Michael Gennaro

Thanks for your comments. I responded to SAH and I was grateful for her comments. It seems so superficial to request of items when greater responsibilities may be at hand.

I do pay restitution. 50% of all my institution wages are taken and applied to my restitution. I enjoy being able to pay back to those affected by my crimes. The down side is that I'm unable to acquire a lot of things such as the items I listed on the blog. If I have to go without I most definitely will and accept it as a consequence to my actions that got me here.

You asked:
1) Do I have any outstanding restitution.?
Yes. I owe money in court fines and costs that was paid as of 2007-2008. I owe $5,000 in restitution that has been cut to $3,300 due to my continuous employment in prison and payment towards it.

2) Why is it difficult to obtain these supplies?
I get paid $20.00 every two weeks for an institution job. 10% ($2.00) is taken and applied to my release account then the remaining $18.00 is split in half in which $9.00 is applied to my restitution leaving me with $9.00 to spend.

We have to buy our own soap, lotion, toothpaste etc. and those hygiene items alone exceed the $9.00 I'd get. Extra supplies are "hard" to come by unless family can extend a hand or two.

What purpose does item X serve in prison?
The items I put on my list are all items that would make my time a little easier. We only get a limited amount of state clothing so personal clothing and shoes come in handy, I write/type blog posts, poetry, books etc and I'm in constant need of writing supplies.

I suppose an argument could be made that I/we don't deserve anything in prison and I can't say I disagree with that. "I" messed up and "I" put me here and "I'm" doing all that I can to right my wrongs and move forward with or without material things.

I do appreciate your questions/comments and want to say everything everyone had to say really made me reflect and think about the perception of inmates paying restitution to victims and allowable property to inmates and reasoning behind them.

I would do the rest of my time with none of these material things to re-pay the debts of my actions however I also "want" to continue to work hard and pay them off as well.

Uh, I'm trying to get my hands on The New Jim Crow and once I do I'll tell you what I think. Thanks again for your comments and feel free to contact me at

Marcus T Rogers #377571
100 Corrections Drive
Stanley, WI 54768

Questions:
Where are you from?
How'd you come across BTB blog site?
Do you know the names of any other books and author with material similar to The New Jim Crow?