Chronicles of June

Chronicles of June Frederick Mason USP Tucson #55487-056 PO Box 24550 Tucson, AZ 85734 Guys, there are some days where officers get on your last nerve. To be sure, there are some cool officers here, ones that know that we're doing time, and they don't want to make our lives harder than it already is. They are not here to j udge us. But there are a lot of officers here who feel like it's their God-given right to make our lives more difficult, so they use their authority to make inmate's life difficult. That is NOT their job; I don't remember any judge in the country that said out our sentencing, "And I sentence you to torment by the righteous officers of BOP, to do to you whatever seems good to them". Nah, I don't remem.ber that. But many officers do that, and today's entry is a reflection of that. As I always do, I will "pause" in certain areas to fill in the blanks. This one is pretty recent, actually, I wrote this entry today, June 30th, 2016. Ok, let's begin„ June 30th 2016: 6:50 on a cloudy Thursday, today is supposedly the great "Magic: The Gathering" tournament today, at least 2 years in the making. I joke with Roy that it's as mythical as unicorns and the Easter Bunny, since they've never been able to get the tournament off the ground. Maybe today. (PAUSE: Here at USP Tucson, there are a number of hobbies for inmates to do to pass time, one is the playing of the card-strategy game, "Magic: The Gathering". I love this game, and played it back in the mid to late 90's when I was home. When I got here in 2012, I found them playing it, and was excited. It really helps when you can find something to do, something that passes the time. It can be constructive in that the game deals with making strategies, and also works on dealing with other people, the socialization of prison, which is necessary. We don't use the REAL cards, we have to make copies of the card on paper, then tape them to poker cards. Roy, the guy I mentioned, learned to play the game in the 2 years he's been here, and he is VERY good at it. It is amazing to see what a person can learn when he puts his mind to it. Things like this game, and other hobbies, help make time easier for inmates, and I contend that it is necessary. When inmates are at a relaxed state of mind, the stress level (and potential violence) decreases. But the opposite happens when inmates are stressed and given no opportunity to problem solve issue. Anyway, let's continue...) I hope it goes well for the guys. It's a fun game to play. Yet, I cannot go because of my self-imposed ban in protest of the Recreation Department in their lack of sincerity regarding D. Huffstuttler, one of the recreation officers. Where does it say in BOP policy that you have to be a cold, heartless human being to work here? Why is it that some of these officers feel that the Good Lord shed the light of justice and righteousness on them, to do the work that Revelations prophesied? I've no respect for those that treat us that way, and that includes Officer Escobar, since she kicked me out Wednesday (the 2 8th) for writing an update on the incident on Memorial Day regarding Huffstuttler, Escobar told the Lieutenant that I was aggravating her. Really? SHE started it by sticking her nose in MY business, in a sad-sack attempt to defend another employee. Who made her a judge over my writings; that's far above her pay grade! (PAUSE: Folks, one of the things that REALLY get me ti eked off is when officers abuse their authority, that to me makes them LESS than the least of us, because they're hiding behind a uniform to do what they can get away with. That doesn't make them right. Our punishment, for the sentence (whether we were guilty or not doesn't matter to the government) is to do time... not to be harassed by officers. And sadly, it happens too often. Yet when we try to make our case against it, the prison shrugs it off, as if it doesn't matter. There are HUNDREDS of case laws to prove that although inmates have lost many rights... we still retain many, and it includes being treated fairly... something may officers neglect. Ok, let's continue...) She took my writings and refused to give them back to me- and I'll wager made copies of them. THEN later that day, Huffstuttler was in the library, talking to Escobar. Guys told me she showed her my writing... oh, there's SO many things wrong with that. (PAUSE: So you're probably wondering what's the big deal here. It doesn't seem like a problem. But actually it is, one that can easily result in the department getting SUED. First, Escobar, because she's the "gatekeeper" of printed documents, is supposed to SKIM over the material: it's none of her business to READ what we've typed, unless it's something clearly not allowed by the prison. For example, you can't type an erotic story on the NEO... although I bet you that it's against the Freedom of Speech, but that's another issue... But another problem is that because Escobar is READING our material, she is digging into personal affairs, and then chooses whether to intervene.,, this is NOT her job. It is clear she did this with MY document, by showing it to another officer.,, what if she's doing this with legal documents? Even if she's not copying it, she now knows bits of every inmate's case. Can she be trusted to be discreet? Not at all. Who is to 5 say that she's not copying the reserved NEOs after recall, to keep in a file, or send it to the courts? In short, she can't be trusted. This is critical to inmates trying to file cases, because the perception is that the officers here work FOR the government, to discredit and discourage inmates from fighting their cases.,, which every inmate has a right to do. People like Escobar may well contribute negatively to this issue, and I've few reasons to believe it. She took my copy, and didn't give it back to me... that alone is a problem, because she doesn't have the right to do that. Anyway, let's continue...) Escobar took it upon herself to play judge over MY writing, which was CLEARLY out of line to do so- so it's harassment. So what do I do? I don't expect much from the prison; Escobar could shoot me in the face and the prison would spin it to where I had to have been at some level of fault. It's like Tim said, "There has to be a way for inmates to make a reasonable argument regarding the unprofessionalism of officers to a neutral party." All we're asking is to be treated fairly, those guys in the library don't cause any problems; they're there to work on their legal briefs, write documents or watch videos. Why do people like Escobar feel like it's their job to make our day miserable by harassing inmates when it comes to using NEOs. Anyway, it's 7:08- gotta get my stuff ready for typing. (PAUSE: Folks, it can be very frustrating when you G have to play mind games with officers. Prison is not supposed to be that way. It ought to be helping fallen men become better people, but prisons don't teach inmates to be better... only BITTER. And when bad officers do what they do, and the prison does nothing to them, it makes it much harder to better yourself. This is why the hobbies like the "Magic: The Gathering" game is important, because it gives inmates a venue to relax and have fun. I don't like what Escobar and Huffstuttler does, to me they don't deserve to work here, but the prison is overall a good place to do time. If you HAVE to do time, this place is a good prison to do it. Very low violence and very diverse. Yet one of the drawbacks is the lack of accountability when officers harass inmates. There's a balance that has yet to be addressed. Maybe in time they will.) (ADDED NOTE: After I turned in the copy to be printed, Escobar took my copies again, and made copies because, "I don't like my name in them". Continual harassment; she won't leave me alone. She put herself in my situation, and gets offended when I mention her in the harassment. More on this later) Anyway, that's all for now, until next time...