A Prison Visit

by Michael Connelly

I just got back from visiting a friend of mine in prison. The prison is located in Coalinga which is in the San Juaquin Valley roughly midway between Fresno and San Luis Obispo, out in the middle of nowhere. The prison is less than ten years old, built during Governor Davis's term, no doubt. The town of Coalinga is a one-McDonald's town like Fort Bragg, and probably competed for the prison for an economic shot in the arm, as I saw new housing being built for the guards and their families.

We pulled into the huge parking lot and got in line with about 250 to 300 other people, mostly women and children. I was one of the few men there. The crowd consists mostly of Latinos, with a sprinkling of blacks and whites and one Asian couple. We are all strangers here with one goal in mind, to see our friends and relatives in prison.

Many children and babies, some who haven't seen their father for months or not at all, line up under the blazing sun, and seem to be holding their own quite well, considering. The landscaping around the prison has been done quite well with rolled out lawns and trees planted everywhere on the outside of the perimeter fences. So there is shade to stand in. The perimeter fences consist of two tall chain-link fences topped with vicious looking concertina razor wire about 20 feet apart with an electric fence running down the middle of them. It reminded me of Auschwitz. Bird netting had been thrown over parts of the electric fence, I noticed. Guard towers were located every 200 feet or so and they had commanding views of the large concrete dormitories located inside the perimeter fences.

We waited until finally a female prison guard came out and handed each of us a small form to fill out stating who we wanted to see, our relationship to the prisoner, and our names and addresses and signature. All children under 18 had to have a notarized birth certificate or the original. Each form had a number on it and we would be called in groups of 10 to enter the processing room where our forms were given to a guard and our names plugged into a computer to see if we had been approved to make a prison visit, which was a whole nother step done weeks before.

After this we waited in another line to be processed through what you see at airports. All we can bring into prison is a valid ID, our form, $30 in quarters in a clear plastic bag, 10 photos and one car key. With babies you can bring three diapers and a couple of bottles of milk, the diapers are thoroughly squeezed to detect inserts of any kind. After putting my sunglasses, shoes, form, driver's license and car key in a plastic tray, I walked through the metal detector and passed all right. There was a sign taped to the metal detectors saying, If you don't pass in two tries you will not be let in. But I saw one man who had to go through it four times and they let him go in anyway.

After this we were herded into an outdoor cage with an electric gate which opened and closed automatically at timed intervals. We were finally inside the prison grounds, a process that took about two and a half hours from when we parked the car.

We walked to Dormitory D, in the blazing sun, and barren grounds, passed a row of small houses with nice backyards with lawns and rose bushes, each surrounded with 15 foot high fences topped with the same vicious looking concertina razor wire. These houses were for conjugal visits, I believe. We entered Dorm D and gave our forms and licenses to a guard who got on the telephone to notify the prisoner that he had visitors. Through a glass wall behind the guard we see the visiting area which is a large dining hall with about 50 round tables surrounded by chairs. Visiting was already in progress as people who phoned ahead and made appointments go in a lot earlier.

Phoning in for an appointment, however, can be very frustrating as there is only one person to answer calls from hundreds of people requesting visits, and only during specific hours and days. You have to keep pressing redial on your phone to get through which might take anywhere from 20 minutes to two hours, although they will not turn anybody away. But you will lose about two hours of visiting time because of it.

We are let into the dining room and told to give our form and license to the guard at the far counter who assigns us a table where we waited for our friends to arrive. There were about eight vending machines full of negative value packaged food. This is what the quarters are for.

After about ten minutes my friend entered the dining room and was I happy to see him and he was obviously happy to see me. We gave each other a big hug. There is a sign that says, Only one hug when you first meet and one more when it is time to leave. The four hours of visiting time was filled with clarity and meaningful dialogue.

My friend is in a section called "sensitive need," where guys who want to stay away from trouble, don't want to start any trouble, and just do their time. This keeps them away from the gangs and the molesters. It's a program that works to keep things running smoothly for both of guards and prisoners.

We talked about friends and old times and of course what it's like to be in prison. He gets up at about 6am, goes to breakfast, which consists of eggs, pancakes, potatoes, and non-sugar juice. Hooch can be made with any fruit and sugar. In fact, sugar is being phased out as a result of this. After breakfast my friend goes back to bed for few hours and then goes out to the yard where he can spend the whole day. The previous prison he was at he could only go outside for two hours a week. Quite a change, but he wishes they would have sunblock in the commissary as there's very little shade in the yard. There's a small library but he hasn't been there yet.

I told him I would be the assistant librarian by now, as I love to read. He says there is a thriving barter system in prison and that postage stamps command top trade. He can go to the commissary once a month for personal needs like toothpaste, shampoo, soap, etc. and if needed he can use the catalog to order stuff like a radio, CD player, even a guitar if he wants one. I send him money every now and then and so does another friend of his for this stuff.

I told him I wanted to start a subscription for him to the AVA, and although he hasn't read much of it, he would like to keep up with local news. I told him he'll get local news all right and much more. I'm sure it will be passed around and, in time, eagerly awaited for. He and 120 other inmates stay in what once was the gymnasium in three tiered bunk beds, although the top bunk is not used as guys can fall off during sleep and the prison would be liable. My friend would like to get a cell where he can have some privacy and also walls to hang pictures on the wall. We could not give him the pictures we brought but we can send ten at a time through the mail.

All through the room there were intimate and lively conversation going on. Fathers with their children, babies on their laps, inmates with girlfriends, sisters, brothers, mothers and dads, friends, all making the most of it with the precious little time allotted them. There is a door off to the side for going out into a fenced lawn area with a small climbing structure and toys for the children to play with along with their fathers. I heard one little boy say he wished his father could come home with him.

In the processing room there is an inmate store where one can buy articles made by inmates and also buy these cards for $2, good for a snapshot of you and your friend taken in front of this large poster of a waterfall in the woods. I got one of these cards and when my friend and I went to get our picture taken I asked if we could have the dining room and everybody in it in the background. This was a big no-no, as people might be recognized in the photo. I didn't know. We had our picture taken by an inmate with a Polaroid camera who later passed out the photos to the different tables. It turned out real nice.

Around this time the announcement was made that visiting time was over. Everybody got up and said their goodbyes, gave each other the allowed second hug, certainly fathers hugged their children more than twice, and we visitors went into the first room we arrived at and waited to be checked out before being allowed to walk back to the processing room.

All 300 of us waited in the blazing sun as groups of 30-40 of us walked into one cage, stayed there for a few minutes, then the gate opened in order to walk into another cage and finally into the original processing room and out the door to the parking lot. By this time I was dying for a cigarette and quickly rolled one in the car and smoked it in the parking lot.

The inmate store had unique items for sale like jewelry and jewelry boxes, picture frames, etc., and this ceiling hanging made of a 40 or 50 small paper cranes. Origami, the art of folding paper into different objects and designs.

While smoking my cigarettes I talked to this woman who was waiting for her ride and she told me the story of one of her friends who was involved in an auto accident of some kind where someone was killed and her friend was charged for it and was sentenced to 25 years. Apparently, it was a gross miscarriage of justice and an appeal was filed that went all the way to the governor who was Gray Davis at the time. He rejected the appeal to show that he was tough on crime. Recently, the appeal again went to the governor and, "Arnold set him free," as the woman put it.

We jumped in our old car and did the seven hours of driving back to Mendocino County. You have to spend the first night in one of the nearby motels in order to be in line at 7:30 the next morning.

Getting a visit from a friend or relative can make all the difference for a person in prison. It sure helps them get through a difficult situation, believe me.

If anyone is interested in getting a form to fill out to be approved for visiting someone that you know in prison, I will gladly send you one. Call me at 937-6287.