Post Fourteen

Hard Times: Part Eight

This post was going to be the last concerning my experience working in the Florida prison system.  That was the plan last week.  Then I started thinking about a great many stories that you might find interesting.  However, due to time constraints, I thought I would put these stories in a "Best/Worst Of" format.  Hope you enjoy.

Worst Inmate

A tough one.  So many candidates.  However, there is one that really deserves this award above all others.  This inmate came to prison in the 70's convicted of murder and rape.  While in prison, he followed up this achievement by taking a female civilian hostage and raping her repeatedly.  He fancies himself a disciple of Charles Manson, and put a tattoo of a swastika in between his eyes.  He wrote and spoke the most horrifying threats imaginable; sent chills up the spine.  He was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, but I felt that was an inappropriate diagnosis; he is just plain evil.  He is a writer of extremely convoluted and complicated grievances and lawsuits.  He threatened to kill me for lying in front of a judge against him during one of these suits.  An extremely unpopular inmate among other inmates, but he was in solitary confinement during nearly all the time I had him so no one actually tried to kill him.  No doubt the worst prisoner I ever had the displeasure of dealing with on a daily basis.

Worst Crime

Again, many candidates.  However, this one is not for the faint of heart so stop reading if graphic violence bothers you.  We received this inmate while we were still a general population facility.  He was married and his wife became pregnant.  As the baby started to show the man went berserk; he claimed the child was not his and she had an affair.  He proceeded to stab his wife many times about the body.  Once she was subdued he cut the baby from her stomach.  He put the baby's remains in a suitcase, and mailed the suitcase to her mother.  Somehow, he only received a life sentence.  I think the D.A. felt that the crime was so bizarre that he might have had a mental handicap mitigation defense.  He tried to escape from Charlotte, and spent years on Close Management.  Ugly stuff. 

Worst Start in Life

There is a debate on whether evil is born or learned.  The answer is really both, but I think sometimes a person can be a bad seed right from the start with little blame to themselves.  Such was the case of this inmate.  His mother was a crack whore in Miami.  His Dad raped her, and then Mom murdered Dad.  His mother is serving life for that killing.  So, this inmate was the product of rape and murder.  He proceeded to follow in Mom and Dad's footsteps by raping and murdering his way into prison.  Serving a life sentence for multiple counts of both crimes.  You could feel the evil coming off of this one; truly a dark cloud hovered over him.  A permanent resident of the Mental Health Unit due to non-manageable sociopath behavior. 

Best Correctional Officer

No doubt this was my Close Management Dorm Lieutenant.  The man was a rock and tough as nails.  He never tried to be a friend to inmates or staff; you did your job, or you went to hell.  I liked that.  You always knew where you stood, and we really ran a great dorm together.  Had my back through the thick and thin, and I let him do his job with minimal interference.  A brother-in-arms that I truly miss.

Best Correctional Employee

My Supervisor who is now an Assistant Warden of Programs.  I wouldn't have made it in correctional work without him.  I really owe any success I ever had to him.  A father-figure who treated me like a son. 

The Only Inmate I Ever Felt Sorry For

If you have ever had a little (or lot) to drink and got behind a wheel of car you will understand this story more than most.  He was a guy you could have met on the street, and I could have easily have been him.  He was sick, and talk a high-powered, codeine-based cold medicine.  He drove his family to some kind of function, and then went the bar.  He had a couple of beers (he was barely over the limit), and picked up his family.  On the drive home he was involved in a car wreck that killed his wife and daughter.  Of course, he survived.  His wife's family pressed for the maximum sentence, and he is serving 15 years in prison.  I'm not saying he was innocent because he wasn't.  But for the grace of God go I....

The Most Beautiful Music Performance I Ever Saw

Forgive me for not being politically correct, but blacks really have a set of pipes.  Prison has a way of bringing out extreme emotion, and a bunch of black convicts who have a lot of emotion to get out really can put on a show.  The Chaplain put on a gospel sing/breakfast for the staff one day.  It was incredible.  I have never heard such passion and pain expressed through the voice.  Amazing in every way, and that music will stay with me for the rest of my life.

The Scariest Place in the State of Florida

There are scary places, and then there are really scary places.  I have stood on the battlefield of Gettysburg and felt chills run through me; the place was alive.  However, it pales in comparison to the death chamber at Florida State Prison in Starke.  Hundreds of people have been either electrocuted by Ol' Sparky (the name of the electric chair) or by lethal injection.  Such luminaries as Ted Bundy have taken the green mile to it's walls and met their maker.  It's a chilling place, and one that I hope I never see again.

The Funniest Inmate I Ever Met

This inmate was a bug, meaning he was crazy but with NOS as a diagnosis-Not Otherwise Specified.  The man was just plain nuts.  His favorite thing to do was to pick up discarded cigarette butts and eat them.  One day, he found an officer's golf cart with the keys in the starter.  The officers spent the better part of half a day tracking him down.

So, that's it for the stories.  I will get to my opinions (and the final post) in the next week or two.