Why Is He In Trouble?

When I rounded the corner, I saw my son behind glass with one eye swollen shut, black and green and purple. His head was bandaged from mid-temple to mid-forehead. His other eye was black and magenta.

I spoke of LOP in the public post. LOP stands for Loss of Privileges. It is a sanction imposed by the DOC on a prisoner who receives any manner of Class I, II or III Misconduct tickets. Tickets may be written by any staff member, and initiated by the claim of any person in the prison. In one case, a food service worker wrote a memo that my son got food from the main food service line and not the soft foods line that he is made to eat from. This cost him 6 days of LOP and a $1.50 fine.

[Sidebar:] My son has loss most of his teeth and is on a medically necessary soft foods diet due to not having dentures. The kicker is that this really is the DOC's fault. When my son was remanded to solitary confinement during the Covid-initiated isolation, the COs who moved his cell contents threw away his dentures. He's been on a waiting list for a year to be seen by a dentist for replacements. So, the food lines are apparently different but have much of the same food. My son took soft food from the "main serving line" and food is considered property of the State. He was thereby charged with POSSESSION OF STOLEN PROPERTY; THEFT.

Tickets in prison are commonplace. Various prisons have reputations as "Ticket Traps" wherein it is baked into the daily CO operations to issue tickets like handing out candy on Halloween. Standing in your doorway or opening your cell door when it is 90 degrees to get air will result in a "Out of Place" ticket. Not waking up for med line is an "Out of Place" ticket. And these are Class II Misconducts punishable by:

• Toplock: Not to exceed five days for all violations arising from a single incident;

• Loss of Privileges: Not to exceed 30 days for all violations arising from a single incident;

• Assignment of extra duty: Not to exceed 40 hours for all violations arising from a single incident;

• Restitution.

In several of my son's cases, he has gone to a hearing for the ticket and pled not guilty. With no attorney, no support, and certainly no willing DOC witnesses, this is akin to me winning the pole vault at the next round of the summer Olympics. The appeal process has about the same odds.

After you are "found guilty" (this can take 30 seconds and is handed down by a "resident unit manager" or RUM, Captain, and/or Lieutenant acting as a hearing officer), you might receive something called Top Lock, LOP, or "Extra Duty."

For more, check out the official prisoner discipline outline here.

I have in my possession all of my son's discipline records from one particular prison last year. As I read them, I am shocked that these are the reason he must do another year of hard prison time and, additionally, one year of loss of all privileges. And, since it is your tax dollars, you should be too.

His "Fighting" Ticket

Here is what happened, according to DOC:

"Prisoner _______________ (his cell mate) stepped into the doorway of his cell, looked down towards base, and then appeared to swing at Prisoner _____________(my son), who was in the cell."

It goes on to describe my son "exiting the cell" and then "rush back in." The cellmates are then noted to be "gripping each other with closed fists" and attempting to "use closed fists against each other."

Here's what really happened: My son was taken to the local emergency room and received 13 staples in the side of face/head after he had been bashed in the head with a chair. He had been assaulted while he sat reading and fell out into the hallway as a result, which was captured on video and henceforth referred to as "exiting the cell."

He tells me that he didn't know what hit him at first and he thought the other prisoner was going to kill him. He stood up and defended himself against an obvious attacker. And for that, friends, you will get a fighting ticket.

I spoke to the Warden's Assistant on the phone following this incident. He agreed that most men would have done what my son did (that, in fact, that he would have done the same) but that "we have policies" and policies supersede common sense. If, when attacked, you run to get guard protection (e.g., make yourself look weak and make yourself a target for the duration of your stay), you will be spared the ticket.

Ah, I see.

I had, unknowingly, gone to the prison for a regular scheduled visit a few days after this had taken place. Me and his brother came to share a hug, a cheeseburger, and a game of cards. Upon entry, we were searched and then ushered into a segregated area for a "non-contact" visit. When I rounded the corner, I saw my son behind glass with one eye swollen shut, black and green and purple. His head was bandaged from mid-temple to mid-forehead. His other eye was black and magenta. His first words were, "I'm alright, mama," and he put his palm on the glass.

I put my palm to his, wordless. I tried so hard not to cry. I failed.

So, he was put in solitary pending an investigation into the "fight." This took two weeks. No visits, no calls, no messages again. At the hearing, he was found guilty of Class I fighting and sentenced to 10 days Top Lock and 20 Days LOP.

Substance Abuse Tickets

THEN, as required when an incident takes place, he was drug tested. He tested positive for Buprenorphine, or Suboxone. And that would be expected in his case.

In anticipation for his parole meeting last year, my son stopped his voluntary Suboxone Medication-Assisted Treatment by the DOC. He was trying to do the right thing.

The long-term rehab center that was the backbone of his parole plan will not allow him to be on Suboxone maintenance upon intake. So, shortly after he went through the process of withdrawal while alone in prison; he was transferred to a new facility where he was physically attacked with the chair and submitted to this mandatory drug testing. As would be expected of someone with long-term Suboxone implants on the MAT program, he tested positive for Suboxone. The previous month, on transfer, he had also tested positive. Measurements in the records indicate that his ng/mL were trending down.

His medical records (which I had to request and pay for) indicate that he received Sublocade extended release injections. This substance is injected as a liquid but hardens into a solid gel, called a depot, that remains present under the skin for many months. It is meant to taper, slowly, over time. The terminal half-life of the Sublocade injection is 43 to 60 days, and Sublocade can be found in blood serum and urine specimens for as long as 172 to 300 days.

My son has sworn to me, on his out date, that he has not used street suboxone in prison. He has witnessed deaths after prisoners took smuggled pills, and is not interested in a game of roulette.

Riddle Me This

Even if he used an unauthorized substance or drank alcohol, why are we further punishing people with addiction concerns by taking away the only support they have?

[Sidebar]: Anyone who tests positive for alcohol or substances while in DOC faces a ticket and sanctions. Anyone who receives 2 substance abuse/alcohol tickets within the span of 2 years loses all visits for at least a year. Read that again.

So, What Was Strike One?

During his first stay in the Covid solitary nightmare, he received his meals in his cell, including apple juice. His first substance abuse ticket was for a delivered carton of apple juice and its presence in his solitary cell a few days later. Apple juice is considered a potential for substance abuse and therefore, he was ticketed. Strike 1, in spite of the fact that my son has never tested positive for illicit drug nor alcohol use during his time within the DOC.

So, there you have it. This horrible criminal of a man who had apple juice and soft food and a opiate-blocker in his system shall henceforth remain in a cell and not see his family for a year.

BTW, this only cost you about $49k more of your tax money this year.