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Barbara Black linked to this WSJ article over the weekend that chronicles Ben Glisan's journey through the federal prison system. I think many of us downplay in our minds how horrible federal prisons, especially minimum security "camps" are, possibly to insulate ourselves from the lengthy sentences that are meted out every day. However, after seeing my husband's clients (thankfully few of them) spend time in even the best camps, I certainly do not wish the experience on anyone. At every turn, an inmate is reminded that he (or she) is not human, is not an individual, and has no rights at all. The entire process, from beginning to end, is purposefully dehumanizing.

Glisan's account is a textbook account. Although he seemed to be a perfect candidate for a minimum-security camp, prison officials chose to put him in a higher security prison across the highway from the camp he had requested. Glisan only learned that his request was denied when officials turned into the prison instead of the camp. Then he went to solitary confinement because his paperwork had not yet arrived. No one's paperwork ever arrives when they do, and this trip through solitary is routine and meant to break down all who enter. When he finally did get a transfer almost two years later to a camp in Beaumont, he was transferred via a prison bus that went from Bastrop, TX to Oklahoma before taking him to Beaumont. (For those unfamiliar with Texas geography, this would be similar to traveling from Paris to Madrid via Berlin.)

Glisan's roomies were not accountants and tax cheats; they were drug lords and mobsters. Before testifying against Enron, he had to secure the blessing of the head of the white prison gang there or fear retaliation for being a snitch. I know there are many readers who think that all criminals, particularly white-collar criminals, deserve what they get, but I can't believe that living in fear for one's physical safety on a daily basis for three years is getting off easy.

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Barbara Black linked to this WSJ article over the weekend that chronicles Ben Glisan's journey through the federal prison system. I think many of us downplay in our minds how horrible federal prisons, especially minimum security "camps" are, possibly to insulate ourselves from the lengthy sentences that are meted out every day. However, after seeing my husband's clients (thankfully few of them) spend time in even the best camps, I certainly do not wish the experience on anyone. At every turn, an inmate is reminded that he (or she) is not human, is not an individual, and has no rights at all. The entire process, from beginning to end, is purposefully dehumanizing.

Glisan's account is a textbook account. Although he seemed to be a perfect candidate for a minimum-security camp, prison officials chose to put him in a higher security prison across the highway from the camp he had requested. Glisan only learned that his request was denied when officials turned into the prison instead of the camp. Then he went to solitary confinement because his paperwork had not yet arrived. No one's paperwork ever arrives when they do, and this trip through solitary is routine and meant to break down all who enter. When he finally did get a transfer almost two years later to a camp in Beaumont, he was transferred via a prison bus that went from Bastrop, TX to Oklahoma before taking him to Beaumont. (For those unfamiliar with Texas geography, this would be similar to traveling from Paris to Madrid via Berlin.)

Glisan's roomies were not accountants and tax cheats; they were drug lords and mobsters. Before testifying against Enron, he had to secure the blessing of the head of the white prison gang there or fear retaliation for being a snitch. I know there are many readers who think that all criminals, particularly white-collar criminals, deserve what they get, but I can't believe that living in fear for one's physical safety on a daily basis for three years is getting off easy.

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