This letter was written by a person incarcerated at SATF (California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison).
Dear PrisonPandemic,
After careful consideration I decided to elaborate on my yard’s present situation. As I mentioned in the first letter, there was a racial riot. But from what I heard the Hispanic inmates who were involved got the short end of the stick and some were even stabbed. Now everyone is on high alert and the yard is a powder keg.
In my opinion this is a direct result of poor supervision.
Since COVID-19 there has been little to no movement which deterred MAC representatives from spot checking. It doesn’t matter what yard I’m on. It’s the people on it and without structure there will always be a accident waiting to happen.
Because there are far more inmates not interested in going home than those who are here and only language they speak is violence.
It’s been a long time since there has been an incident of this magnitude on a yard I was on. But it really shows me what I already see. Most of these guys need to be in prison because they’re still displaying a self deprecating pattern of behaviors.
I’m certain that whatever it was that caused the riot it was something someone had no business doing. I hate being subjected to this negative consequences of someone else’s behavior but it comes with the territory.
I wasn’t gonna mention this at first, but I want tell you about my current living arrangement. Since COVID-19 they started to consolidate the buildings and fill all cells with two inmates. Unless there was an inmate who is placed on a single cell status. From experience I know better than to refuse whoever they put in the cell with me.
When I tell you I’m at risk long as I’m in prison trust me. I’m always up against a system that’s designed for me to fail if I’m not careful. But somethings are beyond my control.
Now according to CDCR I’m a Blood. But can you tell me why the same CO that wrote me up for refusing a cell before sent a Crip to my cell. I had no choice cause refusing would cause me to lose more time. In addition to my cellie’s affiliation, he has mental health issues. It’s like living with a mute child.
God forgive me for saying this because I’m not trying to lose any brownie points, but I’ve been looking out for this guy like you wouldn’t believe. It’s like he had no home training and I had to show him how to clean. When he first came he had nothing so I gave him cosmetics and food.
This guy is so introverted he doesn’t even thank me when I do something for him. I don’t say anything because I do what I do out of the kindness of my heart. I would want someone to do the same for me if I were in his shoes.
Out of all the risk factors I’m up against in here I sure would hate to lose my life or extend my stay on account of him because I was forced to accept him.
In the mean time I cope by utilizing my positive parenting skills in prison. Keep me in your prayers. I truly need it. I don’t know how much longer I can curve my enthusiasm.
Prison in unpredictable but not for the faint of heart. Besides God, the only thing I’m afraid of is the unknown. But again I do desperately wanna do something good with the rest of my life. I just want to get out there and do it. Bye for now!
