Johnny E. Mahaffey The Novelist Portent
May 21, 2026

A STEP BACK FOR REHABILITATION

In 2016 we began a "Character-Based Unit (CBU)", and since I was working
for the Education Department at the time, I was made the Education
Coordinator. We had over 60 classes going. The guys were taking
everything from GED prep to things like music, art, writing, CDL, and
more.
But, sadly the current administration has now dismantled the CBU,
moving everyone out, and turning it into a "Worker Dorm" where only
guys that work in places like the kitchen stay, filling up the whole
right side of the building. They are now leaning more towards just
let us work, and go behind the door. No more rehabilitation focused
programs. Sad.
In my book, "From Custody to Community", I cover a lot about this
kind of stuff. Luckily there are a few employees in SCDC still for
rehabilitation but they are in a constant battle against the staff
members with the punitive mindset -- that prefer prisoners they prefer
to dehumanize as INMATE to just be punished 24/7 in misery and fed like
dogs. (Example: Today's menu says "Chicken Alfredo" but what it really
is, chicken guts ground up, boiled, and served over plain elbow noodles,
the same meal we get 7 to 9 times a week as lunch or dinner; they get
creative in what they name it, but it's the same stuff we call "monkey
meat" over and over and over. Prisoners that eat it regularly are the
ones I see in here dying of cancer. I prefer to not eat, than eat that
boiled ground up slop that I wouldn't feed a dog. They would do better
to just do a meal of pinto beans instead of the monkey meat.)
They say you can judge a society by how it looks inside its prisons.
It's why they prefer to hide prisons, and cut them off from communication
with the outside world. They have to control the narrative so the public
doesn't know the truth.
As for me, I am working to save what classes we can and keep some
form of rehabilitation going -- but, it's not easy. I have nine teachers
who have stepped up and volunteered to keep up what we can. I just wish
South Carolina could get a governor that's not a complete idiot. The
current one, McMasters was a state legal pawn, he was -- and sadly still
is -- just a law lap dog; and Alan Wilson, trying to take his place
is even worse, and in my opinion a totalitarian/socialist who has wet
dreams about a total police state. We need a governor who is for the
people, not the establishment, and to get such a person is to get someone
from outside the current establishment not part of it.
One smart enough to know rehabilitation is not a choice for prisons,
it's a moral obligation. It is irresponsible to not support education
and rehabilitation of prisoners, over 95 percent will be out of prison.
To simply house them behind a locked door -- is willful neglect and
and a huge disservice for society. Instead, educate and rehabilitate.