Life in Prison is a Like Waiting for a Bomb to Go Off
Staying alive means being hypervigilant
Earlier this month, shocking news was reported by Florida newspapers, recounting how a person incarcerated at the federal medium-security Coleman prison had been indicted on first-degree premeditated murder charges for strangling his cellmate. Both individuals were being held in the prison’s SHU (“special housing unit” for those charged with disciplinary infractions or are being sequestered there for their own protection).
According to the FBI, the perpetrator said he killed the man primarily to win “respect” from the other prisoners.
Behind the lurid details (most of which I’ve left out!) is an instructive illustration of the realities prison life, shaped by the dysfunctional, punitive nature of American prisons. For example, in the federal system, actual “solitary confinement” is only practiced today at the ADX (supermax) prison in Colorado. Everywhere else, you’re placed with a cellmate. That may sound more humane, but it can be downright dangerous when you’re housed with a volatile roommate who takes an aversion to you — or takes an extreme route to establishing yourself as someone who should not be messed with (a must in prison). Listen to Arthur Bowlson, who is confined to the higher-security Coleman prison on the same complex:
Every time you’re placed in a new cell, that’s the potential danger you’re in. But the danger is more intense when you are in the SHU because you don’t know why the other person is in there. If this particular individual killed his cellie to maintain respect, there may be circumstances that he felt made him do that. But if you aren’t from the same unit, you have no way of knowing about his situation. You also don’t know if he has a weapon (like a shank [knife], that can be made out of all sorts of materials). And what if the person is physically stronger than you, or worse, trained in boxing or martial arts prior to coming to prison?”
And then there are still other situations when a C.O. (correctional officer) purposefully places you with a particular cellmate, knowing and wanting you to be harmed. Maybe you filed a grievance against him.
I don’t think people on the outside realize the kind of stress that just living in a prison induces. I could be forced into a situation when I have to kill simply to protect my own life, and there is no self-defense law in the feds. I have been that guy in the cell with my cellmate unconscious because he threatened me and there was no way to get around it without being perceived as weak — and thus an open target.
And if I had said something to the staff, I would have been labeled a rat. Once that happens, you won’t be safe anywhere. Word travels and, in some cases, as soon as you transfer [to another prison], the staff or the other prisoners will be waiting to prey on you soon as you get off the bus. This is the reason the SHUs are so full; you got a bunch of dudes who for whatever reason can’t walk in the general population [outside of restrictive housing].
You also could get killed because of the behavior of one of your ‘home boys’; you may not even know him, but because he’s from your same city or geographic region, you’re expected to defend him. That could result in a melee in the unit or even a riot on the yard, like what happened at USP Beaumont (Texas) earlier this year.
This is all normal to us. It’s the level of stress we deal with every day. And the prison staff not only knows it, but often foments it. Divided, we are easier to manage.
