S.C.O.R.E.

Ryan B. Green Date: 30-10-23 Contact: Federal Correctional Institution word count: 1,200 PO Box 1000 Butner, NC 27509 Bio: I am serving a thirty-five year sentence. Spent my first five years in a one-man isolation cell. I am a veteran and am married with five kids. Suggested Title S.C.O.R.E. Secure Commitment to Offender Re-entry and Enablement. That’s the name of the tablet federal prisoners can ow buy. It’s a little ironic since there isn’t any educational videos games or books on it (if you exclude the multitude of self—help audio books, all spoken in German for some reason, prisoners can buy in their music library). I 've had the privilege of having a tablet once before when I was still a pre-trial inmate. That tablet had a large library of free educational videos available to watch for free! I learned trigonometry and art appreciation simply because I had alot of time and they were readily available. I find it amisi g and a bit rude that this new tablet is so named. Since it does NOT offer any significant re-entry assistance or rehabilitative programs. Much like the B.o.P. The Keefe S.C.O.R.E. 7c does have a selection of movies and videogames available for purchase. I ’m thankful for that and yet these games are available for free on the streets. Sounds like a clever way for someone to make some money, more than a device meant to “enable" convicts to re-enter society. Which sounds, again, alot Like prisons generally. Encyclopedia .com makes mention that the first prison were built by wealthy land owners to maintain power. Now prisons are a hot bed for capitalist commercial opportunities. This is not in itself a bad thing; as I ’ve said I ’m grateful for what is provided for me and I am willing to pay for that. On the other hand we've seen in several state for-profit prison organizations* where staff pay off state officials to support laws that favor higher prison populations, thus increasing the for-profits profits. Who is to say the same thing isn’t happeng in the federal system? Who owns Keefe anyway? While the B.o.P. struggles to maintain its facilities* here comes the Keefe S.C.O.R.E. 7c getting 100% profit on two dollars they charge for a free game. How wonder how much of the 5 118 inmates -pay for the tablet the B.o.P. sees. As rehabilitation programs are canceled for funding issues and the prison menu gets more sparse and flavorless, if the federal government used that money to take care of its prisoners then maybe so many wouldn't come back. Then keefes profits would go down realative to the decreasing prison population and what business owner waits that? Despite my eyerolling (and suspitions) I am thankful for the tablet. Even if it's just a way to waiste time , cause I have alot of that. No matter how much of my time I try to fill with constructive activities it's nice to have a break or distraction from the day to day. Also woth mentioning is the community that these devices have created. People get together and talk strategy and assit eachother in acievievi g goals. This, wether it was intended or not, has some interesting effects on rehabilitation. Prison is a stressful place. Even if (or when ,as it sometimes does) prison is what it says it is, what we need it to be, it would be stressful. That constant stress does alot of harm to a person over time. The physical manifestations of this could be deminished eve sight, torn muscles, bowl and rectal issues, even such extremes as heart problems or stroke. The psychological concequences include, PTSD, institutionalisation, poor sleep, depression , aggression, suicidal ideation. All things that have a profound impact on a. persons re-entry. The tablet provides a release from all that, however brief. And I do NOT want to give any credit where none is due. The tablet makes alot of promises that it does not deliver on. The benefits of this tablet, elementary as they may be, are a decrease in the ever present destructive stress of prison. Which could decrese the number of violent incidents that occor as a concequence. Maybe this was the intention. Maybe some folks got together and talked about how ironic, duplicitous and destructive prison is and said, "hey, let's sell them tablets". Great idea guys! Just like the prison system is a good idea to deal with the criminal element. But both of then are far from what we need them to be. Far even from what they say they are for: re- habilitation. Despite that, it's important to me to recognize the improvements that been made in the system (it is important for prisoners to be recognized for any posotive change). This is after all how we improve. It's how we teach our kids, it’s even how we train our dogs. We have to set expectations and reward them when they are met. Even small changes; like how prisoners arn’t chained to cannon balls any more. I condemn muvh - almost all of the B.o.P.s actions- or lack thereof-, as should we all ( the sexual assaults, the violence, the deaths, the medical negligence aid the unchecked commercial vampirism that has profiteers influencing policy. No matter how small a kernel of good I find in a world of digested bologna, I will not be like some others and blind myself in the good because of the bad, no matter how bad and it is horrible. Because if all I see is past wrongs then we both will be stuck there. Unable to move forward. *Washington State University did a study on this which can be read at this web address: News.edu/press-release/2020/09/15/priverized-prisons-lead-inmates-longersentences-studyfinds