“TRYING TO MAKE THE TRANSITION; The Prison System/Life of New York State vs. The Prison System/Life of The State of Ohio”, By Jeffrey Tobias, Part III

What I realized about Ohio’s prison system is that it sets you up for failure; there is no rehabilitation involved, for people who have more than 5yrs. to the Parole Board. The “POWERS THAT BE”, or the so-called “MAN” wants you involved in all types of mischief, altercations, and anything that’ll keep you incarcerated. The more trouble you get caught up in, the more you’re susceptible to doing more time in prison, which would lead to a high probabilty and direct result of you NEVER getting out “THE BELLY OF THE BEAST”! Why do you think in Ohio, they’re allowed to hit prisoners at the Parole Board with up to 10yrs. at a time (which is incredulously insane; that’s another whole prison sentence for a new crime)? I’ll tell you why. Because they stopped the Parole Board back in 1996, and they want to keep the prisoners who still have to see the Parole Board ensnared, entangled, and entrapped in their institutional web. Ohio is currently in the process of bringing back the Parole Board. Why? Because the new wave of prisoners, which are majority gang members (Heartless Felons), are receiving guaranteed flat time, which would allow them to get out, on a specific predetermined date, no matter how they conduct themselves behind the prison walls. With the restoration of the Parole Board, Ohio’s prison system will now be able to use Parole as leverage, and dangle freedom over the prisoner’s head like it’s a mistletoe at an Office Christmas party. Ohio is so DAMN foul! How DAMN foul are they? They’re so DAMN foul that they’re allowed to grant you parole today, and then call you back next week and take the Parole back! I mean… WHAT THE FUCK!! That’s suppose to be illegal!! Then they wonder why he/she wigged out on someone. In New York, once you’re granted Parole, that’s it, unless you catch and get found guilty of a Tier III (3) misbehavior report. WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, WAIT! Back this up for a minute; I had to come back, to this specific section, and rewrite it because RIGHT NOW, at this very moment (Friday, Sept. 28, 2018 at 9:50am), while I was walking the yard, a man tried to kill himself by slitting both his wrist and slicing his throat because he got hit at the Parole Board, either this morning, or last night. I don’t know the man, personally, but they call him “Chief”, he’s a Native American Indian, who favors the Cleveland Indian’s logo. He’s been in prison for over 30yrs. and I can bet you that he was hit with 5, or more years. So, tell Mr. F.A.B.O.- L.O.U.S. that he’s going to have to Keep It Gangsta and take his advance to “ANOTHER” small town, “OTHER” than Cleveland, or anywhere in Ohio, for that matter, and make it pop there because this ain’t what he want! I just thought I should share that with you all, just in case some of you thought it was a game.
In the year 2016/2017, New York State tried to pass a law that would allow the Parole Board to hit a prisoner with up to 5yrs. when he/she appeared at their Parole Hearing. Currently, they’re only allowed to hit prisoners with 2yrs. at an appearance. This particular Bill/Law was shot down with the HURRY-UP-NESS! In New York, they’re making big strides when it comes to dealing with prisoners, and prisoners being released, it’s called EDUCATION! New York State’s citizens use to be up in arms, talking about “why do prisoners get to go to college for free; I have to pay for my children to go to college; I shouldn’t have to use my tax money to send a criminal to college; they shouldn’t be able to commit crimes and benefit from them!” Those were the lies they were feeding the public. Mercy College, and other Universities that are in New York State prison’s, such as Bart (Sullivan), and Cornell (Auburn)[I can’t remember the other ones, sorry], are funded with DONATIONS! Not tax payers money. Those same citizens were asked would they rather prisoners come home uneducated and go back to robbing and murdering them, or come home with an education and live a productive life? They agreed with the latter because they realized the money wasn’t coming out of “their” pockets [ha,ha,ha :-)]. There’s a 1% RECIDIVISM rate for students who participated/graduated in/from the Hudson Link/Mercy College Program; 1%!!!! In Sing Sing Correctional Facility, all of the so-called prison yard gangsters that “Get Busy” and “Bust Their Guns” are all flocking to register in the Hudson Link/Mercy College Program.
I was one of the prisoners who made it cool to start going to college! I know that I was single handedly responsible for, at least,10 prisoners signing up to go to college. When those same dudes saw me coming out to the yard, with the 8:30pm school run, they were like, “You, too?!” It is no longer acceptable amongst your peers not to be in school, in Sing Sing. What I’ve noticed is that most prisoners do it for their children, some do it for themselves, and some just want a change. Me, personally, I did it for the wrong reason’s, in the beginning. It sounds silly because now I’m in the same predicament that I was trying to avoid in the first place; I did it because I didn’t want to transfer to a medium security level prison. I didn’t want to sleep in an open dorm style facility and have to share toilets with hundreds of prisoners. When you’re in college, the administration puts a school hold on you, so you can’t be transferred; unbeknownst to me, I wasn’t going to be transferred anyway because I had this Ohio sentence still pending. But, that’s the real reason I signed up, I just never told anyone before. I just use to say, “Ain’t nothing in this damn yard!”
Well, my fellow followers, until my next installment, I can be reached via JPay @ Jeffrey Tobias A704109, Richland Correctional Institution. Share it with a friend.

Sincerely yours,

Jeffrey Tobias
DOC #A704109