Transcript
The Treatment Part 1 9.24.19 According to the United Nations Congress on the prevention of crime and the Treatment of Offenders, "All prisoners shall treated with the respect due to their inherent dignity and value as human beings. It's also sates that "No prisoners shall be subjected to & all prisoners shall be protected from torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment for which no circumstances whatsoever may be invoked as a justification." But on a daily basis the correctional officers here at Mule Creek State Prison continue to use intimidating tactics and throughout other prisons in California they use excessive use of force and then they have the nerve to say we attacked them. I've seen situations like that with my own eyes and by the grace of God I have not experienced such physical force. Even though this "justice system" speaks about mercy, fairness and rehabilitation but these things are not things that provided to every prisoner (it's available but not provided). Then they work us like slaves and pay us almost as bad as slaves were paid over 400 years ago and they wanna take 55% of my $11.96 they pay you for working like a slave. If these things aren't disrespectful, inhumane and degrading treatment, then I truly don't know what to tell you other than "Hey why don't you out there in society try living off $3.00 or $4.00 a month and see how you feel. Yes I do understand that we have somewhere to sleep for free and they do feed us, (what they call food) and provide us with clothing and some people would say what else more do you guys need and all I say to that is it's hard to explain and they would not understand unless they lived it first hand. I would not wish this on my worst enemy so those people couldn't possibly understand what it is we go through in here. I would like society to know for some people prison doesn't work but the living condition does make some people wanna change. We shouldn't have to live like animals and treated like such in order to wanna be treated like a person. If look at other countries & compare them to some American prisons, they put us to shame & so does their recidivism rates, so we must be doing something wrong here in the U.S. There is no reason why every person in prison who has done 5 years or better in prison should get out to nothing or no one waiting to help them or should not have gained any type of skills that will help them succeed outside of these walls. It seems that this system believes once you're released you're no longer our problem until you're right back because once I'm free they're not getting paid as much out of us. Being someone who has been released before I know first hand that it is hard as hell getting help from parole and they make it so damn difficult that you just can't help but imagine going back to the old life. Support for us inmates is a very helpful thing and can help each and every one of us have a better chance at success. So in conclusion, I say why was prison even created? Was it to protect people? or to correct a person's actions from wrong to right? or was it to just simply make someone feel miserable about the life they have been given? or maybe it's to simply isolate you from everyone else and make you believe that you're less than human and no one cares whether or not you live or die. That's exactly what prison makes a majority of us feel at times. Especially those of us who are part of the mental health program. With that being said I'll end this with, maybe it's time we tear down this system and get rid of the cancer and corruption and start anew. It is a new generation and time for a new rise of a bigger and better revolution and rehabilitation when it comes to the incarcerated because we are human beings as well and we deserve to be heard, seen and understood. yes we've made wrong choices but a lot of us want the help and go out of our way to get it, so we give back more than what we have taken from our communities. So please take into consideration all that I have said and laid before you and try to reshape the way you think about us inmates as a whole and do your best to look at us as individuals. Sincerely written by: Eric Johnson
