Walkin’ in the rain…

Walkin' In The Rain.. Guys, not every day in prison is about gangs and violence; there are lots of other obstacles in the average day of an inmate. But some are small, compared to greater things like fights and the like. Still, every obstacle an inmate has to negotiate determines his integrity. We are still human beings, and the trick to surviving prison is to not degrade down to animal behavior, but rather retaining common humanistic traits. We still have beliefs that should not be negotiated, One of those is the idea of being treated fairly. The problem in most prisons is that they don't really teach you to rehabilitate, only to obey. And while that SOUNDS legit, obedience is only as good as the people who administer it. A good and fair leader can expect obedience from inmates because they treat inmates fair. A bad leader cannot expect such, if they don't treat inmates with decency. Sure, inmates are in prison for a reason, but they didn't lose their right to be treated humanely. No court ever authorized that. So my following e—mail was sent on July lst, 2016, concerning an issue about sending inmates into the rain in .,\_,‘ ‘ L; order to go to chow. I'll explain it after you read the e- mail: (The following was e-mailed to the Camp Administrator of USP Tucson on July 1st, 2016) To: Camp Administrator Please help me understand the reasoning for sending inmates out in the pouring rain. Today, Friday July 1st during lunchtime the weather had worsened enough that the yard was closed to inmates at 9am. I might guess that the logic behind this was for INMATE protection and safety; it would be cruel and foolish to leave inmates stranded in the rain, when they could have access to protection. Rules have a reasoning, not to be applied simply because they are written. So, please explain to me the reasoning of refusing inmates safe passage through the corridors. I was under the understanding that those corridors were for emergency purposesa. wouldn't weather be a reason? Just the other day, the rains came down so hard, about 2PM that they closed the yard...why? For the protection of the inmate, It was raining so hard, you could barely see ahead of _‘73,R\ you. Inmates came in soaking wet, but yet were allowed to come back in from the rain... for safety's sake. Why then was this ignored today? Today, while it was raining, we stood, wondering if we would be forced to go outside to go to chow, or if they would use the corridors. When they sent inmates on wheelchairs and walkers outside in the rain, many inmates felt that it was not right. Many of those inmates were elderly, yet they went outside in the rain. iAnd I might point out, this wasn't a regular rain, but a downpour. We waited to see what would happen to us. For a moment, it looked like we might go down the corridor, but at the last minute, they changed their minds, and sent us OUTSIDE... in the rain. Guys had to look for protection for their heads and body. Some took coats to shield themselves in the pouring rain. I remember taking mine, and walking with two other inmates. Coming back from the chowhall, one inmate was running for cover, when an officer said to him. “Stop running!" The inmate returned, "YOU stop running! It’s raining out here! Don't you see that!" The officer said, "It's the Law!", to which I could not help but respond to that foolish statement by saying, "that's NOT a law". Something is gravely missing here... respect for inmates. Why would you willingly force inmates into the rain .__ H ,.. to go to chow, but close the yard during recreation because of rain? I can't help but think this was cruel and unusual punishment. If anyone had gotten injured, even if they ran, how can the prison plead innocent, rather guilt by ignorance? You tell inmates that in order for them to eat, they have to go through pouring rain, but if they run to protect themselves, you admonish them. After I got in, my coat, which protected me, was wet. Yet at the metal detector leading into the cafeteria, officers were telling inmates to turn in their coats, since by rule, they were not supposed to have them... Pardon me while I see the hypocrisy here... your officers are worried about COATS and a small rule, while the prison is forcing inmates to go through inclement weather?? which is the greater wrong? There was clearly a severe lack of compassion by the officers working there. They were more concerned about COATS than inmates coming in soaking wet... And we're supposed to respect THESE officers? So all inmates who had such protection had to turn them in, and go BACK out in the rain... unprotected. And since I went to get my laundry, it got wet on the way back. There seems to be so many things wrong here; why wasn't the corridor used? Was it because it was not cleared of equipment and trash? That's not our fault. I thought the ._g M corridors are supposed to be at the ready on any emergency. Inclement weather can promote an emergency. It is things like this that cause low morale between inmates and officers. Your rules mandate we respect officers; how do you propose we do that if we are forced into inclement weather against our will? It's either "don't eat" and stay dry or "go eat" and get soaked. I am pretty sure we are not supposed to be in that position to make that decision. I really think this was very unfair to us, and I feel more sorry for the elderly inmates. One inmate in our dorm is over 80 years old. How can you send an 80+ year old man to walk halfway across the compound, in pouring rain? How are we supposed to revere such decisions? There's got to be a better way to treat inmates. For a second, when we thought they changed their minds to let us use the corridor, inmates clapped, in a general approval of staff "doing the right thing". Turns out, they changed their minds, so in our opinion, they didn't do the right thing. With all due respect, there has to be a better way to treat inmates, and how to handle this situation. I pray that’ next time this happens, since this is MONSOON season, that staff will be more considerate of the inmates. (End of E—mail) .,.U2N\ The argument here is that we were forced into the rain, when we could have gone through the corridors for safe passage. Did the prison HAVE to make us go through a downpour just to get to chow? The answer is clearly "no", but sometimes the prison will do things just because they can get away with it. I mentioned the coats; inmates ARE allowed to have coats in season, but after March or April, they are no longer needed, and must be turned in to laundry, so anyone having a coat in July would actually have contraband... so yeah, it's a rule. Still... I understand that not everything in prison will be fair; I get that, but at no time should a prison treat people less than a human being, and sadly, it happens a lot here. Officers ought to be professional, not some "prison thug" that persecutes inmates simply because they can. In order for us to respect them, they have to BE respectable. Many are, thank God, but there are some that aren't. That makes doing time harder than it ought to be. It's not any officer's job to treat people like dogs; they weren't hired to do that. Yet some do, and when things like this happen, the inmate has to retain his human characteristics and make a stand for what SHOULD be the right thing to do. After all, if they don't do the right thing, how can they expect US to do it? Anyway, until next time...