do horses even eat pies?
a letter written from prison
My parents write to a guy in jail. No one they know, just some morale booster thing I suppose. Prison might sound romantic, but reading this guys letter makes me feel his loneliness. He isn’t intentionally revealing it, but it seeps out all over the place. The desire to be alone after long term confinement with others, the desire to be with a woman but the fear of them after being in prison on a rape charge. He’s got a twenty year sentence, according to my parents. They aren’t sure of all the details and didn’t want to ask.
There was a time about ten years ago when I was facing charges that could have put me away for some years. I was pretty scared. The charges were dropped against me and I don’t think about it too often, but for a while I couldn’t think of anything else. This letter was about four pages long, but this first page is enough for me to read. I know I don’t want to ever go to prison. This fellah wasn’t so lucky…
Taking his dog and horse through the McDonalds drive thru. That’s his dream. An impossible dream, because he is locked up. Every morning I wake up I have the potential to ride a horse through the drive thru. So much is possible in my world. Yours too. If you have lost your job or you’re worried about getting laid off, think about that. Let’s get creative this year and not worry about money. Nurture your lover and chase your dreams. That’s it. Stay free.
Jon,
Hadn’t seen this at the time I wrote to you, this is perfect.
Comment by Mom — January 13, 2009 @ 5:43 am
Beautiful, Jon. And close to MLK day, so very appropriate.
Comment by millar — January 13, 2009 @ 10:03 am
back in high school, my friends and i tried to walk up to a 24-hr mcdonald’s drive-thru at 3am but they turned us away and closed the window on us. they said we needed to be in a car. i guess they weren’t amused by a couple of giggly high school girls who wanted to split a large order of fries and pop. maybe they would have served us had we arrived on horseback.
Comment by p — January 13, 2009 @ 10:18 am
Your post reminds me of this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsMlgIZ43fI
Taking a horse through the drive through … heh. Maybe not in the same way though…
Comment by sam — January 13, 2009 @ 5:08 pm
Are you saying this guy is innocent? 20 years is a real steep sentence for a convicted rapist (US average is 12 years, 5 1/2 served). You seem to lament this guy’s prison experience because someone’s lies almost seriously fucked up your life in a similar manner. Something tells me he earned his current home. I don’t mean to get down on you but if I am to be reminded of how good I have it, I’ll need to draw from a different storyline.
That being said, he draws a fine horse.
Comment by Lyle_s — January 14, 2009 @ 10:54 am
The point is to learn from his mistake. I’m not saying he should be free, I don’t know the details. I just want us to remember that we are in a great position to chase our dreams, compared to many.
Comment by Rolston — January 14, 2009 @ 12:08 pm
thank you for this post. and I wish I could learn more about that statistic (see Lyle_s), it seems pretty low for those that I have known that have been convicted of rape. Not to get into a tussle, I’m just sayin, that seems like a REALLY low statistic from what I have seen (as a public defender and also with the Innocence Project).
Very glad your folks are writing with him, staying connected with people who treat you well often reminds one to not hurt others, I think.
off to chase some dreams, maybe just daydreamin about horsin’ around.
Comment by lady lawyer — January 14, 2009 @ 4:26 pm
I didn’t realize at the time I posted but the study by the US Department of Justice where I plucked these stats is woefully outdated (1992). I also don’t know if that’s straight rape or if other sexual assaults are mixed in there. So, I looked again and, if I understand this report correctly, then the mean sentence length for rapists as of 2004 was somewhere between 10 and 11 years.
5 years, 10 years, 20 years. Just don’t rape people. You know, what Jon said!
Comment by Lyle_S — January 14, 2009 @ 6:18 pm
Another thing to consider is the undercrowded NH prison system means you serve a longer portion of your sentence than in an overcrowded state’s prison.
What is sad about prison is that for 10 or 11 years someone sits in a prison and gets no help for the problems that got them there.
This guys had access to colored pencils for the last ten years. When he gets out, where is he going to fit into society?
Comment by Rolston — January 14, 2009 @ 6:44 pm
oh, and the horse in the car was kind of creepy actually. Funny, but creepy.
Comment by Rolston — January 14, 2009 @ 6:45 pm
I’m not going to pretend to understand what life in prison is like but I’m certain I’ve heard stories of inmates channeling their energy into something positive so that they came out with more skills than they went in with. If that’s true, then isn’t prison what you make of it?
What percentage of felons can be rehabilitated? Probably not 0 and probably not 100 and where we think the number lies is probably a good litmus test for our political leanings. I’m not even sure the government should be held responsible for rehabilitation of convicted felons, though it sounds like a reasonable service to offer. Maybe the best we can do is keep them out of society for a period of time and hope that the experience itself is enough to deter them from following that path again (and yes, I’m aware of how poorly that actually works out).
Comment by Lyle_S — January 14, 2009 @ 8:00 pm
Ya know, havin’ had some experience “at her majesty’s pleasure”, I really should have something profound and insightful to say. However the only thing I can think of is “FUCK! Jons Mom reads this and I curse all the fucking time”.
Comment by Poll — January 14, 2009 @ 8:40 pm
convicted felons:
can be a felon for merely driving a car after having three prior major motor vehicle offenses (even NON alcohol related)
can be a felon for possessing trace amounts of cocaine
can be a felon for possessing one cap of a “magic mushroom”
can be a felon for giving your friend a joint
can be a felon for pawning a tv set that you knew was “probably” stolen
can be a felon for being an addict
ugh. back to writing my motion. damn government.
Comment by lady lawyer — January 14, 2009 @ 10:32 pm
jail sucks,,, stinks like poop
Comment by poopies — January 15, 2009 @ 3:05 am
can be but probably won’t be, lady lawyer. I imagine the drunk driving laws vary from state to state but in Wisconsin it’s not a felony until the 5th offense. I’m not well versed in the different classes of felonies but I think the rehabilitation argument probably holds across all of them. A prison’s job is to detain people, not fix them. If people need rehabilitation and not detention, it’s in the judge’s hands to levy those terms, isn’t it?
Comment by Lyle_S — January 15, 2009 @ 6:59 am
life is rough enough so be kind to people. practice being slow to anger. and know that nothing is promised to us.
Comment by lotto — January 15, 2009 @ 7:55 pm
Lyle-
It is often in the hands of prosecutors- and also judges. Many of whom are elected officials. Very easy to get re-elected based in fear and tough on crime platforms.
And probably are. Unfortunately in New Hampshire you can be a convicted felon for all of those things. been a defense attorney for four years here.
change is needed. maybe it’s comin?
i’ve got hope. it isn’t working and it’s costing us a lot. in many ways.
Comment by lady lawyer — January 15, 2009 @ 9:33 pm
Prison’s aren’t billed as places of detainment, they are called correctional facilities! Anyway, this is off the subject a little, but a fun story. My uncle is a customs officer in Logan and at Pease in NH. He was telling a story about a recent death by OD – a woman smuggled condoms full of cocaine and one popped. Instant death when that much coke floods your system. When someone is suspected of smuggling, they are given an X ray to detect the condoms. I asked how they determine suspects. He said you pull them out of line, stand them against a wall (he stands a little of 6 feet and weighs about 220) and you press your hand against there heart and start asking questions.
Comment by Rolston — January 16, 2009 @ 12:09 pm
I would guess pressing on the heart is very intentional. It’s a good place to hit someone, too, for the emotional effect. Did you know that there’s a place you can hit someone in the abdomen area that induces feelings of happiness?
Comment by Lyle_S — January 16, 2009 @ 5:47 pm