There are so many things that have gone unaddressed within these Prison Communities acoss America.
THE DEHUMANIZATIION
THE WIDESPREAD UNACCOUNTED FOR VIOLENCE
THE CASTNG OFF OF HUMAN LIVES
THE UNGODLY WASTE OF STATE AND FEDERAL DOLLARS
THIS METHOD OF REHABILITATION IS JUST NOT PRACTICAL
THE CONSEQUENCES OF IT HAS CONTAMINATED AN ENTIRE NATION.
FAMILIES OF PRISONERS ARE VICTIMIZED BY THE MONOPOLY OF INSTITUTION MAIL ORDER.
VICTIMS………… ARE EXCLUDED FROM AWARENESS ORGANIZATIONS AND THEY SHOULD BE MANDATORY IN PRISON PROGRAMING.
PRISON PUNISHMENT ALONE IS NOT THE BEST VECHICLE FOR CRIMINAL ACCOUNTABILITY
BECAUSE PUNISHMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY IS NOT THE SAME THING

No no one wants to talk about these issues. Prison is really letting the criminals off the hook! None of us is in here are facing the human impacts of what we have done to be here. We all need to take responsibility for what we have done so that we don’t do it anymore. Inmates abuse other inmates in here, Guards do the same thing, both verbably and physically. At the same time, there is abuse, prisoners are also systematically protected and excused from all the human burdens I just mentioned above. When we hurt people, we owe down! One of those things we owe is to face what we have done to be in prison but prison is the softest landing spot in the world to make this face to face possible. Prison is designed to excuse criminals from the obligations that come as a result of hurting other people. 90% of the criminals in prison deflect accountability and say, they are here because of some other reason other than their crime (The DA, Bad Lawyer, Snitch), never confession. Even plea deals minimize the full definition of crime committed down to usually something less. For over thirty years I’ve seem too many come to prison and no one talks to them about their crime even family members avoid “THE TALK”. That’s why, so many are comfortable with saying they are innocent once they reach the deadend, non-accountability zone of prison. And then, many just go home feeling supported in a lot of things but not infused with the remorse necessary for true transformation. People see it in those who return home from prison but they don’t know what it is and it turns out to be the a flaw within every parolee that shows that they have not fully taken responsibility for what they done to be in prison in the first place. It’s an oxymoron to consider all the Savage things going on in prison. Yet it still insulates us from the real human impact of what we did. There are Groups out there who see the harm prison is doing by the punishment within yet, they replace the need for accountability with a cry for mercy. Mercy has a place in the justice system but it is not an adequate substitute for punishment because, it fails to acknowledge the harm done to the victims and responsibility needed to be taken by the perpetrator. Mercy is important for criminals but it’s just the showing of compassion for a criminal who may be sick from some other thing that victimized him or her prior to the criminal act that cause their incarceration. Only when we embrace that prior act which broke us can we begin to appreciate the Mercy shown. With mercy Convicts learn something about themselves they may not otherwise have known, see and hear things about themselves too. This is when the quality of Mercy can help us recognize the humanity that is in every one of us.

Mercy is just as much about those giving it as it is about those receiving it. It requires the Leaders who are in a position of power to give it. They cannot keep waiting on someone else to tell them to give it. To not give Mercy by those in power is just as bad of a violation as the wrongful act committed by those who caused harm to others. Accountability is the completion of Mercy in the Criminal justice process We all have a roll in this process. It’s all for the interest of the greater good.

MERCY + ACCOUNTABILITY = JUSTICE!

Those of us who know that our current system of punishment is dehumanizing, emphasize that people are more than their greatest mistakes.
When we play the harm down, we really minimize the person who caused it too. minimization is a dishonest act because we all need to allow the proper space needed for the pain to be dissipated by the person surviving the criminal transgression. We as prisoners must acknowledge the truth about the size of the harm, we must remain equivalent to, if not greater than the size of the person who caused it. this thinking would make each of us more than the worse thing that we have ever done.
DISTINGUISHING ACCOUNTABILITY FROM PUNISHMENT REQUIRES
A RIGOROUS UNDERSTANDING AND SHARED UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT ACCOUNTABILITY MEANS. IT REQUIRES THESE 5 ELEMENTS.

#1. Acknowledging responsibility for our Actions.
#2. Acknowledging the impact of our actions on others
#3. Expressing genuine remorse.
#4. Taking action to repair the harm to the degree possible and
guided when feasible by the people harmed or “DOING SORRY”
as opposed to ‘being sorry’
#5. No longer committing harm to others.

This benefits both those responsible and those those harmed
It takes work, Unlike the punishment we endure in these prisons
Accountability is not Passive… Far from it, It is active, Rigorous and Demanding of the criminal responsible, to pay full attention to the process.
That is the key and truth that will set him free.

HTTPS://inmate blogger.com/category/anthony-simmons/

Anthony D. Simmons
CCI #A194507
P.O. Box 5500. unit E1/242B
Chillicothe, Ohio. 45601