Funniest Thing I have heard/seen at the
Leavenworth Camp.
Just to refresh everyone we have very limited options in the fashion department. THERE IS NO EVENTS TO DRESS UP FOR. Everything that is not a uniform is considered contraband. Would you take time on your appearance if you were in prison? I don’t. I barely care.... I wear my RDAP uniform and greens. I don’t want to look bad...but the nicest thing I have bought
(fashion wise) are boots (for work). After RDAP I am in sweats/sweatshirt (which are allowed...the tacky gray kind). Anyway of course there are all sorts of contraband. But for whatever reason watches are the big thing. People will buy $300-500.00 watches and wear one for the day and one for the night. I even saw a Versace sweatshirt the other day. Why?? To each their own, I guess.
Everything that happens in prison is amplified. It can be anything trivial. The silliest things can completely take up your day. If you get into an argument people will spend all day talking about it. If something happened in RDAP that is all everyone talks about the whole day. Nothing is private. I guess it makes sense because it’s the big thing going on in your life now. However, it seems so silly to me that these simple events can become so big in one’s life here. Plus, everyone talking is a bit much sometimes. It is gossip on steroids.
One of my favorite people here was sent off to the SHU (the hole). He fell asleep with his cell phone in his hand. His bad luck is legendary. I’m hoping he comes back. Everyone loves this guy, and he was very good for the unit (RDAP). Fingers crossed.
Speaking of trouble, I was called in to the kitchen office by two of the guards today. As I am walking in the office everyone in the kitchen is asking me what I did.... So of course, paranoia set in. You don’t get called into an office unless it’s bad. Also, I had just seen a kitchen inmate get fired. I kept thinking what could I have done? Turns out I was offered a higher position and a pay increase. WHAT??? I turned it down.... For a number of reasons... but the main one is I don’t want an easier job (Most promotions in the kitchen involve overseeing other inmates and you don’t do the usual work) ...the challenge I made to myself was doing something I am not good at, I have avoided and is hard....I explained my reasons to the guards and the look I received was priceless. For now, I remain on the line/cooking/cleaning and hopefully growing.
I finished my first 2 books from Blackstone Legal Studies and eight (8) tests. So far, I have a 90% average on the tests. You can only miss two questions to still pull an A grade. It is challenging. Luckily, I’m frogging brilliant. HA!!!!
UPDATE
I think most of you know that not everyone who knows me on the outside knows I am inside (in Prison}. I have held back telling certain people because I wanted to wait tell I got out and then tell them (in person). It seems like that is becoming harder and harder to do.
When you go missing your friends/family eventually notice. I have spent so much time trying to decide what to do about this and I would welcome everyone’s feedback. I will not lie about my situation but at the same time I haven’t felt the need to rush to tell people (it’s not fun...plus my legal situation is not the easiest thing to explain...my story is so complicated).
I think it may be time to just lay it on people. It is funny... the advice I have gotten here is don’t say anything.... live your life without the stigma. Now this advice is coming from my fellow inmates. My DTS Ms. Katz & Ms. White (RDAP STAFF) probably lean on the side of being fully transparent (Ms. White does...she has given me some very good advice to think on). As I mentioned before most people don’t have this option...everyone knows about their legal situation (I had no publicity regarding my offense, which is incredibly rare). Also, it is not fair to my friends that are fielding questions about what happened to Carper. I don’t like anyone having to avoid telling people where I am. I want to get back to living an extraordinary life and I feel like holding this secret in would limit that life. However, I don’t know how I want to release this information, I am open to suggestions??? Lastly when I do this it is going to suck for a while...I know that. Everyone’s support is appreciated. Stay safe. Talk soon.
Comments from Dad
I have had time to reflect some on my visit to Leavenworth. The most significant impression was Scott looked and sounded terrific. Prison clothes would not be his fashion choice, but he looked wonderful to me. His hair was shorter than when he left Sacramento. He explained the barber was over enthusiastic in the haircut, but it is growing back. He had a goatee which made him somewhat different from every other inmate I saw who all had beards. The visiting room was austere but pleasant with children playing games while inmates and their loved ones spoke.
Scott’s weight is around 260 which is 100+ pounds lighter than when he arrived in Sacrament in May of 2020. Prison food choices and the commissary work arounds are not compatible with weight loss, but he is exercising every day and seems in good shape. He also plays some baseball and basketball weather and other duties permitting. He assures me he will have lost more weight by the time he is home.
Look How big I got. WOW.
In polite company we have all learned to be careful when speaking about religion and politics. That remains the rule in prison. It appears the FOX news is on prison televisions constantly and guards and inmates are largely republican conservatives. I guess I am not surprised but it still is curious. Scott finds a study diet of fox broadcasters most unpleasant and provides little insight as to what is really going on in the world. There are also few at Leavenworth who are not from the Midwest after all often the BOP does follow the law for most inmates and the law states 18 U.S.C. § 3621(b) that the BOP house inmates in facilities as close to their primary residence as possible, and to the extent practicable, within 500 driving miles.
However, it a not mandatory and there are other considerations the BOP uses which they do not with the inmate or their families. Upon sentencing in Federal District Court, the Bureau of Prisons has the sole responsibility in determining where an offender will be designated for service of his/her sentence in accordance Inmate Security and Custody Classification manual. Prior to a designation occurring, the DSCC must receive for consideration all sentencing material regarding the offender. These documents are received from the sentencing Court (the judge recommended California), U.S. Probation Office, and the U.S. Marshals Service.
If an inmate is placed at an institution that is more than 500 driving miles from his/her release residence, generally, it is due to specific security, programming, or population concerns (It probably was programing specifically available RDAP space). Anyway, with Scott being sent to Leavenworth he is not at a place convenient to family and thus there are few inmates from California. It is an additional culture shift.
Scott with an earlier version of a goatee with his father. The book had to be mine, but he has become a voracious reader at Camp.
Comments