Guest Message from Prisoner of Alabama State Prison System
Posted by Pete | Posted in News | Posted on 02-08-2011
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I have a cousin serving time in Alabama State Prison System and I asked that he write a guest posting for me. I asked him to write whatever message he would like to get out to my readers of this blog. The following is what he had to say:
Hi! I’m Alan writing to you from the Alabama Department of Corrections, my home for the past five years. Cousin Pete asked me to write a couple of paragraphs about prison life, so here goes. (Para) Living in prison is like eating from a box of chocolates, one never knows what is going to happen from one minute to the next. (para) The food is bland and proportions are small most of the time. The good meals that we get are full of fat, cholesterol and sodium. As a matter of fact most all the meals are that way. (para) The day starts at 2:30 am and ends at 10:30 pm. Breakfast is at 3;30 am, lunch at around 11:00 am and dinner at around 4:00 pm. There are scheduled times, however, nothing happens on schedule in prison. As you can see, everyday is a long one. (para) We sleep and live in dormitories. We sleep on bunks or racks, as they are more often called. The mattress is 2 1/2 inches thick and as hard as a rock. The racks are 6′ 2″ long by 2 1/2 ft wide, made of angle iron and flat iron. (para) There is no such thing as privacy in prison. You will never find yourself alone, anywhere, at anytime. Everyone eats together, showers together, uses the bathroom together and we sleep about 3 feet apart to each side and head to head down the aisles. (para) There is much more I could say, but space is limited. I have written a book on this very subject. (para) To close, I want to warn you all out there who might not take breaking the law seriously. If you break the law long enough, you will get caught, and easily, easier than you think and find yourself in your respective state’s department of correction. Believe me, you DO NOT WANT to go there.
I would like to thank Alan for contributing to this website. The message was very interesting and informative. And you are right Alan, none of us want to go there.
I can not let this one get by without a comment. I disagree with your first comment following Alan’s blog on your website. It is my opinion that he was not and is not guilty as charged. Although he deserves some time in prision for the crime that he committed, it is my opinion that he was over charged and over sentenced for the crime that he actually committed, which could not have been anything other than the crimes of aggravated manslaughter and substance abuse. If there was any justice at all in the Alabama Criminal Justice System, especially as it is practiced in the Pickens County District Court, he would have paid his price and would be a free man by now. His core crime, which led to all the rest, was chemical and hard liquor abuse which led to his inability to think clearly during the weekend in which the alleged crime occurred. Jesus is, of course, the ultimate judge who will judge the so-called victim as well as the other parties of the miscarriage of justice which placed him where he is for this extended period of time.
Per your request, some comments removed….
Thanks Pete! I only wish that I had the legal skill to change the mind of Judge Moore and District Attorney McCool as easily as I seemed to have changed yours. Sometimes I wish that I had become a lawyer instead of a chemist; but, then, I remember my Dad telling me how poor the lawyers of Pickens County were, especially the few who maintained their integrity and honesty. In other words, judging from the lawyers in Pickens County in the Fifties, my Dad made it clear that I did not want to become a lawyer; and he was probably right, as he was right in most every instance in retrospect.
I am glad to you allowed Alan to post on your blog. I was given an opportunity to read about life in an AL Correctional Facility. I do not feel a need to post my opinion on his guilt or innocence. I do not have a clear knowledge of the facts surrounding his case.
Thanks, Elisa, glad you enjoyed Alan’s post….