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Ramblings and Reflections

Newsletter 8
March 2004


"If I had to give up my life for anything, it would have to have the resilience of hope, the elation of new literacy, the brilliant life of a field of flowers, the elementary kindness of bread.  Nothing short of that.  it would have to be something as sure as love."


from Barbara Kingsolver’s Small Wonder  (p.194)

My Dear Friends,

For months I’ve delayed writing about prison life.  Maybe my hesitation is based on my belief that the whole destructive system should be dismantled and the 34 billion dollars designated for Justice in the chart below should be allocated for positive, caring, preventative, healing, skill-building, constructive programs.  I encourage you to read Carol’s and Jackie’s newsletters for their descriptions.  They are more observant and analytical than I am.  They are more challenging also.  However, since so many of you ask, “what is it like at Danbury?”, I’ll do by best to share it.

Life at Danbury

My Newsletter 2 tells the history of FPC Danbury which was built in the 1970’s for the Watergate prisoners and is presently laden with physical plant deterioration and disrepair.  The sewer system has backed up several times, flooding the kitchen, dining room, storage rooms.  Picture that!  Several dorms flood when it rains or snow melts.  The outside doors blow wide open when arctic winds howl.  The warden claims she wants to build a state of the art building in the future.

Prison Language

To account for us (intellectual property) a count is taken daily at 4 p.m. (stand-up), 9:30 p.m., 12:30 a.m., 2:30 a.m., 5:30 a.m. and on the weekend an additional count at 10 a.m. (stand-up).  Throughout the night guards enter rooms with flashlights.  I am usually awake spending the quiet time in contemplation, a great time to listen to God in the silence.  There are occasional census counts (show ID’s) and fog counts.

Breakfast is served at 6:15 on weekdays and 7:15 on holidays and weekends.  Lunch is at 10:30 and dinner at 4:15.  The meals are pretty much the same each week, none like Jonah House home cooking.  Holidays have special feasts.

Regular staff members in the hierarchy in this unity are:  Unit Manager, Caseworker, Counselor and CO (Correctional Officer) or guard.  Other staff members facilitate specific areas at both facilities (FCI and FPC):  Laundry, Food, Recreation, Commissary, Religious Services, Education, Medical.  Actually, prisoners do all of the work outdoors and indoors and are merely supervised by employed staff.  I was assigned to Food Service, but have not been medically cleared.  I’ve found my own niches, presently tutoring algebra, math and psychology, sharing prayer and Bible discussions, cleaning bathroom sinks as needed and reading lots of mail and responding.

We learn the language of prison quickly.  Recall means return to living quarters immediately.  Receiving a shot requires punishment for one of the 92 offenses listed in the handbook – extra duty, placed in SHU (segregated housing unit), loss of good time, etc.

Every day we receive a Call out list which remands us to certain places at certain times.  That is where guards expect to find us outside of the regular work duty.

The way each of us communicates with staff if we need a response is through a written cop-out form, eg. regarding mail, phone, visitor list, medical problems.  If not satisfied with the response or lack of response we file an 8 ˝  (to Counselors), then form 9 (to Warden), then form 10 (which goes to regional and possibly national levels of the Bureau of Prisons).

Team sessions are scheduled within the first weeks and then every 6 months.  Caseworker, Counselor, Unit Manager identify our maximum out date (mine is May 31, 2006), goodtime outdate (mine is Dec. 22, 2005) and the 10% date to a halfway house, and financial responsibilities.  I submitted my statements of refusal to pay government officials at the first meeting and received a list of consequences, none very burdensome for me.  In the 6 month team meetings there are check lists of pre-release classes and progress reports.  I have a wonderful Caseworker, originally from Haiti, who has helped me through the hoops for writing co-defendants, scheduling legal calls and visits.

Celebrating Sacred Time

The agenda that I have set for myself is a list of “to do’s” daily.  At 5:30 a.m.  I watch national and local news, eat breakfast, clean the room (inspections weekly), pray the news and readings for the day, attend Buddhist meditation and class on Tuesday and Thursday, attend Emmaus Service on Wednesday night, Christian and Catholic Mass on Sunday evening.

I walk at least 4 miles a day inside the building in winter and outside on the track in good weather and yoga three days each week.  During the other hours there is time for tutoring, listening, cleaning, reading, writing, keeping appointments, attending pre-release sessions, helping persons with legal documents or just being present.

My challenges is to practice mindfulness, to trust God’s presence in each new moment, in each new person, to live a silence, a peacefulness, a freedom from stress, to bring these gifts to others by a touch, a smile, a good word.  Prison time slows us down from the fast pace of American society.  We live closely in a small area with little or no privacy.  It tends to be a noisy little world and becomes cluttered with mood swings and cultural differences.

Please God, transform my prison time, my life, every step into leaps of love for peace with justice.  Nothing short of that, because it has to be something as sure as love of You, Your people, Your creation.

Lenten blessings!

Peacemaker Carlene Rau,  Presente!    (Feb. 8, 2004)

Always grateful,
Ardeth Platte  # 10857-039,
Federal Correctional Institution, 33 ˝
Pembroke Station, Danbury, CT 06811

If you wish to receive Ardeth’s newsletter by e-mail, you can request past or future copies from Mary Casper at mcasper@mindspring.com  If you are receiving both an e-mail copy and a postal mail copy from Mary, let me know so I can remove you from the postal mailing list.