hello to everyone who this informal letter reaches.first allow for me to introduce who I am ,as well as my intentions behind my blogs.I am Anthony Stewart, 37 years of age,I’ve been incarcerated since november 30 2017,I will be released on November 11 2018,I’m incarcerated at Lebanon correctional institution,my charge is felony 3 tampering with records,my inmate #740-359,hopefully after receiving and reading my blogs,you will be enlightened by my story and want to correspond with me….
most inmates are stereotyped by those on the opposite side of this fence,I believe this to be due to no experience,as well as publicized influence through television shows,and word of mouth.now for the women out there reading this I ask you,what is the first thing that comes to mind, if you come across a person incarcerated requesting corresponding? here I’ll answer this for you.he’s just trying to use me.nothing could ever come of this.what can he do for me he’s incarcerated. he’s bisexual. WOW,the sad part is that a lot of time this is true,yet what about those of us who don’t fall under any of these categories?so allow me to speak for those of us,and enlighten you on what we go through! this place is sends you through an emotional rollercoaster.if you want to know what my days consists of,this is what I want you to imagine(1week);your new home consists of ONLY your bathroom (your new cell).now where your bathtub is replace it with a steel bunk bed,and move in a guy you never seen and/or spoken to in your life.you only come out of your cell four times a day,three times a day to eat what you once knew to be breakfast,lunch,and dinner,is now just labeled as chow(you have five minutes to eat) ,the only other time your out of your cell is two hours recreation. within these two hours of recreation,you must make you phone call,shower,check mail on your j-pay,and if your blessed enough to have commissary, you have to do your cooking during this time(remember you have over fifty other inmates out at the same time trying to do the same as you)there are only six showers,six phones,one microwave.so hopefully just this brief description gave you some what of a better understanding of the mental strain this could be on a person,let alone being taken away from everything and everyone that person loves.this is why some people don’t make it out.now don’t mistake my words, cause I do believe in,”do the crime,you got to do the time”.now if you look into the full name of every prison, it contains one of two words:rehabilitation, or correction, yet the recidivism rate is consistently growing.this system is “supposedly”in place to rehabilitate or correct,yet no steps are in place for that to happen .the prison system it self doesn’t even believe that a person can commit a crime,yet change into a productive member of society through a period of time.the parole board releases less then five percent of inmates,even after doing over half of their time.I believe that anyone can change if taught to change and,not just locked away.for example,you can’t just take away drugs from an addict over a period of time ,then place them around drugs and expect them not to go back to drugs with out the proper teaching of living a sober lifestyle.same goes for inmates,you must teach inmates ways to be law abiding citizens.truthfully this time is very lonely which in turn is why most inmates yearn for conversation. the comfort a person gets from a conversation with a person from the other side of this fence,will mean more then you will ever know.a simple conversation can be very therapeutic.. well I’ll bring this conversation to a brief close,until our next conversation be blessed and strive for greatness,and i also want to apoligize for jumping from to topic to topic.I would like to thank Suzie Jennings for this opportunity to voice my words,and for those of you who allowed my words to be spoken into your open ears.
P.S:for all those who read please send me comments and/or responses.if you have any topics you would like for me to speak upon,or if you want to request correspondece,or if you need me to be an open ear for you then please contact me at :j-pay.com,Anthony Stewart #A740-359,Lebanon correctional institution
Anthony Stewart
DOC #740-359
Unfortunately, my opinion of correctional facilities is a bit askew. If I took a homeless man off the street and put him into the Carleton for a week, allowing him crisp linens, a smorgasbord of food every evening, hot bubble baths, and beautiful women, what would he have? When the pampering was over, and I placed him back on the street in his same old clothes, would he be the man at the Carleton? This is why rehabilitation doesn’t work. If the men in prison were given financial, psychology, English, math, and science classes, they would have better tools for success. Instead, we teach them how to make things in order to create more income for the facility with the underlying tones of “self-support.” Hogwash. For this, you have no choice but to find your own study materials and educate yourself. There’s so much on the internet that universities are becoming obsolete. Education only takes time, dedication, and the Internet.
Thank you for sharing the regimen of your routine. What’s equally as bad as when you’re living the nightmare with two small children with the same effects because you’re in a homeless shelter. Someone doesn’t have to live there to understand. Being afraid to sleep because of a fear someone will take your babies is damned scary. Either way, prison or shelter, there are a lot of more pleasant ways to spend our time.
Here’s to those days. We now live in a decent apartment and live a fairly normal life. Perhaps you’ll do the same before you know it. Peace!