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There was a time where I was a less-than-innocentBystander.
And the judge didn't buy my username for even a moment.

So, that is how I wound up occupying a cell for 18months and 6days.

Context. In Canada, prisons are split between provincial (under 2 year sentences) and federal (over 2 years). My sentence was "Two years less a day". Not a long sentence in the big picture. But it meant I had a longer time than any of the others I met. That gained me some credit.

Because of my association with people who had repeatedly and successfully escaped custody, I was deemed a flight risk, and sent to the highest security provincial prison. There is no "Max" security in provincial prisons, so officially it was a secure medium security. With some extra medium.

This happened a long time ago, so my experience is dated. Cigarettes were still the currency when I was there.

Pre-emptive answers:
"Dude, what'd you do?"
-Maybe I'll get into that another time. It wasn't drugs or drug related. It was professional but not gang/mafia/biker/whatever. A small organised group. That's not the topic of this post though, so can we get back to talking about Rampart?

"Did prison reform you?"
-No. I changed my life for the better despite my time there, not because of it. I think giving me a time-out from society, and some punishment, was a good idea. But locking me in close quarters with unrepentant criminals, who could be excellent connections, and sources of information, while removing me from contact with all positive influences, had the opposite effect. I don't have any solutions for that, but the current method of rehabilitation fails badly.

"What's the worst thing that happened to you?"
-I got in a fight. The fight wasn't a problem, but the aftermath sucked. The guards saw something was going down, and got there quick. When they stepped into the washroom they saw me standing with my back to the corner, fists raised, and a crowd of others forming a part circle around me. They knew I had been involved in violence due to what they saw, and a fresh cut on my knuckle. But they didn't know who, or how many, I had been fighting with.
They tossed me in seg, and said they wouldn't let me out until I told them who was involved. "For my own safety", they claimed. I knew they couldn't keep me there indefinitely, so I waited. And waited. And sure enough, a month later, they let me out. That night, there was another fight in the washroom. I had nothing to do with it, but the guards got there too late to see who it was. So they assumed it was me again and put me back in seg. A month later they let me out again. It felt good to be around people again, even if they were mostly assholes. The next morning, after breakfast the guards came for me again. No explanation, back to seg. I'd kept my cool through all the previous bullshit. But that was when I broke. I earned the next two months I was about to get and the "good time" I was about to lose. Turned out, them coming for me again was a clerical error that would have been quickly resolved. If I hadn't lost my cool. I don't know how long they had planned to keep me there that time. But there was a riot in one of the ranges, and they needed to free up seg cells.

I'm not proud of all the things I have done in my life. But I am not in denial about it either.

There was a time where I was a less-than-innocentBystander. And the judge didn't buy my username for even a moment. So, that is how I wound up occupying a cell for 18months and 6days. Context. In Canada, prisons are split between provincial (under 2 year sentences) and federal (over 2 years). My sentence was "Two years less a day". Not a long sentence in the big picture. But it meant I had a longer time than any of the others I met. That gained me some credit. Because of my association with people who had repeatedly and successfully escaped custody, I was deemed a flight risk, and sent to the highest security provincial prison. There is no "Max" security in provincial prisons, so officially it was a secure medium security. With some extra medium. This happened a long time ago, so my experience is dated. Cigarettes were still the currency when I was there. Pre-emptive answers: "Dude, what'd you do?" -Maybe I'll get into that another time. It wasn't drugs or drug related. It was professional but not gang/mafia/biker/whatever. A small organised group. That's not the topic of this post though, so can we get back to talking about Rampart? "Did prison reform you?" -No. I changed my life for the better *despite* my time there, not because of it. I think giving me a time-out from society, and some punishment, was a good idea. But locking me in close quarters with unrepentant criminals, who could be excellent connections, and sources of information, while removing me from contact with all positive influences, had the opposite effect. I don't have any solutions for that, but the current method of rehabilitation fails badly. "What's the worst thing that happened to you?" -I got in a fight. The fight wasn't a problem, but the aftermath sucked. The guards saw something was going down, and got there quick. When they stepped into the washroom they saw me standing with my back to the corner, fists raised, and a crowd of others forming a part circle around me. They knew I had been involved in violence due to what they saw, and a fresh cut on my knuckle. But they didn't know who, or how many, I had been fighting with. They tossed me in seg, and said they wouldn't let me out until I told them who was involved. "For my own safety", they claimed. I knew they couldn't keep me there indefinitely, so I waited. And waited. And sure enough, a month later, they let me out. That night, there was another fight in the washroom. I had nothing to do with it, but the guards got there too late to see who it was. So they assumed it was me again and put me back in seg. A month later they let me out again. It felt good to be around people again, even if they were mostly assholes. The next morning, after breakfast the guards came for me again. No explanation, back to seg. I'd kept my cool through all the previous bullshit. But that was when I broke. I earned the next two months I was about to get and the "good time" I was about to lose. Turned out, them coming for me again was a clerical error that would have been quickly resolved. If I hadn't lost my cool. I don't know how long they had planned to keep me there that time. But there was a riot in one of the ranges, and they needed to free up seg cells. I'm not proud of all the things I have done in my life. But I am not in denial about it either.

23 comments

Similar in some ways. Very different in others.
I think the provincial/federal split here is more or less the same as state/federal split in the US.
I don't know what it is like inside an American prison, so I can't really compare what the inmate experience is like. Movies/tv usually get a bit right, and a lot wrong.

Being alone like that is not something I've ever been able to put into words.
The first month was just 'pushing' through it, and trying to last. It was hard, but manageable. The second month I accomplished because I didn't care anymore. I knew it would come to an end, and I had done it before. So I just let go of time. It affected me that time though. My mind went strange places.
The last two were not good times. I didn't know when, or if it would end. It changed me. Neither for good or bad, just different.

On the plus side, it takes very little to make me happy after that.
But I don't like crowds. Is that ironic?

[–] Violentlight 4 points (+4|-0)

I've always been very comfortable being alone. So I've always wondered how I would do in prison. I wonder how seg would affect me.

[–] E-werd 5 points (+5|-0)

I would think there's a difference between choosing to be alone but having the option to not be, and being forced to be alone.

[–] Violentlight 4 points (+4|-0)

I get what your saying. Before @InnocentBystander pointed out that they don't really get any books or anything, I still don't think I would mind.

So if I had a steady stream of books, I wouldn't really care that I was there against my will. Its the boredom that IB pointed out that would get me.

To me though. Alone is alone. I'm okay with it at any point.

But thats just my thoughts on it while I sit in this chair, typing on my keyboard. Who the fuck knows how I would actually handle it.

Being away from people is only one problem.
Having nothing to do may be more of a problem than you think.

I got one book a week. Sometimes two. I'd read them long before new ones came. Never had any say in what type of book either, just random selection.
At some point, I discovered the game "Buttons". And that was a good day. Looking back now and remembering how good it felt to be doing something new, when it was possibly the stupidest 'game' I have ever played, seems funny.

Rules for 'Buttons' :
Close eyes. Flick button hard off the ceiling.
Find button without oppening your eyes.
Win! Now repeat.

[–] jobes 4 points (+4|-0)

Rules for 'Buttons' :

Close eyes. Flick button hard off the ceiling.

Find button without oppening your eyes.

Win! Now repeat.

I'll keep that game I'm mind just in case

[–] Violentlight 4 points (+4|-0)

Ahh yes. The boredom. I did not realize that you got so few books. I can see where that would become pretty brutal.

I think I would need to think of a problem I was not able to solve before. Then spend the month trying to work it out in my head. I've spent a ton of time doing that before. Can get really lost in something like that.