledo: renee.heberle@utoledo.edu. She will share your thoughts with members of People for Change. This feedback will inform how we think about, write, and produce our next issue of Glass House in 2024.
(PAGE 2 - Bottom, inset text)
Artist Statement for Cover Artwork
Artwork“Glass House” has multiple meanings for our People for Change group. The Toledo Correctional Institution is the birthplace of People for Change (and Glass House), and Toledo’s nickname is “the Glass City.” The magazine serves as our forum to share views, prose, art, inspiration, etc, inside and outside the prison system. And it serves as a reminder to not throw stones from a glass house.
At first glance, it could be a nondescript house from any neighborhood. Looking closer, there’s a cuff port on the door, the same street address as the Toledo prison, and the same narrow windows that the prison has. I have reflections of a car, trees, and the picket fence on the house to represent the outside world and a prison fence reflected on one side to represent the inside world.
- John, Inside Member, PFC
(PAGE 3)
ABOUT INSIDE-OUT AND PEOPLE FOR CHANGE (PFC)
Spence, Inside Member, PFC
People for Change is a place where we, the incarcerated, are treated like human beings and offered a chance to express ourselves in a more positive light while listening to outside influences. We are given the opportunity to be heard through forums like “Glass House.”
In the grand scheme of human happiness, physical pain is viewed as a hindrance and can be seen as an evil. Yet, the very principle of life itself tells us physical pain is good because it serves as a warning that compels us to protect ourselves from hurt or harm.
From the mental standpoint, the loneliness and strife that we experience from incarceration destroy our visions of what we see as happiness, and therefore we deem these flames of evil rather than fires of reason. Fire and flames shape steel, and in this world of lost and found, let us use these experiences to illuminate the greatness we hold inside.
It is said that the curses of the foolish are blessings to the wise, and the wrong-thinking man is known by his vices, while the right thinker is known by his virtues. We find ourselves without shelter from the damaging storms of mental, spiritual, and sometimes physical downpours. The complexity of our situations allows us to become soaked in negative perspectives in regard to the very complexity of our situations.
“Prison” is a world of lost and found—where one can either find or lose himself completely. Dependent upon the scope of his perspective, one’s ability to adapt and rearrange his thoughts opens him up for growth. For growth, there must be nourishment. This nourishment comes in the forms of self-reflection and positive programs like People for Change and Inside-Out.
Let our family and friends be the umbrellas that shield us from the storms of negativity, as well as the forces that cause us to pause and begin to see things differently.
Simply because we are worth it.
The question was posed and became the topic for our work these next few months: when does punishment end?
After traveling with myself, I’ve come to understand that for me, punishment ends not just with my physical release but when the chains of mental confinement are cast away, and I begin to be on all levels who I am meant to be. I am meant to be more than a cloudy array of limited perspectives as to what I can’t do because of my incarceration. I will come to see only what I can do when I look at things in the way described here.
Thank you, People for Change!
(PAGE 4)
6 Days in a Basement Office
Dr. Ally, Outside Instructor
(Illustration - a line drawing of a steaming cup of coffee on a saucer on a table, with an open window in the background.)
I am sitting in my basement office participating in the training to become an instructor for the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program. know that virtual teacher training is not an actual form of punishment. Even if it is six days long, ten hours each day, I can’t help but wonder: why am I sitting in my basement, talking about the best ways to teach inside a prison when I could be in the sunshine, tending my tomatoes, or taking a bike ride?
My legs are restless, no matter how much time I spend fidgeting on top of a yoga ball instead of sitting in my desk chair. We must have cameras on, making me feel like I am under surveillance. I have to look at least like I am paying attention to my colleagues on screen, even when a spider jumps from the boiler pipe to my keyboard and I let out a screech.
Day one feels like it will never end. My friend and co-conspirator, Renee, has been urging me to get involved with Inside-Out for years. Perhaps because she knows how much I like to teach. Perhaps because she knows I am putty to a social justice argument about equity and education.
Day two begins, and I am relieved to see the faces from yesterday representing California, Pennsylvania, and New York. We all look a little fresher. In small groups, we share ideas about courses we’d like to teach; I am working with a woman who studies neurology for a living. She shares some cool stuff about brain imaging. We strategize how she can teach inside without the lab she is accustomed to. It’s a puzzle. But not impossible.
Day two ends, and I am nothing but hungry. I eat a bowl of pasta and head out for an evening walk.
On day three, we are tasked with creating a course; I suggest to the group something about gender, and four of my colleague peers ask to join my group. I feel popular.
I also get to lead a session of chair yoga to break up our day. Inhales and exhales and twists.
On day four, we have a course with readings—the best possible things from our top favorites. We now must create a lesson plan as if we are inside. How can we make this material come alive?
For dinner that night, I have ice cream. And watch television.
It’s day five, and we are arguing about which lesson plan will work. We have only a few more hours to prepare before we present. Our presentation is a compromise of all our ideas. I hate it.
And it doesn’t go well.
That night, for dinner, more ice cream.
Day six: evaluations. Our peers, our kind. Our lesson was not as bad as we thought. Some things worked well—the part about brainstorming books and movies and gender roles. Some parts did not—that bit about creating alternative worlds without gender.
But the day is done before I have even finished my first cup of coffee. Perhaps, in the end, I am a bit more prepared for the teaching ahead of me—restless legs and all.
(PAGE 5-6)
(Text on Page 5 with a created image on Page 6. The black and white image is of a man in a dress shirt and dress pants walking up a lighted staircase. The stairs are seated among the clouds. At the top of the stairs is an open doorway with light streaming out in all directions.)
Mass Incarceration
Spoken Word for Closing Ceremony, Inside-Out Class Spring 23’
Sir Michael, Inside Member, PFC
Before mass incarceration, it was just incarceration.
This great nation’s approach to prisons rang out to other nations--so much that they sent delegates by the name of Tocqueville and Beaumont to investigate and come back with information as to who we incarcerate.
It gets big, y’all, with Gothic-style prisons, dark and gloomy; hell, but it isn’t; put hoods on, walk you to your cell. If you don’t mentally pass, then you will mentally fail.
You can’t talk to your neighbors, so you’re forced to talk to yourself.
Others hear voices talking to them; the ones that mentally fail are often found dead in their cells.
After the Emancipation Proclamation, Jim Crow was in the cut, waiting to criminalize Black and Brown races.
Now, we talk about mass incarceration.
(INSET TEXT)
“When we say 'one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all,' we are talking about all people. We either ought to believe it or quit saying it.”
- Hubert Humphrey
(PAGES 7-8)
(Spread across both pages are 13 drawings of caricature drawings of people in the People for Change program.)
(INSET TEXT)
My caricature art was inspired by the electric energy of each individual within the PFC program in an effort to capture the ease with which everyone is able to open up and express themselves, coming from so many diverse places, spaces, and times.
- Spence, Inside Member, PFC
VIEWPOINTS ON THEME: “WHEN DOES PUNISHMENT END?”
When Does Punishment Stop?
David, Inside Member, PFC
This is an intriguing question, especially for someone like myself who has been incarcerated for twenty-seven years. “When does punishment stop?” The US Constitution provides protection of liberties. Whether this serves as an effective safeguard against undue punishment, I’ll leave for you to consider. In the meantime, I will share my thoughts that unfolded in countless corridors, endless courtyards, and lonely cells.
Vik Muniz, a contemporary artist, once said, “I’d rather want everything and have nothing than have everything and want nothing.” These words resonate in various facets of life. Being incarcerated means understanding that this life, the one we have as incarcerated individuals, is a life unto itself. For some, it was forced upon them. Others bargained for this existence, and some simply wanted to survive and ended up in prison.
When does punishment end? The US criminal justice system was founded on and constructed around the term “civil death.” The penal system has yet to reform in a way that addresses this regrettable founding principle. The result is two variations on a theme: governing crime and governing through crime. Both impact the criminal offender and the victims of crime. Punishment occurs for both. Victims are created by the offender, and while these victims are led to believe they are being cared for, punishment remains the priority.
As a person incarcerated for twenty-seven years, I understand that no neat rehabilitation schemes exist within the penal system. While I can personally take the corrective measures needed to reform myself, “civil death” continues to define my status. Isolation, corrective measures, punishment, and destructive strategies on the part of the system persist. Being housed in an unproductive environment fosters negative responses. General community responsibilities are lacking in an offender’s daily life. It must be understood that developing proper communication skills, a work ethic, the ability to prioritize tasks and responsibilities, and social skills are necessary for individuals seeking release into communities.
It is for those individuals that I offer a voice today. It is those individuals who sought out shelter, three meals, and protective clothing simply to survive. Yes, I am speaking of those society excluded or for whom addiction was overwhelming. Without any proper evaluation methods, no convicted criminal can be adequately treated and rehabilitated. Without values and procedures based in principles of human dignity, the American prison system will remain overcrowded and ineffective.
It is time as a country that we address these fractures and questions.
(PAGE 10)
When Does Punishment END??
Gerald, Inside Member, PFC
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word “punishment” has several different meanings, all describing some sort of loss.
Punishment:
1. “The act of punishing.”
2.a. “Suffering, pain, or loss that serves as retribution.”
2.b. “A penalty inflicted on an offender through judicial procedures.”
3. “Severe, rough, or disastrous treatment.”
Definitions 2b and 3 best fit what happens to the incarcerated person for the simple fact that while being in prison, we experience so much loss and retribution on a daily basis. It can be the smallest thing that we are punished for, such as not tucking in a shirt or being “too loud” in front of a random staff member. Punishment for us incarcerated souls may break us or make us stronger. I say that because while we are being punished for all the small stuff, the threat of punishment tells us what NOT to do, offering a slight advantage. We learn and internalize the rules that govern if/when we will be punished. It helps us get around or avoid said punishment because we already know the outcome.
At least once a day, we, as incarcerated people, are being punished in so many ways; sometimes the punishment is minor, sometimes harsh. We get punished for trying to take care of ourselves if it doesn’t coincide with the plan of the prison staff. For example, we get punished for being hungry; If we take an additional tray from the chow hall, we get punished. Another example of punishment inside the prison is that our access to calling our loved ones can be denied at any time. This denial is punishment in addition to merely being in prison and physically apart from them.
In my opinion, punishment for those individuals who experience the misfortune of having a prison number will never “really” end because even after we leave prison, after serving the sentence imposed by law, as soon as someone finds out the fact that you’ve been in prison and/or jail, the punishment continues. Even when we are out and doing our very best to become a “productive” member of society, we will still have those individuals who cannot or who just flat-out refuse to see beyond the prison number. In their eyes, we will always be the “ex-con”.
Now, my honest and sincere answer to the question, “When does punishment end?” is this: “Punishment for incarcerated individuals will never end because even after years of being out of prison and making something better for ourselves and those around us, we will still suffer loss and/or pain due to the fact that we were once in prison.” In my opinion, punishment for the incarcerated will only end after we die. This is coming from someone who has been doing time since the 90s, suffering punishment after punishment on a daily basis inside and outside of prisons.
(INSET TEXT)
“Bars can’t build better men and misery can only break what goodness remains.”
- Author Unknown
(PAGE 11)
In This Place
Port, Inside Member, PFC
(Illustration above and below the poem is an olive branch with leaves on it)
In this place with so many others
Some are fathers, some are sons, and some are brothers.
I take a look around and what is it that I see?
A whole lot of others looking back at me.
Each of us do wonder what brought the others here
We talk of our situations to help us calm our fears.
No matter the situation we will start a new beginning
No matter what challenges we face we will end up winning.
The people we were before this place do not define us now
We made mistakes and poor decisions, but our lives have just begun.
In this place we have learned tools and resources for a new start
Now we need to stay focused, positive, and not lose heart.
In this place with so much opportunity to mature and grow
When we leave this place our changes in our life with truly show.
(PAGE 12)
When Does Punishment End?
Roy, Inside Member, PFC
Theoretically, every punishment has an end. For example, the punishment of a fine normally ends with the payment of the fine, but for the poor and the indigent, that “punishment” often extends beyond the simple payment by virtue of the economic hardship caused by such fines. Similarly, a prison sentence is thought to end upon release on parole or at the expiration of the sentence, but the actual “punishment” doesn’t end there.
For example, the conviction of a felony in most states results, as a matter of law, in the forfeiture of the right to vote. This is, in general, considered a fair and rightful consequence of having violated a social contract that is more theory than reality.
However, there are numerous extrajudicial consequences of felony convictions and prison sentences, such as social stigmas (yes, plural), occupational restrictions, economic disadvantages, and housing difficulties. Ex-felons, and a growing number of non-felons, view these extrajudicial matters as unfair and unjustified collateral punishments. The interesting thing is that carceral supporters and apologists are seen to view these matters as natural and valid extensions of incarceration itself as if these matters are organic outgrowths of a syllogistic formula that is beyond logical question. That mindset dominates American society at large.
When does punishment end? It doesn’t. When WILL it end? When a critical mass of society, and the legal system, comes to view the barbarity of incarceration through the same lens that illuminated the injustices of racial segregation via Brown v. Board of Education; the voting disparities that led to the 1965 Voting Rights Act; and the Stonewall Riots that led, eventually, to the decision in Obergefell v. Hodges that overturned state bans on same-sex marriage. It is going to require a monumental act such as those to drag the American public, kicking and screaming, into a future that views the atrocity of incarceration in the same light that we today view our history of slavery, segregation, women’s rights, voting rights, sexual discrimination, and disabilities discrimination. Our descendants will one day look back on our penal administrators and our society with the same disdain that we look back on the barbaric practices of our ancestors; citizens who are indifferent to or support the system of punishment do not consider how history will one day see and judge them, In fact, it is virtually impossible to see that they even care at all how they treated the incarcerated.
(INSET TEXT BOX)
The idea of incarceration as correction is a paternalistic barbarity rooted in the abuses of the first prison in America founded by Quakers in Philadelphia in the 18th century. The legacy of the failure of that ignorance can be seen today in American penology in any given state on any given day.
For example, the Marshall Project, a non-profit news organization, obtained disciplinary data on more than 290 cases in which the New York State Corrections Department tried to fire correctional officers or supervisors accused of abusing prison inmates. It also found and analyzed lawsuits involving excessive-force incidents that the state lost or settled in the decade ending in 2020. The department did not try to discipline officers in 88 percent of the lawsuits, including some in which prisoners were permanently maimed or even killed. Half of the roughly 160 lawsuits complained of guards retaliating against prisoners they injured. (Joseph Neff, et al., ‘“Blue Wall’ Inside State Prisons Protects Abusive Guards,” New York Times, 28 May 2023, A18.)
The American judicial system needs a new paradigm for criminal justice that eliminates the barbarism of modern incarceration and the almost endless incidental punishments that follow release from prison.
(PAGE 13)
Rejuvenate and Reintegrate at our Institution
Maddie, Outside Member, PFC
Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to your new home, where the brilliance of the system of incarceration is unveiled. Prepare yourself for the transformative journey that turns misguided souls into model citizens. Behold the remarkable process of incarceration that involves locking you up, stripping you of your rights, and then expecting you to miraculously emerge as a law-abiding citizen. Oh, and let’s not forget the delightful ticketing system, where you’ll find yourself subject to the whims of ever-changing policy prescriptions because, of course, what’s a prison without a touch of administrative comedy? And for all those introverts, fear not, for we have perfected the art of solitary confinement, where you can contemplate life’s deepest meaning in complete isolation.
But wait, there’s more! Once your sentence has been served and your debt has been paid back to society, your punishment ends. Or that’s at least what we’ll tell you. You see, the punishment isn’t over; it’s simply taken on a new form. All you have to do now as an ex-felon is step out of those steel bars and into the open arms of society. Arms that come bearing a supply of discrimination and prejudice where you can anticipate a life of...
Employment Barriers Housing Instability Stigma & Discrimination
Financial Struggles
Mental & Physical Health Issues Lack of Access to Education Limited Social Support
Trauma & PTSD
Substance Abuse Issues Legal Financial Obligations
Probation & Parole Restrictions Limited Access to Social Services Lack of Identification Documents
Limited Voting Rights Transportation Issues
Limited Social Skills Criminal Record Expungement Barriers
Family Reintegration
Difficulty Rebuilding Credit
(PAGE 14)
Perspective, Or Lack Thereof
Tristian, Inside Member, PFC
Emotions, like commissary prices, are subject to change without notice. Emotion is defined as “a conscious mental reaction subjectively experienced as strong feelings usually directed toward a specific object and typically accompanied by physiological and behavioral changes in the body.” To punish is defined as “to make someone suffer,” while punishment is defined as “suffering, pain, or loss that serves as retribution.”
Is it safe to say that the only thing that makes punishment so filled with suffering are the emotions associated with it? If you were happy or excited about the punishment, is it really punishment?
Some people see the glass as half empty, others see it as half full, but I have learned to see the glass as completely full--half full of air and half full of liquid. Love, happiness, pain, and punishment are all matters of perspective. There was a time when I viewed my prison sentence as “punishment,” but now I understand this was, in fact, a blessing. In my opinion, punishment is a system of belief, an emotion, and the moment you change your belief or decide not to attach yourself to every emotion associated with punishment, then it will end.
When Does Punishment End?
Ralph, Inside Member, PFC
When the question “When does punishment end?” came up during a PFC discussion, we never defined how we were using the word “punishment.” So my statement below is meant to relate to ALL circumstances of punishment, abuse, mistreatment, injustice, etc. Some people will argue that someone in prison for committing a crime and a slave are not the same. This is a reasonable argument. But from my personal experience in prison and coming from a background of a well-educated household of mixed races, cultures, and classes, I believe 99% of the people I’ve met in prison should not be there. This is not about whether they are guilty or not guilty of the crime with which they were charged. It is because of the economic & social handicaps faced by people of color and those living in poverty. This includes mental health issues, drug issues, over-charging, and extreme sentencing when it comes to people of color and those living in poverty. Now, to my thoughts about when punishment ends… Punishment ends when the people being punished decide they will no longer endure punishment.
As far as I recall, there has never been a story in history when the people (or person) in power emancipated the people they were oppressing simply because they had a change of heart. No ruler has ever awakened and decided that simply because it was a sunny morning and life was good, said, “You know what, I’m freeing all the slaves today.” “If” there are any stories of people in power freeing the people whom they ruled over it only came about after having been persuaded to do so for instrumental reasons, or because they were about to face defeat by those who opposed their rule.
Whether through the act of war, rioting, protesting or many other forms of resistance, it has always taken the courage of the people or person being oppressed to take a stand against unjust punishment even if that at times, even if that resistance meant death.
(PAGE 15)
Waiting For The Reaper
Nick, Inside Member, PFC
I’ve been in death’s presence. I’m not talking about the lingering chill when walking past a prison cell after its occupant committed suicide. I’m talking about being in the room when death came for someone.
A few years into my sentence, I was in the lockdown wing of a hospital recovering from surgery. There was another person in the room with me. He was an old man. Really old. I was still young and full of life. The old man and I never spoke. We never communicated in any way except just once. I did not understand its significance until later. We made eye contact just the one time. He looked at me in an oddly remorseful way. Then he looked down at his shackle and then off to the side. He seemed to be staring off into the distance, far beyond the wall that was a few feet away. The nurse came to give me pain meds for a damaged elbow. I quietly asked about the old man’s condition. In a sorrowful tone, she whispered to me that he was tired, very tired. I nodded off in a dilaudid haze.
After a while, I became aware of some commotion. I woke to see hospital staff scurrying around my cellmate in a frantic yet orderly sway. Death was in the room with us. I felt its foreboding presence immediately. I nodded back off and when I woke again, there was nothing. The old man was gone. Every trace of him was gone. Even his bed was gone. Where there was once a human being, there was only medical debris on the floor.
I wondered then, as I do now, why that old man had to die alone. Why did he not have family at his bedside? Did he have a wife? Kids? Where were they? Was he no longer relevant to the people who mattered to him? Why was he not in some hospice somewhere? Why did the state of Ohio feel he needed to be chained to a prison bed right up to the end? Where was the mercy our “civilized” society claims to embrace? More importantly, why was he dying in prison?
I share this as a response to the question of this issue of Glass House, “When does Punishment End?” We have discussed issues confronted upon release from housing, social stigma, occupational limitations, the absence of mental health resources, and a host of other issues. I struggled to connect and engage with the passion of the group. For others, the question prompted a spirited and insightful conversation. Not so much for me… I know exactly how and when my punishment ends. My punishment ends when I finally meet death, like the old man in my cell.
The state of Ohio sentenced me to “life without possibility of parole” (LWOP). This means the state decides upon conviction and sentencing that there is no chance for rehabilitation. I was sent to prison to die.
I’ve been incarcerated for twenty-four years. If I lived in Europe, I would be home. I would have a degree or vocational training. Either would allow me to quickly become a contributing member of the community upon reintegration. Instead, I will be warehoused until I die.
Further, had I been given a death sentence rather than LWOP, I may not still be in prison. Had I received the death sentence, exceptional appellate attorneys might have taken up my case and won a new trial. Being indigent, and not sentenced to death by execution, I have never had access to adequate representation.
My punishment will end when death comes for me as it did for the elderly man in my cell many years ago. Until then, I choose to heed the words of the author Joseph Campbell, “We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”
I will make that work for me.
(PAGE 16)
(ILLUSTRATION, artist unclear)
Image is of an hour glass. In the top part of the hourglass, is a globe of the earth and a pile of sand at the bottom. This sand is dripping into the glass part at the bottom of the hour glass. The bottom part of the hour glass shows a man seated on a table which could be a medical exam table. His elbows rest on his knees and his hands cover his ears.
(INSET TEXT, below the illustration)
Contemplating his sentence, he knows the world will pass through the hourglass before his punishment ends. Will the earth that fills the bottom lift him up or bury him before he is released?
John, Inside Member, PFC
(PAGE 17)
Rethinking Punishment
Jeff, Inside Member, PFC
America, and our world as we know it, is rooted in punishment. The current forms of punishment are the reflect norms about the right behavior. Worldwide to curtail misbehavior. To punish is considered an essential tool in molding acceptable behavior. Therefore, it seems the only way we can end the punishments is to learn which behavior to engage in.
To what end do we punish? Our society has become indoctrinated by legislators to adopt the stance “tough on crime”. The prosecutors who are voted into office have this same belief. It is reflected in the sentences they request from judges, which are usually handed down. To correct behavior is the official reason our country punishes, and the judicial standard seems to be that many years of life incarcerated are necessary to achieve this end.
Should we punish? I believe our country should overhaul the judicial system in America and redefine what punishment means. Prisons began with the Quakers placing an individual in an enclosed structure with a Bible to atone for misdeeds. This embryonic stage gave birth to the prisons in our country today. It obviously has not reduced crime. We should punish, but not lock individuals away for years on end. Instead, each case should be reviewed because no case is the same; punishment should not be standardized. We should invest time in understanding the individuals to learn why they chose to act in such a manner. Then we can provide moral therapy to correct the way they thought. Enhancing a person’s ability to think, change, and correct their perspective may reduce recidivism, even if incarceration continues to fail to reduce crime in general.
Why punish? Our system is currently broken and only produces a small amount of positive change in those who choose to rehabilitate themselves. Our country needs to invest in its citizens, especially those who commit crimes. Punishment defined as prison sentences doesn’t work. Instead, we should use cognitive-behavioral therapy that is conducive to reintegration into society with a new perspective on life. Sentencing an individual to a cell for twenty years does not help them learn from their mistakes.
I don’t believe a world could exist without punishment. If the world was a free-for-all, it would be utter chaos and lead to the destruction of humankind. The animal kingdom has checks and balances through the food chain. The laws of nature on earth prevent biological life from running rampant. Punishment is a crucial part of our world, and without it, mankind would destroy itself. In general, punishment ends reckless behavior, so it is necessary, yet the sentencing of punishment needs to be reexamined.
There are informal punishments we inflict on ourselves and others. For example, most people were punished as children by their parents for what they viewed as misbehavior. Most humans dish out some form of punishment to fellow peers in their walk of life. If people ignore their friend purposefully, that could be seen as a form of punishment. We even can punish ourselves through self-criticism and acting on it. People who cut themselves are punishing themselves. All of the aforementioned are reasons why humans need to be educated on what is right and what is not correct in their pattern of thinking.
In our society, we are punished to repair the misbehavior that is engaged in. We do need to punish, but the forms of punishment need to be revisited. It is imperative to teach through punishment how to have a life sustained in happiness. Our world could not exist without punishment because misbehavior would run wild. The informal punishments humans use may correct behavior before the child or community member commits illegal acts and must be adjudicated in a formal setting. The punishments end when our way of thinking is conducive to accepting responsibility when we harm others and have the humility to change the way we think.
(PAGE 18)
Is Punishment You?
Wendell, Inside Member, PFC
Punishment is like water; it only takes a small
Amount to destroy a city and is nearly never ending.
Punishment is really never ending.
Punishment destroys a child,
Who then becomes careless in his own hostilities,
Because who cares about me?
If you attempt to break me I will
Punish you.
I am Khan -- Genghis Khan.
Look up my name.
Supreme Universal Warrior-Ruler.
Do not punish me! You can’t,
Or I will destroy and
Punish you.
Am I wrong?
For the pain you caused me?
Or are my words absurd?
Will you punish me for my words, for who I am?
Of course punishment ends when we die,
Is that a surprise?
Or our demise? Which is still punishment?
Or are we all just like
Seeds in the sky, looking to
Reseed the world over,
And over, a punishment that
Never ends until you bend
Your tree trunk with the wind
And take in the sun from
The sky. It’s all in your
Mind -- Punishment on both sides.
Is punishment you?
Our minds?
Or I? Me I don’t care because my eyes are on the sky.
Which is why I celebrate Family Day.
Family Day is not as bleak as Punishment,
But sadly, we are all happily punished when it ends.
So off with punishment’s head!
Even though I know that when I die,
It will be unfair because death is the Ultimate
Punishment for us all.
Haiku
Nick, Inside Member, PFC
Prison cell window
SUV’s on the highway
Missing my lost love
(ILLUSTRATION, below poem is of an open heart-shaped locket)
(INSET TEXT BOX)
“You are not just meant to survive life in jail, but to thrive in life, and change the world.”
-Author unknown
(PAGE 19)
The Good, Bad, the Ugly
Ralph, Inside Member, PFC
Punishment ended for about 5,000 prisoners in the state of Ohio during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a fact we should view as both inspirational and shameful. There are good, bad, and ugly lessons to be learned about the judicial system as we think about punishment in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Good: About 5,000 prisoners were released!! We now see that mass release of prisoners can be successful. From my understanding the state-only prisoners who met all three of these categories were released: non-violent offenders who had severe pre-existing health issues and who had definite release dates close at hand. I question why the state had prisoners who fit this description in their custody in the first place?
The Bad: it took the devastation of a global pandemic to occur for the U.S. government to take any action on the mass release of prisoners. If not for the combination of staff shortages due to the sickness caused by the COVID-19 virus and prison overcrowding, I’m sure the government would have been happy to release no one.
The Ugly: The U.S. government was willing to let thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of prisoners (fellow Americans) die in prison from the COVID-19 virus before releasing them. I’m not talking about the prisoners with lengthy remaining prison sentences. Thousands of prisoners who had definite release dates within 24 months, 12 months, or in some cases 12 days were not released when the COVID-19 virus was at its peak. Why did our government refuse to release these prisoners who were soon to be freed anyway?? This is the definition of death by incarceration. Surely the government was aware that crowds cause the virus to spread. We all know prisons are overcrowded and incarcerated people cannot avoid social contact. Overcrowding thus became lethal in the COVID era for the incarcerated.
Experiencing Punishment
Tristian, Inside Member, PFC
When does punishment end? What is punishment? Webster’s dictionary defines punishment as a “penalty for a crime of offense; rough or injurious treatment.”
When I asked a former boxer this question, he responded, “Whenever the referee stops me from punching through my opponent.” I then asked a correctional officer, and she said, with a defeated expression on her face, “I hate this job. Punishment will end at shift change.” I then asked the mother of my children, and she said, “Punishment will end for me when you come home, and I can get a break from these badass children!”
Based on these inquiries, I concluded that punishment is pretty much a matter of perspective. The punishment ends the moment those experiencing it say, “Enough!” Or maybe punishment ends when we grow through it.
In my life, punishment never ends. Punishment is whatever pain we experience, and with pain comes growth. I never want to stop growing.
(PAGE 20)
Should We Punish?
Dr. Renee, Outside Member, PFC
Critical thinking involves asking questions about the questions themselves, how they are framed, what assumptions drive that framing, and whether alternative questions deserve our attention. In response to the question, “When does punishment end?” I want to consider whether we should simply eliminate the option to punish.
I am not familiar with a social/political order that has not relied on punishment as a means by which to control behavior and dictate relationships among and between human beings and between humans and other animals. Punishment, broadly defined, means making someone do something they would not do willingly. Nonetheless, I want to argue that reliance on punishment is a choice, not a necessity and that perhaps we can make other choices about how to imagine and thus create stable, fair, and just societies.
A sign that punishment is not self-evident as a social good is that there are cliches related to the question of punishment. Some of these can be traced to Socrates, a philosopher who lived in Athens around 400 BC, whose works come down to us as some of the first written works of “critical theory.” Critical theory is that which questions the question, as I said above, but also says something about how we ought to live together rather than just reflecting on how we are living together. For example, he argued, just before a majority of his fellow citizens voted to put him to death for challenging Athenian norms and Gods, that 1) two wrongs do not make a right, 2) that it is better to suffer injustice than to inflict harm and 3) that public opinion should be irrelevant to how we think about right and wrong.
All three of these dictums argue against the use of punishment in response to harm on individuals or even on society. Socrates accepted his punishment because it would violate his deeply held principles that even if one suffers wrong (in this case, the jury of his peers ruled against him even while he was doing his best to do the right thing for the well-being of their souls), one should not respond by inflicting harm. While Socrates awaits the day of his death, his dear friend, Crito, tries to persuade Socrates to escape, telling him how easy it would be and that many think he should save his own life considering the injustice inflicted by the majority (text continues on page 21)
(ILLUSTRATION, bottom of Page 20, artist: Ken Outside Member, PFC)
Image is of a thick figure 8 laying on its side. The following is the handwritten text appearing inside the 8.
Estrangement
Isolation
Education - Housing - Employment
Opportunities
Mental Health
Physical Health
Registries
Fees
Fines
Self Worth
Self Care
Monitoring
Probation
Parole
Restored Rights
Full Citizenship
(PAGE 21-22)
(ILLUSTRATION to the right of the text below - image is of Socrates seated with his left elbow on his knee and his hand under his chin, as if in deep thought.)
(Text from page 20 continues below)
(who Socrates himself says cannot tell the difference between right and wrong). Yet Socrates argues with Crito that he MUST not harm Athens though it is bringing harm to him; two wrongs will not make a right.
While defending himself before a jury of Athenian citizens, Socrates says that his accusers had not thought much about what they were doing (a Socratic crime, if ever there was one). Rather than drag him into court, they should have let him know that he was doing harm and tried to persuade him of that fact. He shames them because, again, a Socratic dictum, virtue is linked to knowledge. If he had known better—if he had “known” (been persuaded) that challenging peoples’ beliefs was harmful, he would have ceased and desisted immediately. He did not “know” that and thus should not be accused, tried, and put to death. Further, he argues that the majority of his fellow citizens (guilt and the death sentence won about 35 more votes than not guilty and/or alternative punishments) cannot be wise as such. Just because a majority says something is right does not make it so…
Socrates is telling us here that rather than call upon punishment as if that will lead to knowledge of what is good, we should call upon dialogue and reason. We should talk and process and persuade and challenge one another to think about right and wrong in particular ways BEFORE and perhaps in lieu of punishment. We should, in short, engage in educational practices. Our polis (the United States of America) is addicted to punishment. We take for granted that parent will punish their kids to “make them be good.” We assume teachers will punish students who act out to “keep the classroom orderly.” We agree when corporations fire workers for “not doing their jobs.” And we sit back and watch and sometimes cheer on the state when it punishes citizens convicted of crimes. We think punishment is a kind of educative practice; thus, we inflict learning through the threat or infliction of pain.
We assume we are making things right by using our collective authority and power to commit harm against those we despise or feel scared of or mad at. Individuals certainly must be held accountable when they hurt someone or break laws. But by whom and how? Why is punishment, the immediate infliction of pain, our “go-to” reaction when we think about holding ourselves and others accountable? Why not some other means?
Here, we run up against a conundrum, an unanswerable dilemma. In a very general sense, punishment is defined as being forced to do something you don’t want to do. So, being put in prison for many years is punishment, but so is community service when it is handed down by the state or written into criminal statutes as the answer to certain behaviors or activities. Punishments differ in severity, but punishment as such is being made to do that which you would otherwise not “choose” to do. When I say I am against punishment, I must also ask—well, what is the alternative? And if we say something like, “community service,” or “day fines as a percentage of income (as they do in Germany),” or even drive your siblings to school and pick them up every day, it will be categorized as punishment.
Maybe the answer is that, as a society, we should think more about how we define “criminality” and why individuals resort to activity defined as criminal in the first place. That would help us avoid, if not stop, using punishment as our first reaction. Plato, Socrates’ student, said that education/knowledge is a virtue. Maybe rather than spending our time arguing about whether and how much we should punish (weighing how much punishment against how much suffering), we should spend our time advocating and creating institutions for free lifelong educational opportunities. We can guarantee that fewer people will commit crimes. We can guarantee that a better-educated public will be a healthier and more self-sustaining public. We can guarantee that if harm occurs, we could use reason rather than visceral disgust and anger as our guide as to how to respond. This is the value of education over punishment. Our extensive and complicated systems of punishment have no impact on how much harm is inflicted by some against others in our social order. Our extensive and complicated system of education has documented impacts on how much harm is inflicted by some against others. It is not a leap of faith to oppose punishment and advocate for education.
(INSET TEXT BOX)
Why do we punish? Because we have not thought enough about the alternatives.
We have assumed punishment is the necessary means by which people “learn to do better.” The racial and class implications here are obvious. Only some folks are assumed to require pain to be made to be good…black and brown and poor people are the majority of those who live in our prisons for a reason. The assumption that punishment is “necessary” to make people good or to sustain social order, rather than a choice we make with every incident of harm being done, perpetuates and legitimates an unjust system of mass incarceration that targets particular populations for harsh treatment. We need to pay attention instead to the severely uneven distribution of resources, primarily of access to educational resources, and rectify that before we can, with any justice, say as a collective, as a polity, that the punishments we inflict are fair or just.
(INSET TEXT BOX)
“What you do with every day of your life is determining your future. Whether you steer it up the ladder of success, or drive it off a cliff, each day you sit idle compounds the distance you don’t make it.”
- John
(PAGES 23-24 is spread containing 4 photos of inmates visiting with their families and the following text.)
FAMILY DAY
2023
Family Day
Roy, Inside Member, PFC
Renee, Outside Member, PFC
Twice a year, People For Change hosts “Family Day” for the families of members. It is our chance to give our families a window into what we do at our bimonthly meetings and in the Inside-Out classes offered by the University of Toledo at the Toledo Correctional Institution. We think it is important to remember that our families are deeply impacted by the policies of our criminal legal system and incarceration. It is important to show them what is possible as we work to reduce the stigma and separation produced by the system.
Family Day is a condensed version of our general approach to learning and discussing issues. We collaboratively decide on a subject or topic, present the issues surrounding that topic, and develop activities and presentations about those issues. In short, we do a condensed version of an Inside-Out class to share with our families a sense of the impact the program has on minds and hearts of those who are incarcerated and those who are not.
Our most recent Family Day addressed perspectives about coming of age. We discussed our perspectives and memories of coming of age, the advice we would give our younger selves if given the opportunity to do so, and we created collages depicting those memories and perspectives, which family members took home with them as a memento. We also presented a buffet for our lunch. Family Day informs our families and the public and gives us the opportunity to give something back to them.
Creative Writing
Refraction
Tori, Outside Member, PFC
She seeks me out when the guards are resting
and the walls are void of protection.
I never see her coming, never hear footsteps,
never sense that the wind is changing
until I feel her hands around my throat.
She steals my words. Her hands, preventing
any utterance in my defense, are the first line of
attack.
With her theft enacted she then begins her second
attack using my stolen words, using a facsimile of
my voice to rewrite meaning.
She corrodes and corrupts, reshaping and
redefining what was once mine.
Her hands, once wound so tightly, loosen;
moving up, her hands now cup my cheeks, almost
tender.
She holds me there, her gaze piercing yet sincere
and her lips part to let the final attack begin.
Her voice, so similar to mine, begins the assault.
A barrage that’s never-ending, relentless, and
cruel but she hasn’t even broken a sweat.
She is cool and collected as she creates a tempest
on its way to create havoc and ruin and I am the
intended target.
Waves burst through walls so carefully constructed,
flames born of lighting strike their next targets.
There is nothing to do but ride out the storm
accept the barrage of insults hurled my way and
ignore the way that she is only what’s reflected in me.
Storms don’t last forever.
When it breaks
There is devastation but also calm.
There is a new beginning and a chance
To rebuild walls stronger for the next time.
(PAGE 26)
(ILLUSTRATION - a black box with cutout lines of black text on white, appearing randomly. At the bottom is the head and neck of a woman with her head tilted upward, eyes and lips partly open.)
TEXT IN THIS ILLUSTRATION:
wild with grief
How could I have been so stupid
What the hell am I going to do
things changes; people change
not the type of woman to
love
No illusion there
Depending upon the reality one must face one may prefer to opt for illusion.
believe that all is well
"How's it going?"
"Great. Terrific."
(INSET TEXT BOX)
Blackout poetry is an art form similar to collage—minus the cutting and gluing—but the premise of taking something that already exists and reshaping it into something new is exactly what blackout poetry does. For this piece, I took a page out of Ordinary Days, a novel I’d never heard of, and only marked up because the page was already falling from the cracked spine. This work is simple, an attempt to allow the hollow poetry to speak for itself, and its simplicity is what I hope makes the message of the poem speak to readers.
- Tori, Outside Member, PFC
(PAGE 27)
Hope Inside
Gerald, Inside Member, PFC
Loneliness is the hardest to endure,
Especially after your lover walks out the door;
Sadness hits the hardest when your heart is on the floor,
Working day and night for your love is never a chore.
Always on the outside looking in,
But that’s the price for being in the pen,
Holding back your tears with a quivering chin,
Fighting for your love day and night, always hoping to win.
An adventure can start in the blink of an eye,
Holding you in my arms after a long day, with nothing but a sigh.
Sitting in the shade together, just watching the sky,
Hoping beyond hope that you’ll never tell me goodbye.
Love is power, love is strong,
And with my love, all doubts are gone.
Even though I’m here, I won’t be long,
Hoping and praying that I’ll always find a happy home.
My heart is yours, to do with as you please,
But whatever you do, just handle it with ease.
My heart and soul have been locked up, and this is no tease,
And so that everyone knows, you have the only key.
(PAGE 28)
Playing God
Tori, Outside Member, PFC
Who made Zeus the king of the gods?
Who bound Prometheus to eternal torment for gifting mankind fire and autonomy?
Who tricked and deceived women, defiling them, and abandoning them to Hera’s rage?
Who holds a god accountable?
Power is intoxicating, all-consuming; a tool wielded to retain itself. Man is fallible, puny but give them power and they feel like gods. A monarch is endowed with divinity, born to a role of power. A monarch gets to manipulate law and order as their “divine power” sees fit to do so, inevitably making transitions of power an illustration of the arbitrary nature of a ruler’s edicts and godliness. If the laws and rules can change, if power shifts constantly through wielders, why is Prometheus still bound?
If what we use to understand the world has been passed down, who did the passing? Who imbued humanity with their personal notions of propriety as they translated, transcribed, and encoded meaning into history?
Even if there was disagreement of Prometheus’ punishment, who would’ve stood up to Zeus? Who would be willing to stand against a behemoth of unchecked, divine power and see their own prospects become much the same as the Titan they defended? We give new names to the same faces. We write new stories with the same plots. The cycle of life and death; old and new; strong and weak; powerful and powerless. Whatever mask power has taken for its new face I can only hope will crumble, just as one day the rock Prometheus has been chained to will weather away, freeing forethought to entertain a different future than any previously imagined.
(ILLUSTRATION, below text above - a woman's hand grips a hand mirror.)
(INSET TEXT BOX)
“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that a prisoner was you.”
- Lewis B. Smedes
(PAGE 29)
(ILLUSTRATION below text - two boxes intersect. In each box is an open hand. A piece of string tied to the pinky finger of each hands connects them.)
Friends
Gerald, Inside Member, PFC
A friend is one who will always respect you.
That same friend is always there when you’re blue.
A friend is always there to cheer you up;
Even if I must juggle a few cups.
A friend is one who will be there through thick and thin
And will have your back whether you lose or win.
This is the friend who will be around until the end.
A friend is there for you if you’re mad or sad;
And will be there if things in your life get bad.
A friend is one you can sit with, just for the company;
And never have to worry if that person’s sticking around for money.
Friends are for now, friends are forever;
And without you as my friend, well, that’s pure torture.
(PAGE 30)
Punishment Haiku
Elo, Inside Member, PFC
Punishment harms all
It hurts to give and to get
But what else is there
Consider the fact
All punishment causes wounds
To all those involved
Who punishes us
Whether parents or judges
Can either be fair
I’ve heard it said that
No good deed goes unpunished
Why even bother
Commentary
Untapped Resources
John, Inside Member, PFC
Violent crime committed by youth has increased over the recent years. I can only assume that living much of their social lives in the blue screen realm of ruthlessness, to some extent, dehumanizes real life people and dulls compassion for others, reducing inhibitions about committing such acts. This happens during the age of raging hormones, emotions, and over the top reactions to anything seen as a personal injustice. Many also live much of their waking hours immersed in the robbing, killing, and raping that happens in the virtual reality of some of the most popular video games: Grand Theft Auto, Saint’s Row, Pay Day. And some of the popular movies and music glamorize much of the same. They feed a fantasy that may carry over into real life. That media isn’t going away, neither are guns, so neither is the problem.
Kids aren’t longterm thinkers, and real-life longterm consequences for violent acts aren’t widely publicized the way the acts themselves are. Troubled youth should hear of the reality of those consequences from someone they’d listen to. When I was a problem child, I did not hear anything a parent, counselor, police officer, or pastor had to say. Unfortunately, I listened with fascination and utmost respect to “gangsters and badasses,” those who committed horrible acts of violence. If the message were delivered the right way, someone like that could’ve changed my perspective.
Unlike the Scared Straight program, a failed attempt at bullying them into changing, I believe troubled kids should be approached with respect, as younger peers, and told the things we wish we could go back and tell our younger selves.
Understandably, there will be critics. Some will never see inmates/convicts as anything other than the person who committed the crime they were charged with and will think young people should never be mentored by someone who has done the things that I did at a different time in life. I would refer those critics to the Operation Peacemaker program in Richmond, California, which cut the city’s homicide rates in half by using people convicted of violent crimes to persuade young shooters to put down their guns.
Of course, not just any violent felon would be right for the program. There are people convicted of violent crimes who have made major life changes, have grown out of any criminal mindset, regret the things they’ve done, have years, even decades of positive behavior, who would make a difference in young people’s lives. Case managers, responsible for keeping meticulous records of every inmate’s behavior and achievement would know who would be most qualified to participate.
Having such resources, and not at least trying to put them to good use, when nothing else is working, is like refusing to use the hoses when the world is on fire because the hoses might get a kink in them. Reformed violent offenders, whether free, or still incarcerated, could be an enormous asset, one that has proven to work in Richmond, California. I propose every prison look into developing such a program, mine their populations for the right people to participate, and every juvenile court recommend those programs for any youth displaying the potential for violence.
(PAGE 32)
(ILLUSTRATION, artist unclear - a man laying down. His head faces the viewer and rests on his arm. He looks thoughtful. Music related images such as a guitar neck with broken strings, intertwined with a treble clef appear above his head. Perhaps they are his thoughts.)
(INSET TEXT BOX below illustration)
The singer, songwriter, and musician, known to the world as frontman for Soundgarden and Audioslave, reportedly committed suicide in 2017. Whatever turmoil punished him from within, pouring his pain out to the world through his art wasn’t enough release to make it bearable for him.
There is no place where suicide is more prevalent in the U.S. than in our prison systems. Our system of punishment/sentencing has become increasingly more extreme over the decades, barely curbing crime rates, but reaching the point of being more than many can endure, or regularly witness. This is not just for those incarcerated; suicide is a leading cause of death for corrections officers.
Cornell’s was a single death that affected millions. I can’t imagine what the total ripple effects must be for the vast number of suicides throughout our prison system each year. Suicide doesn’t end the pain, it sentences everyone who cares to a lifetime of pain.
- John, Inside Member, PFC
(PAGE 33-34)
(ILLUSTRATION, to the right on page 34, is of sparrows in varying stages of flight)
Notwithstanding Life
John, Inside Member, PFC
I feel like I was born into a high likelihood of earning some prison time, but I could not have imagined earning a lifetime of time. Since single digit age I never knew a life of sobriety and was exposed to things that no kid should be. The party life had mom in its grips, as it did almost everyone we knew, and all of my consistent older male influences were frequently in and out of jail and prison. There were some times of relative calm and stability, but there were times when it was common to not have a responsible adult around for days. We weren’t kids to be left to our own devices. We never burnt any houses down, but there were fires.
As a kid, grandma’s three-bedroom house was the place I generally considered home. That’s where we stayed between frequent moves. Being the flop spot for almost everyone who needed a place to be, it often got crowded. I recall a time when grandma, mom, one aunt, two uncles, nine of us boys, and two girls were staying there at once. The place was also overcrowded with rats and roaches, which we became keenly aware of as we slept on the floors. Willingness to fight had much to do with social standings, and beware being perceived as weak!
I once blamed my upbringing for what went wrong in my life, the anger I didn’t realize I carried until it had subsided, and the stumbling through life in a drug and alcohol-induced fog that I never recognized until it had lifted. The clearing enabled me to feel the pain of buried afflictions and the guilt of much to atone for. Being able to face and feel those things allowed me to do some healing, recognize the need for changes, and admit that it was me who perpetuated the lifestyle I grew up with and who made my own mistakes. Terrible ones.
Thinking I knew it all, I dropped out of school after completing the 8th grade. Thinking I was grown at 15, I took off on my own for the first time. Thankfully, I retained enough from school to get a G.E.D. when I turned 18. I know now that I never really grew up until after the fog had lifted, which took some years of sobriety. That didn’t happen until I had done irreparable damage and was in prison serving a life sentence, deemed irredeemable. It took some more years for the anger to give way to a host of other emotions. With that came the realization that with loved ones who only knew me as I had been on the rare occasions I could see them, I no longer knew how to be me. This increased my sense of separation.
A dozen or so years into my incarceration, I finally felt the want and need to make use of the available self-improvement and educational programs. Now eighteen years and six months in, continuing with classes and programs, I’m training to lead in the Celebrating Recovery program, I took part in creating a video for troubled youth in detention centers, deterring them from following in our footsteps. I am a co-creator of “Glass House” magazine and I work as an artist, painting murals around the institution. Some of the programs and church services have talked about the need to forgive in the process of healing. My thought used to be, “I’m the one in need of forgiveness.” Then I learned of the forgiveness of self, which is something I’m working on.
Knowing I hurt a lot of people throughout life I’ve reached out to some, pleading for forgiveness. Inadvertently, I found some healing in that even when it seemed to fall on deaf ears. There are others I’d love to reach out to, but feel conflicted about whether some wounds I created are too old or are of such magnitude that it would be selfish of me to reopen them. For now, I keep them in prayer.
I didn’t grow up in church, but after some years of attending the prison chapel to meet with friends and getting dirty looks for talking during sermons, some seeds took root. I don’t chase anyone around thumping them with bibles, but if I see the opportunity to help someone in need I take it. Much of my rougher edges have worn smooth, I no longer talk during sermons. I recognize how I used to center my life around feeding addictions and numbing things I couldn’t face. Now I strive for lightness, to come out from under the weight of things I once carried. The healing tools that I’ve been learning continue to help me face the havoc I created, cope with being isolated away from loved ones, and find a level of peace in a place designed to evoke misery.
I didn’t have a lot of positive influences growing up, but I know now that I can be one. There are reparations I’ll never be able to make in this lifetime, but I’ll never lose the desire to try. Through continuous effort to resist the negatives and put forth positives, showing that even I can become a very different person than I was once known to be, I hope I’m honoring all in some way, notwithstanding life.
Haiku
Nick, Inside Member, PFC
Rose like a phoenix
Burning good and bad alike
True love in the ash
(INSET TEXT BOX)
"Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them - that only creates sorrow... Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”
- Lao-tzu
(PAGES 35)
(ILLUSTRATION - bottom of page. A scene of the Statue of Liberty with the New York City skyline in the background is surrounded by a razor wire fence.)
Land of The Free
Spoken Word
John, Inside Member, PFC
Crunching the numbers, I wonder how having so many prisons became so normalized in American life. Sure, in the 70s and 80s, crime rates went crazy and many new laws were made. But in the 90s, crime rates declined. Still, prisons popped up like wet gremlins.
Such places are sensationalized by TV shows, network news, movies, and music. The talking heads fuel public rage by perpetuating “tough on crime” rhetoric, a policy that hasn’t worked since crucifixion for petty theft was the rule. But it emotes, and that gets votes, so politicians love it.
Now, we spend billions on what sprouts from afflictions and conditions, such as poverty, addiction, mental illness, and racism. We use the arts of isolation and sensory deprivation for acts of desperation and mistakes made in a nation founded on liberation.
Laws are the rules put in place by a state to make us behave. Imagine if rules in relationships, at work, and all other places worked the same way. We’d all owe a debt, and there’d be no one left except the rich and saints holding keys to our cages.
They’d take away all that we love, and lock us in boxes for twenty something hours per day, for how many years did they say? Once convicted we’re second-class citizens, tainted with social stigma, trying to hold onto families, unable to get jobs or positions that can’t be trusted to criminals.
I shouldn’t squawk from the soapbox, but let those who’ve never broken a law, policy, or rule, cast the next corner stone for the next prison built. Hard to say who might fill it, they may outlaw sainthood and affluence someday, and there’d be nobody left to open our cages when our debt to whatever is left is paid.
What’s next, a razor wire fence around the land of the free and the home of the brave?
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Going To Prison
Jacqueline, Outside Member, PFC
In my day job, I work for a civil rights organization whose mission is focused on the elimination of discrimination in housing. It is through this activity that I met Dr. Renee and was introduced to her work at The University of Toledo. When I was initially approached about coming to Toledo Correctional Institute (TOCI) and provided with a full explanation of The Inside-Out Program, I was intrigued. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, but I knew I wanted to be a part of this, as it would not be my first experience visiting friends behind bars.
Many years ago, I was part of a team of women who would regularly go to Stryker, OH, from the Toledo area to hold faith-based classes at the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio (CCNO). While there, I met women who were grandmothers, wives, sisters, daughters, mothers, and occasionally expectant mothers who were preparing to give birth behind bars. So I already knew that inside populations are just as random and all-encompassing as visiting your local Wal-Mart store or mall. Count out 50 random people, and that’s what prison and jail look like to me. That’s what it is. These are OUR local community members. I was going to have the opportunity to meet some members of my community whom I did not have the pleasure of meeting before. I was excited to hear their insights and perspective on life, incarceration, etc. I wanted to come into the experience open, and I knew I would learn something new, but I did not know just how much.
Formally, I am the Test Coordinator/Fair Housing Investigator for The Fair Housing Center (TFHC). During my time here, we have initiated several investigations specifically centered around race and criminal history. The fight is ongoing, but we will not stop. Everyone has a right to fair housing.
In this ongoing fight, I am happy to say that our attorneys have had success in handling these complaints. We have been able to change the formal policies of large housing providers that were engaging in discriminatory housing practices centered around criminal history. We have also been able to secure damages for individuals who were directly harmed in these cases. In addition, proper education and the prevention of future harm are always at the forefront of our work, so mandated fair housing training (provided by TFHC Staff) for all on-site property staff members was also requested and granted in these complaints.
The first word that comes to mind when I think back to preparing for my visit to the Inside-Out Class is stigma. Merriam-Webster defines stigma in a few ways, but there are two that I feel best reflect my use of this term in the context of criminal history. The first is, “A set of negative and unfair beliefs that a society or group of people have about something.” Wow. In different segments of my life, I have mentioned my work on criminal history and housing, and the responses are generally very interesting and telling. They range from people wondering why I care at all to asking if it is safe for an individual who has a past criminal history to live near them. The negative and unfair beliefs that American society has around criminal history are vast. A lot of individuals picture violent crime as the backdrop for such comments with the premise of their argument being based on the negative and unfair belief that people will not or cannot change. In addition, I would venture to say that this thought process also includes the negative and unfair belief that ex-offenders are doomed to become repeat offenders.
The second definition of stigma that I would like to focus on is, “A mark of shame or discredit: STAIN.” Please note that I did not choose to capitalize the word stain. That is how it appears in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. It truly stands out, doesn’t it? In my opinion, that is how American society seems to treat anyone with a criminal history. They are repeatedly shamed on job applications, college applications, housing applications, and even if they want to potentially volunteer (cont'd)
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at their place of worship or their children’s school. The “stain” is often required to be exposed to gain entry or simply just to participate in these required, necessary, and possibly even in (what should be) fun parts of daily life. If people are made to feel ashamed or discredited before they can even introduce themselves, why is there any surprise that they may decide to shrink back, possibly isolate, or sadly, re-offend? The challenges our community members face when returning home after being incarcerated are real and can be many. They may include the challenges of reconnecting with family, engaging with a world that may have changed drastically while they were away, trying to find a job, re-establishing credit, obtaining stable housing, and the list goes on. If our communities shame people after time served and release, it makes the question, “When does punishment end?” a viable one.
In final preparation for the class, I asked a few of my co-workers what they would want the students to know; one of the best responses came from one of our attorneys. They said that I should share the seldom understood truth that criminal history “lookback periods” (often used by housing providers) begin on the date of conviction, not on the date of incarceration. That was it! That conversation provided me with some practical words of hope to offer the Insiders as they approach their release dates.
When I walked in the doors of TOCI, I had these thoughts of societal stigma, my past experiences of visiting behind bars, as well as my work at TFHC swirling in my head. However, as the class began, I was immediately impressed. The level of questioning far surpassed what I usually experience from groups. The questions I was asked resembled conversations I’ve held with seasoned colleagues in my field; there was real insight into the subject matter. We broached the topics of lookback periods, systemic bias in housing, as well as some housing-related issues that the students’ families and loved ones were currently experiencing. While there, I also explained the work that TFHC does and spoke about our ongoing work around criminal history. Lastly, everyone was provided with TFHC resources (brochures and pamphlets). When I left that day, I felt like I had just taken a hard test due to the number of questions I answered, but man, I was energized! The students showed high interest, care for the world around them, and deep concern about societal issues.
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The students and participants of In-side-Out / People for Change defy stigma. They refuse to buy into the negative and unfair belief that people with a criminal record are irreparably stained.
This was my biggest takeaway from the experience. The stain is a lie that neither the Insiders nor Outsiders ascribe to. Insiders are not stained. Upon reflection, I realized that my visit to TOCI mirrored that of my visits to CCNO from years ago. However, this time I met grandfathers, brothers, uncles, sons, and fathers who are all students at The University of Toledo. Their wisdom and conversation were refreshing and renewed my passion for my daily work. Civil rights work is not ambiguous; it has faces, names, and families attached to it. What we allow or disallow in our communities can help or harm. I choose to be a help, and I hope others will choose to be a help too.
When Dr. Renee invited me back to In-side-Out to attend the Closing Ceremony in the Spring, my answer was an emphatic, yes! It was a marvelous event, and I look forward to our continued work together.
If you or anyone you know is experiencing housing discrimination of any kind, please contact The Fair Housing Center at 419-243-6163 or at toledofhc.org.
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Book Review
Maddie, Outside Member, PFC
Jimmy Santiago Baca’s memoir titled "A Place to Stand" tells a compelling story about the harsh realities of growing up with brown skin in a “white world” and the realities individuals face in prison. The entire book is a journey of transformation for Baca, and I could not put the book down once I started because each chapter marked another life lesson. It ultimately led him to moments of self-discovery. I think the most inspiring factor was his discovery of the power of literature as he learned to read and write while incarcerated.
Baca had a troubled childhood; his father was a drunk, and his mother left his family to live with a white man. Growing up, he constantly faced family struggles and societal prejudice, even from his own mother. Baca recalls the first time he realized he had brown skin and a Mexican accent and felt he would never be accepted into the white world. In each chapter, I witnessed Baca struggle to navigate a world that rendered him hopeless, with no family and labeled as a troublemaker.
What’s so uplifting about the story and what makes you want to continue reading is that the hope inside of him always remained against all else. Even when he was on his own, going from job to job, trying to find a stable living and income, Baca always dreamed of a better life for himself and his family.
Reading Baca’s story, I realized his lifestyle was a means of survival. The turning point came when he was incarcerated in a maximum security prison. But again, what’s so uplifting is that after all that was done to him in his childhood and now having to survive again, he was still determined to remain hopeful and not let prison destroy his spirit. And the prison most certainly tried to. They denied him access to education, and he was sent to various parts of the prison where he would be isolated or drugged until compliant. But as Baca stated in one of his chapters, “I would have been a good prisoner had it not been for my need to speak.”
Baca learned to read and write while incarcerated. He studied dictionaries and pamphlets, taking in all the words, memorizing them, rewriting words, and trying to make meaning out of sentences. Some of Baca’s poems were included in his memoir. Reading them showed his progress in learning to write, but every time I read a poem, my mind would remind me that during these times, he was confined to his cell. The poems were his escape through the portal of his imagination. The part that stuck with me the most in reading his poems was that as he continued to learn to read and write, it also meant he could read and write about his heritage. His poems reflected this; he grew up as a child ashamed, and now, having literature, he learned about his heritage and his people, which allowed him to love himself and the heritage.
This book needs to be read by every individual. Not only does it account for the harshness of prison and the horrible conditions individuals have to survive in, but it also shows just how much an individual can transform themselves after living with so many struggles. Prison changed Baca, but not because the prison rehabilitated him. The prison broke him. But with outside support, he learned to believe in himself. Poetry and writing allowed him to engage with the language he once did not know, which comforted him during such a hard time and allowed him to understand and think about his past. Baca notes in the very beginning of his book that he wanted to be different than his father, and he most certainly is; he discusses how he wants to set a good example and inspire his kids. After reading his book, I can certainly say his kids must be more than proud because of how he did change his path.
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You Are On Trial: What Are Your Odds
Anonymous, Inside Contributor, PFC
According to various online surveys, 74%-80% of potential jurors admit to having some assumption of guilt when a person is charged with a crime. Compounding that disadvantage, the prosecution gets procedural advantages during trial (based on having the burden of proof), and they decide prior to trial what degree of charges and how many counts to present against you. Overcharging is common and can be used to pressure defendants into pleading guilty in order to receive a lesser punishment; defendants may face far worse punishment if found guilty of overinflated charges. Depending on the charges, the difference could be years, decades, or even death.
If you testify in your own defense during trial, you aren’t permitted to speak freely during cross examination. The prosecutor can restrict you to yes or no answers to expertly formulated questions, not allowing explanation or context to be added. Yet, a more complex answer may be needed to reflect the whole truth, which can give jurors misleading impressions.
While airing the trial of NFL’s Travis Rudolph, COURT TV legal experts commented on the job of prosecutors, “It’s about controlling the witness, getting them to say what you want them to say, not giving them a chance to explain things away.” At a later time, your attorney may allow you to explain further and attempt to “unpaint” any misleading pictures or impressions already given, which could come across as altering your answer.
There are reasons why attorneys rarely recommend their clients testify in their own defense. It puts laymen under the control of an expert at argument and manipulation of conversation. But, (according to legal experts on COURT TV) not testifying tends to give jurors the impression of having something to hide. It only takes one “guilt-deciding” factor for you to lose in a trial. The prosecution gets the final closing argument, arguably the most memorable. And if a deliberating jury becomes deadlocked in disagreement, judges often order them back into deliberation to try and reach a unanimous verdict, which may pressure some to vote guilty against their beliefs.
Depending on your charges, a trial attorney could cost as much as a new house. If you can’t afford an attorney, you will be given a court-appointed attorney/public defender. Public defenders are often overloaded with cases with having little time to spend on any one case. Unfortunately, even when it comes to law, you tend to get what you pay for.
September 12th, 2022, SCRIPPS NEWS reported, “the political pressure for prosecutors to get convictions in the legal system has led to an estimated 4%-6% of people in prison being innocent”. They went on to mention, “Inmates usually don’t have the resources to use the Habeas Corpus system to challenge convictions.” As in any profession, human nature is always a factor. Some of those working in our legal system are straight by the book, but some will break the rules to get convictions when political pressure affects careers.
The National Registry of Exonerations published a report on 2,400 cases of the wrongly convicted, “Government Misconduct and Convicting the Innocent.” It found that official misconduct contributed to false convictions in 54% of the cases.
Even in light of new DNA evidence or another person confessing to the crime, the chances of being granted a new trial or chance to appeal can be astronomical, and could take many years, even decades, if ever granted. See the case of wrongly convicted, Clarence Elkins (Ohio). It is a case that inspired Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro to look deeper into corruption in the legal system. He resigned from his position and went to work with the Innocence Project to fight for the wrongly convicted. He went on to author a book, titled, “FALSE JUSTICE: 8 Myths That Convict the Innocent”.
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Patterns observed in the report:
- The more serious the crime, the higher the rate of misconduct, from 72% in murder cases to 32% for most nonviolent crimes.
- Blacks were victims of misconduct more often than whites, 57% to 54%, with that gap growing for more serious crimes.
- Concealing exculpatory evidence (favorable to defendants) in 44% of cases.
- Police misconduct was found in 35% of cases: witness tampering, misconduct during interrogations, fabricating evidence, concealing exculpatory evidence, perjury at trial.
- Prosecutor misconduct was found in 30% of cases: concealing exculpatory evidence, witness tampering, misconduct during trial.
- In 6% of cases, evidence showing there was no crime committed was concealed. Misconduct by forensic analysts in 3% of cases
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Disciplinary actions against officials for these misconducts were uncommon and minimal, especially so for prosecutors.
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“Many a serious thinker has been produced in prisons where we have nothing to do but think.”
- Robert Greene
RECIPES
No Bake Cookies
Tori, Outside Member, PFC
Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- 3 tablespoons cocoa
- ½ cup butter (one stick)
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 5 cups of oats
Directions
- Mix sugar, cocoa. butter, and milk and bring to a boil.
- Let boil for 45 seconds to a minute.
- Add peanut butter, vanilla, and oats.
- Stir until oats are covered.
Let stand a few minutes then scoop cookie-like amounts onto wax paper to cool and shape.
Cellblock Stew (For the Convict in You)
Roy, Inside Member, PFC
Ingredients
- 18 oz mixed vegetables with broth
- One 4-oz summer sausage
- 1 Ramen noodle beef seasoning pack
- ¼ cup salsa1 cup dried refried beans
- 1 tablespoon minced onion
- ¾ cup rice2 cups water
Directions
- Pre-heat mixed vegetables.
- Slice and quarter summer sausage.
- Cook rice for 5 minutes, drain, and set aside to steam.
- Mix vegetables, broth, summer sausage, rice, seasoning pack, onions, salt, and hot water and cook for 10 minutes.
- Stir in dried refried beans to the desired thickness.
* Chicken can be substituted for sausage
* Could add half a pickle, chopped, or ½ pack of olives
(PAGE 42)
You will have read many analyses and viewpoints about punishment in this issue of “Glass House.” The websites listed here are educational and advocacy resources you might find helpful in placing our work and commentary in context.
Thank you for reading “Glass House”! Please send feedback to Renee Heberle, Professor of Political Science, at renee.heberle@utoledo.edu.
The Sentencing Project
https://www.sentencingproject.org/
The Sentencing Project provides information and does policy advocacy around mass incarceration.
Inside-Out Center - Temple University
http://insideoutcenter.org/
The Inside-Out Center at Temple University is where our program model for UToledo/ToledoCorrectional and People for Change was developed.
Prison Policy
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/
The Prison Policy Initiative offers information, statistics, analysis and advocacy ideas about mass incarceration.
Alliance for Higher Education in Prison
https://www.higheredinprison.org/
The Alliance for Higher Education in Prison advocates for all incarcerated persons to have access to quality higher educational opportunities.
American Civil Liberties Union
https://www.acluohio.org/
The American Civil Liberties Union widely advocates for freedom of speech and social justice and does work to improve our criminal justice system in Ohio and nationally.
Policy Matters Ohio
https://www.policymattersohio.org/research-policy/quality-ohio/justice-reform
Policy Matters Ohio works on various areas of policy, researching and advocating for change. This page shows the work they do about the justice system.