There are two kinds of dorms. There is the open-bay dorm, which is just a big room full of bunk beds, and there is the two man cell dorms, which just have two man cells fronting the dayroom area. The open-bays are for the lowest custody inmates. I haven’t been in an open-bay dorm since the 1970’s.
Life in a two-man cell dorm is more private than an open-bay, but you are still locked in a building with almost 100 guys from every Nation and Ethnicity and Religion you can think of. Jews, Muslims, Hebrew Israelites, Buddhists, you name it. Gang members, old people and young. Guys who have been incarcerated for decades, guys with mental issues; bipolar, PSTD, psychotics. You got ex-Military. Most dorms form a sense of community, we all live together. The thievery and thuggery is kept to a minimum. People do business together and try to avoid problems. There are grouches and stinges, couples and lovers, and everyone loves tattoos. In the dorm, I do a lot of reading, watch a few TV shows, the UFC fights, and football. During the day I’m generally on the Rec-Yard working out, or just walking the track enjoying the fresh air and sunshine. I avoid people a lot on the yard, because I get enough of people in the dorms. People equate to the potential for problems. Avoid one, avoid another.
I’ve seen a lot of violence in Prison. I know what it’s like to see a man stabbed to death first thing in the morning within seconds of waking. I’ve watched arterial spray fade to nothing and stop. I’ve heard men’s last breath rattle in their throat. I’ve seen a lot of violence that did not end in death, but crippled, paralyzed, or blinded someone for life. These events can happen over a trivial amount of money, a lovers spat, an insult, a fight where the loser returned with a knife, the TV set and arguing over what to watch. It can occur over anything at all.
It’s said that over sixty percent of the Prison population are sex offenders, and over half of sex offenders, almost eighty percent, are child molesters. Men who had sexual relations with under aged girls are the most common, but there are a lot of diddlers who’s victims were under 12 years old. Each and everyone of these types are paying someone to live in open-bay population without fear of bodily injury. Some are getting away because no one checked them out on the Florida DOC website yet. Others, a very few, took the time to purchase a Pearl of Protection before they came to Prison. A Pearl of Protection blanket cast over you by a Gang, and most Gangs are Nationwide, so a Pearl is considered good anywhere. I know a Gang Leader that just arranged for a guy’s protection way out in California.
Dave is a friend of mine, he is in for Armed Robbery like I am. We just found out a guy we’d been cool with for months was sex offender on nine counts. Of course I wrestled within my soul for days, but here is what Dave said, “By society’s standards we are all pieces of shit, and we can’t refute that. Prisons are the cesspools of civilization. We are in here floating around in it together. The only thing you need to decide is what level of shit you want to float around with. That dude’s done some bad shit, he’s sick and has issues but you need to remember Geo, he’s already being punished just like we are. He’s lost everything, his rights, his freedom, his family. He lives in a box and out of a box just like we do. Do you realize how stupid it seems for one piece of shit to turn it’s nose up to another piece of shit and be disdainful?” Dave had a point, though I still wrestle inside, because in my opinion those who do sex offences against women and children should be segregated to Prisons separate from the rest of us, but it’s not my call.
Until next time….
Lynie Tru Vinyard with Bring In Light’s Inmate Art, Stories and Issues
Photo Credit: The Hardest Life In Florida State Prison Documentary
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