These walls and the many ‘little’ things that occur behind them trick some prisoners into believing they deserve this treatment. Things like being spoken to aggressively and encounters with certain C.O.’s who give super rough pat downs that leave you feeling violated become expected. I wish you could see their eyes – you’d see hatred there. I imagine it’s the same look Martin Luther King or Rosa Parks must have seen – what a lot of black folks saw that had the audacity to request respect. It’s enough to leave a lot of prisoners feeling hopeless and worn down, because it appears all the officers are ‘with the program’.
Here at Wallens Ridge State Prison, the pod I’m housed in – A-6 – would appear to be segregated by race. The bottom tier is mostly Caucasian inmates, while the upper mostly black. This would not be a problem if the tiers were treated equally, but many of us on the top tier have submitted complaints ranging from unequal out of cell time to arbitrary and capricious top tier lockdown. There is a constant undertone of animosity and barely concealed hostility toward the inmates on the top tier. In my opinion, the bottom tier inmates are good guys who are just benefiting from something they have no control over, but there is an unofficial consensus that the top tier is being discriminated against.
There are some things we all experience. Instead of having prisoners go to medical to have blood drawn for medical tests, the nurses come in around midnight or later and have us extend our arm through the cell door tray slot. We have to squat or bend over while the nurse pokes and jabs in the dark to find a vein. The cell door tray slots, with their peeling paint and rusty hinges, are not sterile surfaces, not to mention the uncomfortable process of squatting in a fixed position for five plus minutes with your arm extended out the cell door while a nurse ‘draws labs’. It’s something that doesn’t have to be. Have you ever seen a dairy cow getting milked through the cage? Just the sight of it should disturb most people. I’ve written my paperwork, to no avail.
If an inmate visits with a psychiatrist/psychologist, regular corrections officers are allowed to sit in. That can be very intimidating for some prisoners who are trying to open up and discuss vitally important things, all while a shady officer is listening to every word. It’s a violation of state law and DOC policy, but they do it anyway because who is going to stop them? We have lots of mentally ill guys up here being housed unjustly. It’s convenient for the state.
Even though this particular prison has a longstanding culture of intimidation, the crazy thing is most of the prisoners are laid back. There is a bit of gang activity, and they use that to justify keeping the place open. Most guys messed up on a lower security level and are remaining charge free trying to go back. If you could see us on a typical day in any pod, there would be nothing to see, except the occasional fight. Their livelihood depends on painting us with a broad stroke though.
Nothing is sacred here. We still aren’t even provided water outside, and it’s only getting hotter. Water on a hot day should not be considered a privilege. It’s not for the attack dog – he has a big bucket of water to drink out of. That’s what it’s all about though – it’s a system designed to slowly strip away our humanity and whatever self worth we have left. In the name of justice we are left in the care of the unjust. We’ve let people down and we have to find a way to forgive ourselves and become the people we were meant to be, in a world where our authority figures view us as less worthy than the dog on the yard.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR. Phillip Daniel is a thought provoking and talented writer serving his sentence at Wallens Ridge State Prison. He is currently working on his first novel. Phillip can be contacted at:
Phillip Daniel #1008019
Wallens Ridge State Prison
272 Dogwood Drive
P.O. Box 759
Big Stone Gap, VA 24219
