Hey Yo! Ya gotta keep your GOODCON motivated to get through his bid and come out as sane as possible! So, what can you do? Well, if you have to ask the question you probably aren’t givin’ your man or woman enough thought these days. But maybe this will give you the incentive to re-double your efforts. And ya don’t have to go it alone. Get other family members, friends, your dog, etc. to help out. You mail in a book one week, a friend sends a magazine in the next. Books, magazines or newspapers give your GOODCON some sanity and a super way to escape his hell for a little while. Here’s something else to do to help out (and you better make this happen, now). SEND SOME MONEY! Mailing money into his commissary account on a regular basis will allow your GOODCON to enjoy a few “pleasures” in his otherwise spartan existence. He’s probably working for about 25 cents an hour (if he’s lucky!) so $25 or $50 a month extra from the real world is HUGE. He can get a new pair of sneakers, an extra jar of peanut butter so he can eat when the food at Main Line is disgusting, stamps, paper and writing material so he can keep writing home. If money needs are not provided for, your GOODCON may feel the need to hustle to get it. Hustling is done in a variety of ways, like washing other inmates’ clothes, making their beds or cooking their meals. These are ALL against prison policies and sets the stage for a loss of privileges or loss of good time. Of course, GOODCONS wouldn’t resort to the more serious methods of making money in prison that could result in additional charges! So, a little money goes a long way. SEND SOME TODAY! Finally, PICTURES ARE POWERFUL! You couldn’t give your GOODCON more pleasure than by sending him pictures of you, his family and friends, pictures of his home and neighborhood, PICTURES OF THE REAL LIFE HE WAS PULLED FROM and the life he longs to return to once more. He’ll look at them over and over again. He’ll post them inside his locker or on his desk at work. In short, he’ll lov’em!! That’s all for now. I have to send some pics to MY GOODCON!
Your Voice of Conviction, Joe ConHelp Your GOODCON “Keep On Keepin’ On!”
March 9th, 2010The Convict Code?
March 4th, 2010Hey Yo! I came across this and thought I would bring it to the attention of any GOODCON goin’ to “the joint” or someone who knows one. It’s cool, but may be too simple to actually be a “Convict Code”. It’s really just a few good suggestions to keep in mind. But always remember that all convicts, prisoners, inmates, etc. AIN”T GOODCONS and don’t follow no rules, let alone any code of conduct! So, take it for what it’s worth:
CONVICT CODE
Do:
Mind your own business
Watch what you say
Be loyal to convicts as a group
Play it cool
Be sharp
Be honorable
Do your own time
Be tough
Be a man
Pay your debts
Don’t:
Snitch on another convict
Pressure another convict
Lose your head
Attract attention
Exploit other convicts
Break your word
. . . and, Yo, add to this list my rule for getting through your bid . . . Walk slowly and drink a lot of water!!
Your Voice of CONviction, Joe ConHey, I’m in prison . . . not dead!
February 22nd, 2010Hey Yo! Ya gotta keep your GOODCON involved in your life. He may not be able to do anything about things that are goin’ on, but keeping him in the mix is one of the best ways families can show their support. Never treat your inmate as if he has forfeited his place in the family structure. Seek his or her advice on things, inform him of what’s happenin’ in the family. If you have kids, make sure you talk about their experiences, accomplishments and yes, even how crazy they’re makin you! Being included means so much. It’s a connection that will enable your inmate to maintain contact with the world that he left and give him a running start when he returns to it.
Loss of liberty must never be considered a loss of humanity. Hey, we all make mistakes, yet everyone deserves another chance. And we all suffer, to some degree, from fear and loneliness when we experience even a small degree of isolation or separation from those we love (think of how you felt when you had your last hospital stay!) Imagine the depth of these emotions in the heart of your imprisoned GOODCON! So, love your GOODCON, keep him involved in real life, and help him or her maintain a level of self-respect while he or she suffers through imprisonment.
Get down with the low down!
February 5th, 2010Prisoners need information. Local newspapers, mags, legal info on his case that you can easily pull down off the net, but he has no way of grabbing on his own – these materials keep your inmate knowledgeable and involved in real life. Educational and research materials are hard to come by on the inside, be it a camp or state max. You can encourage him and aid him in pursuing studies and learning while he is incarcerated so that his time inside is not totally wasted. A few books or a few pages downloaded from the Internet will keep him interested in what is happening on the outside or get him interested in some educational pursuits. Studies are a healthy outlet that can counteract an otherwise dulling existence. The “downtime” of prison life sucks for the most part, but strangely it offers an opportunity for a guy to regroup and maybe get going in a better direction. Some studyin’, along with the sets and reps we all get into provide alternatives to the negative and destructive behavior that is so prevalent in the prison community. Give your GOODCON a break. Show him you care! Send in some info and some ideas.
Your Voice of CONviction, Joe ConCompassion in Prison?
January 29th, 2010I just read this http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/30/nyregion/30parole.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter article and it brought back some chilling memories of times in the joint. A nice old guy in the next bunk was diagnosed with lung cancer. He was almost 80 years old and his family petitioned the BOP for a compassionate release so he could die at home with his family. After months of trying, the man died in prison, surrounded by guards instead of family and friends.
I was walking the track one Sunday. the sun was shining and I had just finishing leading the congregation at Mass in song. I felt good, considering I was in prison! Tony, my friend, had been complaining of chest pain for weeks. The doctors (WHOA! what am I sayin’! we never saw doctors. If we saw a PA (Physician’s Assistant) we were lucky! Usually it was just a nurse.) Anyway, some medical person told him he would schedule him for an an EKG. Two weeks later it still hadn’t happened. Tony walked out onto the track that day and fell in front of me, clutching his chest and gasping for breath. We ran for help, but, as usual, it was slow in coming. Tony died while the guards callously stood over him and we all helplessly looked on.
I have many, MANY such stories, but I just wanted to let you know that compassion, much like correction, does not exist in today’s prison system. Punishment and Retribution guide the activities of prison staff, and until we can change that, society is going to continue to be plagued by repeat offenders who are initially sent to prison sorry for what they did to others, but are released ready to get even for what prison did to them.
Your Voice of CONviction, Joe ConYes, I’m on Facebook and Twitter!
January 14th, 2010Yes, as you can see on my home page, I finally jumped into the social networking pool and started swimming! Amazingly, I didn’t sink to the bottom immediately, because a ton of time in “the joint” can turn your brain into mush. When I went in, facebook and twitter were non-existent! But I am determined to get the word out about not only the existence of GOODCONS but also their right to their pursuit of happiness as a functional and productive member of society in this country. I have not made my way into the deep water of public opinion yet. After all, I just learned to swim among the tweets. But I am athletic enough (I worked out like an animal in “the joint”!) and I am a quick study, so I will be going for the gold shortly (metaphorically speaking, of course!) But I can’t do it all myself. I need others to join in the effort. Justice reform, rehabilitation programs that are REAL and not just for political theater, training and education programs while inmates are incarcerated, REAL job placement when they are released, and FULL restoration of their rights as citizens once they have repaid their debt to society. We have a plateful, but we can affect change one bite at a time!
Your Voice of CONviction, Joe ConWill 2010 REALLY be a Happy New Year?
January 6th, 2010If your GOODCON is still in prison I guess the answer is difficult! No, it isn’t happy because you are still separated, you still have to bear the brunt of life on the outside and he or she is still dealin’ with the crap on the inside! But yes you can be happy because you both just put another year of your bid in the rearview mirror! Comment and let me know how you see it (or just vote in the poll).
A lot of guys in with me would cross off each day on the calendar and you would walk through the halls and see the days blacked out or colored in. And when the year changed, the guys would all sit around and talk about how much time they had done and how much they had left, what they missed the most on the outside or what they were gonna get done inside so they would be ready when their outdate finally arrived. So New Years was pretty good each year and we usually got a group together and “celebrated” with a “special” meal some guys would prepare. One time the Italians would make pasta in 5-gallon drums (I don’t know nothin’ about no stinger!) and meat sauce (but I never would ask what the meat was!!) The Chinese would throw a mean stir fry together (stir-fry in a microwave? amazin’), or the Puerto Ricans would make rice and beans with fish (do I dare say mackeral,ugh!) And then there were always those NACHOS. Everybody thought they made the best and we would argue (ok, fight!) over whether the garbage bag or the plastic drum was the best way of makin’ ‘em. (One of these days I’ll give you the recipe for the best garbage bag Nachos on the planet so you can make your GOODCON feel really at home when he gets out!!!)
Yeah, New Years always gave us a little bit of renewed hope that our bid would really be over some day and we would be able to celebrate a Happy New Year with our family and friends. So hey Yo, make 2010 as good as it can be by makin’ sure you visit your GOODCON a little more often this year. He or she really needs it whether they say so or not, and if you can’t visit, send a CONCARD!!!!
Your Voice of Conviction, Joe ConThe Court Releases Another Innocent GOODCON After 28 Years, Then Another After He Serves 35 Years!
December 17th, 2009I can’t find words to describe how it feels to serve time for a crime you did not commit! You feel broken, defiled and abandoned by a system that, when the horror began, you were confident would right the wrong you had suffered at the hands of the rats that ensnared you or the heartless prosecutors who could care less about truth and justice in their quest for victory and self-aggrandizement!
In the last two days we have been told of two innocent men who served a combined 63 years behind bars when, in fact they did not commit the egregious crimes of which they were wrongly convicted. The conviction of Donald Eugene Gates, 58, was based largely on the testimony of an FBI forensic analyst whose work later came under fire and a hair analysis technique that has been discredited. Mr. Gates should have been released years earlier when the forensic tests upon which his conviction was based was found to be erroneous. But did the prosecutors reach out to free him? Did the Judge that convicted him and sentenced him demand that he be released immediately? Absolutely not! More than ten years passed before a public defender brought the mistakes to the attention of the court. How heartless is our Justice system! This poor man was convicted of rape and murder!! He was branded as a sociopath who should be imprisoned forever! How did he feel? How did his family feel, who had to face the shame and derision heaped upon them by so many who knew, or thought they knew what he had done. Read the story yourself, Click here: DNA Clears Donald Eugene Gates, Who Served 28 Years – Sphere News, and if you still think there are no GOODCONS, you need to revisit your value system, or your God.
And if 28 years of wrongful imprisonment isn’t enough, today we hear of another instance of injustice, this one stealing 35 years of a man’s life away. James Bain, 54, was 19 when he was convicted on charges of kidnapping, burglary and strong-arm rape. He received a life sentence. He’s going home for the first time in 35 years. You know, the three reasons our Founding Fathers felt it necessary to go to war with England was life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Next to life itself they placed liberty as the most precious gift endowed to man by the Creator. So you have to wonder where we went so astray. How did we end up with a heartless ststem of justice that doesn’t think twice about throwing its citizens behind bars for etrocious lengths of time for first-time, non-violent offenses. Where victory trumps truth and the presumption of innocense has been muted by plea-bargaining. Maybe one day I’ll share my own horror, although it is nothing compared to what Mr. Bain has endured. But in the meantime I am dedicated to bringing to light the need for reform in our justice system and the fact that many men and women in prison shouldn’t be there, that many more who are imprisoned do not deserve the horrific sentences this country has heaped upon them and their families, and that, regardless of their crimes, except in relatively few instances, these men and women must not be abandoned by society. Only God knows the truth and only He can truly judge. In the meantime, read about Mr. Bain at http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/12/17/florida.dna.exoneration/ , a man who after being torn away from all he loved for so many years by a system that could not bring itself to offer even a semblance of apology, just wanted to thank God. Amen
Your Voice of Conviction, Joe ConImportant Information if You’re Going to Prison or Your GOODCON Just Went In!
December 9th, 2009If you’re going to prison for the first time and you’re not an arch criminal or member of The Mob or some gang, I’m sure that you’re totally unaware of what awaits you. And we’re all fearful of the unknown. So I want to share with you the following advice. It will help get you through the first few weeks as this will be a crucial time for you.
All the men or women you first meet will be sizing you up and making their own opinion of you. Are you a good guy or a rat? Are you an easy mark that can be used or are you able to defend yourself? Use this info as your compass through the choppy prison waters you face. And remember, with the support of your family and friends you can do this!
- Respect is a big deal in prison. It was the word I heard more than any other when I was in “the joint”. So try to show it (even if you think the other guy is a jerk) as much as possible. If you bump into someone, it’s best to say “Excuse me” or “Sorry” and keep walking Most people won’t make a problem. If a guy does, don’t argue. Just keep moving. If he persists, just remember this; you want every situation in prison to be a win-win situation. But if it can’t be win-win, then you have to win! Always retain your self-respect! Being afraid is normal, but acting afraid invites trouble. And if you don’t defend yourself, don’t expect other guys to stand up for you.
- Besides showing respect to people, be sure you respect their property. Nobody has much in prison, but everyone is very protective of what they do have. So don’t touch their stuff, eg., books, pens, jackets, and never enter their cells or sit on their bunks unless invited.
- Don’t be in a rush to make friends. It’s natural for you to want to reach out to another inmate to help you when you first enter prison. But fight the urge and hang back for a while. You’ll find that many of the people interested in hangin’ with you are after something, so watch and listen and get a read on those around you. Many of the people will be very different than what you’re used to on the outside. Some will be GOODCONS like me who can give you useful information and advice. On the other hand, the first ones who come up and want to make friends with you may be rats or predators or just idiots who nobody wants to be with, so they try to get the new guys to buddy up with them before they know any better. Also, don’t be a joiner, because being a member of a group will make you enemies as well as friends. Just take it slow and be pleasant with everyone. Friendships will develop naturally between you and coworkers, teammates, members of your faith or guys in the bunks or cells around you. In assessing people as friends, remember, “THE ONLY THING YOU CAN DO WELL IN A HURRY IS MAKE A MISTAKE!”
- Be careful when you want to change channels on the TV, make a phone call or use a piece of workout equipment. Ask around first to see what the “protocol” is for taking turns so you don’t get somebody all “twisted”.
- Unless you’re asked to join a conversation, don’t! It’s better to start one up on your own or wait until someone asks you a question or your opinion. And NEVER talk about your case to anyone you don’t know well. Guys use that kind of information to spread rumors or extort money. And besides, even GOODCONS don’t want to hear somebody whining about how bad his problems are!
- At main line (the dining room of prison), don’t reach across other people’s trays. Guys hate that because stuff may fall off your sleeve or you can drop something in their food. It also gives some guys a good excuse to put you down in public and show off to their friends, and you can’t argue because your wrong!
- Don’t be a rat!. When you have to talk with correctional officers don’t even mention another prisoner because people will think you’re ratting. And although some rats get preferential treatment from prison officials, many others end up hurt.
- Don’t borrow money, gamble, or accept any gifts from guys you don’t know. All these things can make you indebted to someone, and you don’t want to owe anybody anything in prison. You may have to repay it in ways that I don’t even want to talk about . . . let’s just say that debt could be hazardous to your health!
- Maintain good hygiene habits. Wash frequently. If you sneeze, cover your mouth with your sleeve, not your hand. Maintain a clean area around your bunk. And in the bathroom, give frequent courtesy flushes so odors are kept to a minimum. We always lived by the rule, “DROP ONE, FLUSH ONE”
10. Finally, write and call often. Your family and friends need to hear from you as much as you need to hear from them. But don’t write or say anything that you wouldn’t want someone in the prison to know. All calls are recorded and mail can be screened as well. So save any important topics for the visiting room where you can discuss them privately, face to face. And let visitation occur as much as possible. Believe me, you need to be close to people who genuinely care about you and whom you can trust, and they need to see for themselves that you are doing alright.
Hey, you’ll do fine if you follow these rules . . . AND KEEP YOUR NOSE CLEAN. You FEELIN’ ME?
Your Voice of Conviction, Joe ConIs your phone ringing?
November 13th, 2009Let’s talk about phone calls. Every inmate needs to hear the voice of a child, spouse, or parent, or have a conversation with a friend. Hopefully he will make these calls often. Accept them graciously, and if you are a spouse or significant other, lovingly, as they mean so much to your GOODCON. Try to keep them positive, even if your GOODCON is expressing anger, frustration or is just plain bummed. That is when your support is needed most. A call only lasts 15 minutes and by the time you get the next call, your inmate’s mood will probably have improved significantly. Lastly, although your inmate needs to be included as much as possible in real world activities, he doesn’t need to hear about every problem you have. He is already frustrated by being separated from you. Constant negativity only makes matters worse. And Yo, even if the situation you’re in may have been caused by your GOODCON, now is not the time for “I told you so” . . . not if you ever want him or her back.
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