IN THE LIFE OF A CONNECTICUT PRISONER #6
By Richard Stevenson

We just came off a facility lockdown again. To most people these are mere words. But to give you an idea of what it's like consider the following:

Imagine Homeland Security lawfully is allowed to swoop down on your entire block, forces everyone to go to the nearest school and wait until they rummage through your homes looking for anything they believe you shouldn't have. Imagine that you know that you have no recourse if, for whatever reason, someone wanted t plant "contraband" in your house. Contraband could be something as benign as repurposing a paper bag to hold books. You would be taken to jail and issued a summons. The only difference in pleading guilty and being found guilty at a hearing (prosecution has a 98% conviction rate) is spending an extra week in jail.

After serving your jail time your then are forced to live in a ghetto specifically for those who just finished their jail time for 3 months (since your infraction was minor). You then are move to a slightly better neighborhood where you must petition the government to move back to your old home. While you were away Homeland Security removed all your belongings in order to thoroughly search through them. Things are broken and torn up. Papers are everywhere. When you get back to your old house it looks as if a tornado had literally gone through it. Everything is in such a disarray you don't know where to begin. You feel disoriented.

This is what we endure 4 to 5 times per year. We fear and hate lockdowns/shakedowns. We never know who may be set-up. I was once infracted because my headphones snapped and I taped them back together. I also received a Disciplinary Report (Infraction) for possessing tape. This was tape that THEY used to label my property when I came to the facility!

Keep in mind that the parole board use these infractions to deny us parole. At about $104/day, per prisoner, how much money is wasted due to this form of retaliation against prisoners?

Rich.