I already figured out a long time ago that death row sucks. After 25 years in a concrete cage I got used to that fact. When it comes down to it people have a lot in common with cockroaches - we have an incredible ability to adapt to our environment no matter how hard it can get. There's just something within us that compels us to survive no matter what. That's human nature, for better or worse..
Way back in early 1984 at the relatively tender age of 23 i found myself descending into a hell few could ever begin to imagine. I had been locked up before so it wasn't just being led to just another cell that caused my anxiety and despair. Rather, this long walk led me down into the depths of Florida's infamous "death row". I didn't know what to expect and had only heard too many stories about the 'cold-blooded killers" I would now live among. I'm not ashamed to say that I was scared; that the uncertainty of my new world caused me to lay awake that first night listening to the sounds around me and praying to God that it was all just a bad dream and that I would awake and find myself home again, playing with my children and getting ready to go to work...awake to a normal life.
But it was not a dream - it was a nightmare that I could not escape from. Each morning for months, then years, and now decades I again awoke to that concrete hell among the condemned and was forced to accept that I too was and am condemned. As these years passed I both physically and psychologically "adapted" to my environment and I became one of the too many condemned men.
Looking back now I smile when I think about it. Back then death row didn't seem like such a bad place to be. Of course, at the time I didn't see it that way. But in a lot of ways back then wasn't so bad.
Beginning in the mid-eighties America took a hard turn towards conservative politics and it didn't take long before these rabid wanna be politicians started foaming at the mouth as they openly competed with each other to prove who could be the "toughest" on criminals. Young, ambitious politicians earned their nicknames like "Chain gang Charlie" - now known as Florida's Governor Charlie Crist - by aggressively pushing to eliminate all comforts and unnecessary privileges prisoners might have had as they quickly learned that by promising to make these cold-blooded killers suffer, they could win more votes.
Each election brought with it the elimination of more privileges. They took the weights from our recreation yards under the pretense that these criminals were getting too strong working out and big muscle bound prisoners scared the hell of these coward parasitic politicians. So, no more weights on the yard. Then they took our gift packages that we used to get twice a year (plus two at Christmas) from family and friends - just a small amount of simple stuff like maybe a pair of shoes, and pajamas from home. It didn't mean much to the politicians, but it meant a lot to us to be able to get something from home. Not surprisingly, after they eliminated these packages the prison system started selling these items at substantial profit and now the prison system makes millions of dollars each year selling us what we must have - shoes, warm clothes, shampoo, deodorant and stuff.
After that, they took away hobby craft packages which were used to have art supplies and hobby craft items sent in. Many of death row are incredibly talented artists and would paint and draw, while others were equally talented in crocheting and making toys out of yarn, like teddy bears and animals. It passed the time and kept the guys productive as most of us wanted to send something home to our kids, or send a nice card or painting to a loved one. But the prison didn't make any money off what we had sent in so they eliminated the hobby craft packages and started selling their own limited inventory of hobby craft items at a huge profit, of course.
Slowly, as the years passed the prison system went from a taxpayer subsidized step-child nobody talked about to evolving into a virtual "for profit" industry with countless companies and even multinational "Fortune 500" corporations all competing to provide services to this prison industry and greedily profit off the misery of the now millions of prisoners incarnated in the United States.
Then the economy collapsed and America quickly spiraled downwards into what is being called the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930's and Florida's multi-billion dollar prison budget became a stone around the State's neck. After building their political careers on the get-tough-on-crime agenda, these parasite politicians could not now suddenly say that it was time to release any of these criminals they fought so hard to lock up.
Besides, the modern day American prison industry now has entire communities across the state dependent upon keeping these prisons open at full capacity. These same politicians have already sent all the factory jobs overseas so if they close the prisons then tens of thousands would be unemployed. And in the past 30 years of consistent growth in the prison industry these prisons employers have grown to be a formidable political force in their own right. Any politician who even dared to suggest that it was time to release prisoners and close even one prison down quickly found himself being run out of office.
So, as America's recession forced the state of Florida to cut the prison budget instead of releasing prisoners, like many other states did, Florida politicians decided to just cut down on the cost of feeding and caring for the prisoners.
In recent months our daily calorie intake was reduce from around 3500 calories to just over 2000 calories. on paper, that might not sound too bad, but in reality what it means is that the prison administrators have now eliminated almost half of what we were used to being fed.
Incredibly, the Florida prison administrators decided that the best way to save a lot of money is by totally eliminating the really expensive stuff, like real meat, milk, and fresh fruit. Up until recently we would get a half pint of real milk at breakfast and a cup of fruit juice. At lunch or dinner we would get fresh fruit, such as an apple, orange, or banana. Although processed meat patty's have long been a staple of prison food, we did get real meat a few times a week - but not anymore. They have replaced most of it with some form of foreign substance they call processed meat - but is awfully similar to the "protein patty's" featured in the cult classic movie "Salient Green". (Could they now be feeding us our fellow prisoners??)
I understand that the general public wants prisoners to do "hard time" and if they could only walk a mile in my shoes they'd certainly understand what hard time is. But at the same time the public has to understand that there is a balance to be maintained. First, the real reasons prisoners are given privileges is that they have an incentive to be "good". Take away the privileges and you eliminate any incentive to stop them from rioting and burning down the prisons ("Attica, Attica, Attica") Second, like it or not, now that the prison industry has evolved into the monster it is today, most of the millions of men and women presently imprisoned are going to be dependents of the state the rest of their lives. That means that basic common sense tells you that "it's penny wise, but pound foolish" to provide prisoners with a diet that does not provide basic nutrition.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out. Already the single biggest expense in the prison system is health care, especially as more and more prisoners are growing old in prison with no hope of ever being released. Above all else, any responsible prison administration would recognize that by eliminating all the real milk, meat, fresh fruit and fruit juices you are virtually guaranteeing that tens of thousands of prisoners will develop all sorts of serious health problems as they grow older. Right now, it might seem like a smart thing to save a coupe cents a day per prisoner by eliminating these basic foods - but without adequate nutrition it will cost the state millions of dollars in future health costs. How does that even make any sense?
Last, this is not a third world country. As Americans, we have long prided ourselves on our respect for basic human rights, quickly condemning other countries for the alleged abuse of prisoners in their custody. Already America now has the highest rate of incarceration in the entire world, even exceeding China, Russia, Iran and other countries generally seen as "totalitarian" societies.
The real question here is what kind of society are we becoming? At a super facial level it may seem as simple as "punishing" prisoners, and so what if they don't get fresh fruit or milk, or other basic foods we all take for granted? It's just too easy to say "so what?" without considering the consequences of becoming "that" kind of society ourselves. Is that what we have already become? Is this the kind of society we want to be? where the basic welfare of prisoners just doesn't matter?
I ask you to consider these questions - and think about how being deprived of basic nutrition would impact your life, or the lives of your loved ones. And then I ask you to phone, or email the Florida Department of Corrections Secretary, Walter McNeil and encourage him to remember that there are predictable long term consequences to not providing a nutritious diet to prisoners. Being penny wise but pound foolish at the expense of jeopardizing the long term health of prisoners is not a responsible way to run a prison system. And at least for now, America is not a third world county that's willing to tolerate the neglect and deprivation of basic human needs - not even the prisoners.
Please contact:
Walter Mcneil, Secretay of Florida Department of Corrections.
Phone: # 850/448-7480
Email: mcneil.walter@mail.dc.state.fl.us
Mike
