CATCH-18
AS I CONTINUE TO WORK WITHIN THE PRISON STRUGGLE, I'm amazed--and then again I'm not--at the hypocrisy of this government. Politicians talk about the recidivism rate, but what they don't tell you is the CATCH-18 they have set up to assure a prisoner returns to prison. What the public should know is that in many cases the government makes sure prisoners have very little access to their family members who are willing to assist them. Many prisoners are denied the opportunity to relocate in the same state with their family members.
For example, a prisoner submits a parole plan, which the system denies for whatever reasons. The prisoner must then return to the state where he received his case to do time in a halfway house. Just imagine that you are dropped off in a city where you know no one and you have been instructed to find a job and a place to live within a certain amount of time! Is that a CATCH-18 or what? Many prisoners have family and friends that are felons. One of the many restrictions of your parole is that you cannot be in the presence of another felon. You must always be conscious of this, or you can be in violation of your parole and sent back to prison.
The parole officer can call you any time of the day or night and demand you show up for a urine test. Prisoners can have restrictions on their movement during certain hours of the 24-hr. cycle. For example, prisoners may be instructed to be in their residence between the hours of 12:00 am and 6:00 am. If they wish to take a trip with their family out of town, they may have to get permission. If they are granted permission, there are certain stipulations, such as they must report to the Sheriff of that city. The Sheriff has the power to determine whether or not he/she wants you in his/her state. If not, the Sheriff can hold you until it is time for you to leave, so why put yourself and family through something like that? In networking with my pen-pal who was recently released to a halfway house, I learned she has fifteen days to find a job because she must pay the system 25% of her salary. Think about that! You know Uncle Sammie is going to get his first; then the prisoner pays the system as well. How are you supposed to live? CATCH-18!
If you do not find a job, they will find any Mickey D for you, because you will pay! Simply being Black, it's hard finding a job. Now attach ex-con to that and see how fast you will find a job or anything else on this side of the wall in fifteen days. So this is what the Politicians don't tell you about the many CATCH-18s they have set up to assure recidivism. These same tactics used during legalized slavery are being used today, during covert slavery.
During legalized slavery, it was against the law for slaves to learn to READ, WRITE, or THINK for themselves. The prison system today denies prisoners the opportunity to educate themselves. Prisoners are punished for teaching other prisoners to READ, WRITE, or assist them with their cases and challenge their convictions. If prisoners attempt to do something like this, they are labeled "gang members" or set up to be put in the hole or transferred. The prison system is not set up to assure you are educated or equipped with the tools to take care of yourself, once integrated back into the communities. The only educational programs in most prisons are correspondence courses for a GED, paid for by the prisoner.
Think for a moment about being shut off from society for any length of time and never being updated about how society is changing. Now you are released, and you must jump through hoops that the system has set up, but what you don't know is that it is designed for you to fail, CATCH-18. The parole officers are put in place to assure a violation and can make your life a living hell if they choose. Therefore, parole is the CATCH-18 that will guarantee your return, one way or the other.
I know you are wondering, what the hell is she talking about with this CATCH-18? George Orwell, who wrote 1984, first titled the book "1948" but decided to turn it around because people would not believe what he wrote about was happening in their lifetime.
The other day, I heard on the news that Joseph Heller, the man who came up with the slogan CATCH-22, in his novel of the same name, first called it CATCH-18. As you see, CATCH-18 is not as catchy as CATCH-22!
None of this madness will stop until those of us who live the effects become pro-ACTIVE in dismantling this evil system!
--Feel Free to call Sista Shiriki at (819) 333-9814, or write me at P.O. Box 320441, Kansas City, MO 64132 or email me: <Shiriki@gvi.net>.