Taking It on the Lam by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview
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Page 74
Sammy Kaye and his Swing and Sway Band and “Remember Pearl Harbor” by Sammy Kaye and Don Reid; property of the author, the latter under both the “fair use” and “transformative” doctrines.
Inmates, however, have access to a table library of 40-50
paperback books, some with the cover intact and all the pages, which envelop a myriad of topics ranging from general knowledge, to Tolstoy/Orwell radicalism, to “educational” ones. Like most federal prisons, County inmates are allowed only 300 minutes; five hours of outside calls per month.
As to the accommodations, this County prison is typical, I’m told. We have a dormitory style set-up. Inmates sleep in semi-private rooms with bunk beds, outside of the great room they have to share with eighty to a hundred other people during the day.
A recreation yard can also be found within the prison campus.
These “rec yards” usually open at breakfast and close after lockup at semi-dark. In here, inmates can engage in outdoor activities like sitting and handball.
Because it theoretically holds only non-violent offenders, County prisons have a very low security. Most of them are enclosed by a ten foot wooden fence. However, sharpshooters are in perches every two hundred feet or so, and they are prone to drilling before asking any stupid questions. If an inmate hops the fence during the day they will be ducksoup seen on the tree free, meticulously mowed property surrounding.
Escape attempts are few and far between. That is because the inmates are only serving short sentences, if one considers ten years a short time. They also know that an escape attempt can do more harm than good. Once rearrested, they can either be sent to solitary, have their sentence extended, or get lead poisoning in the yard.
If an inmate isn’t satisfied with the usual prison fare, they can always buy food at the commissary. But the choices can be limited, as is their budget. Inmates can only spend up to $30
per month in the commissary.
Because inmates are only expected to stay for a short time, minimum-security prisons are geared towards rehabilitation, as defined by work paid at a rate of fifty cents per day with no overtime bonus. As such, they have rehabilitation programs for inmates. And every single one of them must either have a job or be enrolled in a training program. Some “allow” their inmates to do supervised, off-site construction work.
So, you’re still wondering why I took it on the lam. There are reet many reasons including that I intended to re-enter the postal racket, that I value freedom, that I missed Winnie, and two undocumented most important ones; I wanted to get my share of the scratch I was owed and I was to be given an objectionable
cellmate. This is where the screws can put it to you; by assigning you a chuckleheaded, loud, and smelly dinge, and that’s what I was told would happen tomorrow. This has been known as the cause of thousands of rat outs, and that’s the main reason why I finally took the invitation when they gave me the gate.