Department of UN-Rehabilitation and Corrections. By: Tevin Bennett

It’s been seven years since I’ve been a free man and in those seven years of being incarcerated in the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections I’ve learned many things. One of the most important things that I’ve learned is that there is no “Rehabilitation” within these walls. I’ve been to all security levels the Ohio penal system has to offer from level one & two all the way up to super max where I am currently held. Every institution I’ve been to claims to have some sort of reform to help inmates get out of prison and make a smooth transition back into normal society.( haha) THATS A JOKE! Truth be told most of the administration members that are in charge of this so called reform only care about what the public sees. As long as the tax payers see a small percentage of inmates taking programs then it gives the allusion that their tax money is going to into the system to help all inmates. Which is far from the truth! Truth be told the prison system is broken. In truth inmates who are doing over five years are not even eligible to take most programs. The system does not want to waste their money on someone who is doing ten or twenty years or even a life sentence. BUT, in order to get parole or even a judicial release the parole board and the judges require us to take programs.. That’s where the break down begins, how do inmates get out of prison if they are unable to meet the requirements to do so? I have the answer, most inmates don’t get out when they are eligible for release, they end up doing a lot longer in prison then they have to do due to no fault of there own. So that leaves most inmate’s who are in here doing long sentence to just sit around and waste away. That’s where about half of the violence comes from in prison. You can’t expect thousands of violent offenders to sit around in prison with nothing positive to do and stay out of trouble or even more to the point get out of prison and live a positive life in a society that already has a bias against convicted felons. It gets even deeper, where do you think most of the contraband that is in these institutions comes from? I’ll tell you, it comes from the officers that work here. They introduce the drugs into the inmate population and get rich while we the inmates fight and kill each other over them or use them and kill ourselves. Its a sad reality that the general public never hears about unless officers or nurses start getting hurt or exposed to it. When that happens then all hell breaks loose and its all over the news. The administration acts like it does not know how drugs and phones and all other contraband gets into prisons but that’s bullshit! They know exactly what’s going on within these walls, they just don’t care as long as its not one of their own getting hurt or as long as they can explain their way out of it to the public. This is a very violent and unpredictable environment you never know where the threat will come from or when it will come or even by who. You would think that most violence is inmate on inmate but you would be wrong. I’ve seen just as many officers kill inmates is I have inmates kill each other. Its a normal thing to see officers beating inmates most of the time for no good reason. I’m upset to say that after a while you just get use to it and try your best to not get beat yourself! This is not a white or black thing ,the prison system knows no color. It only knows how to drain the life out of you and try to break your spirit. This system is “MENTAL WARFARE” and if you are weak it will consume you! It gets deeper, when and if you finally do make it out of these walls 90% of employers don’t want to hire a felon.So that leaves felons with few options, get lucky and land a low paying job, start their own business or turn back to crime. I have much respect for anyone who has done time in prison and has made it out and is out there living a positive life BUT prison does not get the credit for that persons change. Prison cannot change anyone for the better, that person has to want to change on his or her own! Prison does not help anyone its just a waste of time and it ruins lives and its a waste of the taxpayers money! This is the case with all prisons in this country not just in Ohio! So I ask you, does this sound like Rehabilitation to you??
Be well

Tevin Bennett
DOC #632-615