What Kind of Prisoners Does Society Want Leaving? by Jay Goodman

I have been through a lot in my life, there are times I don’t even know how I’m still alive. It’s important to me that the people who read this understand I am not looking for sympathy, but empathy. The 17 years in prison has been an eye-opening experience for me. When I was arrested all those years ago, nothing could’ve prepared me for the road ahead of me. I could’ve never dreamed in 1000 years all of the pain both mentally, and physically I would go through. I have really done a lot of soul-searching over the years, and I understand that it was just that I was sent to prison. I did break the law and I had to answer for the many things I did. Life is about choices, and which ever choice one makes will have a huge impact on your future. Really not only your future, but the future of your family as well. Because the choices I made affected my mother and my children. Why, I learn to accept responsibility for my choices, I was not ready for what would be waiting in prison in. I was sentenced to 30 years aggravated in the state of Texas for robbery. Because it was aggravated. I had to serve 15 years straight before I was eligible for my first parole hearing I was sent to a maximum-security prison to begin my long journey. Entering, a maximum-security prison was like entering another world. And in this world, there was no kind of morals, no kind of real respect. Yes, there are plenty of people who talked about respect, but prison, respect and respect we learn, growing up as children are two different things. While I did meet some men who were good people, the majority of men were stuck on stupid. It did not take me long to figure out that the majority of the guards in ranking officers were also as bad as the prisoners. Hell, in some cases even worse. I’ve seen guards and ranking officers it’s all prisoners, Ray, prisoners, and kill prisoners. I am sure someone reading this may think, what did the prisoner do? There are times the prisoners may have done something that caused the staff to react to whatever the inmate did. But from all the years I did, I’ve seen brutal beatings from guards, just because they didn’t care for a certain inmate.

In a lot of cases, the guards structured themselves like gangs, and they feel they are above the law, because no matter what they do, the administration turns their head to their wrongdoings. I’m not just talking about something small; I’m talking about something that would land anyone on the street in prison. I was shocked to see the administration turn their head to go to committed crimes. Or if the prisoner did say something to a ranking officer, they would threaten the prisoner, or just set them up with a shank or drugs.

The level of corruption inside the overall prison employees was very surprising. I’ve personally witness two or three Garza salt inmates for a little or no reason at all. I have personally seen guards in ranking officers, right false disciplinary reports on prisoners. I’ve seen guards in ranking officers, put prisoners in with their prisoners that were paid by the staff to beat, stab, or kill a prisoner. I’ve even seen a ranking officer, repeatedly raped a young man before he was finally caught and arrested.

All of this is only a small version of what I witness over the years. You will rarely if ever hear about these things in the newspaper or on your local news. It’s crazy how the prison system in general is so corrupt. I am sure that most people could never imagine a prison system being run like I’ve written about. I didn’t realize the extent of the corruption when I first got to prison. Until I had written a grievance on some guards for abusing some elderly prisoners. At first, I was threatened by a ranking officer, to not worry about what his guards were doing. But I eventually wrote another grievance. And for that grievance, I was taken into a cell in isolation while I was handcuffs behind my back. There were two guards, holding each side of me while a third guard put a noose around my neck. He then told me, “Look, all we have to do is lift your legs up and let you choke out. Then we’ll just leave the cell, come back in an hour when you’re good and dead. I’ll call it in and say I found you like this. Nobody will care, it’s just another depressed prisoner, who committed suicide. Stop writing grievances on us.”

When they took the handcuffs off and let the cell, I sit there, and thought about so many different things. I was angry, and wondering how I could get even with these men. I also realize that this prison system was so corrupt, that they were willing to commit murder. Not to protect themselves from violence, but to keep a person from exposing them for all of the corruption that was going on inside the institution.

It’s not just a few corrupt guards, but the overall prison system. I have also seen the worst of the worst inside these presents. Prisoners who seem to have no kind of good inside themselves. Every time I see someone I don’t care for, I make an appoint to try and find one good thing about the person. But I can honestly say, I’ve met people in here that have absolutely no good inside their heart whatsoever. They are full of hate and anger. Why everyone in prison has broken the law, these types of prisoners are different in every aspect. It’s almost as though they are not even human, but are straight from hell itself. These men cause so much havoc inside the prison. Because they are so violent and disrespectful that they will bring out the worst in everyone around them. Of course, the corrupt staff uses these madmen to their advantage. How can people come inside a prison system like this and be expected to change? I have witness people being beat and stabbed to death, I could never begin to count all of the assault I’ve seen. My first maximum security prison, I went to, I walked into the day room, which was nothing more than a cage with tables and two TVs. A riot broke out, and I was stabbed with a welding rod in my face and in my neck. I had no idea what had happened or why I was sad. The blacks were high on drugs, and started a ride with the Mexicans and whites. For years and years everywhere, I walked in the prison I had to be on point, watching every person around me. While I was eating, working out, sitting down, or when the cell doors opened. It wasn’t just me, everyone there did the same thing. And on top of all of that, we had to deal with all of the corrupt staff. Like I said, at the beginning of this chapter,” I’m not looking for any sympathy, I broke the law, and I accept the fact I was sent to prison. “But how many people do you believe can be rehabilitated under these conditions? Let’s also take a look at something else. What does this do to a human being mentally and emotionally? Trust me, most people will leave prison with many mental issues.

Remember, almost all the prisoners across the United States will be going back into society. So, the main focus should always be rehabilitation. The question should always be what kind of person do you want leaving prison? One who does good and is an asset to society? Or one who goes into a place and kills a classroom of children?