Day 12: Parchman Prison
Today was incredibly intense. We went to Parchman Prison to gain an understanding about what life in prison is like. I don’t guess that I’d ever really given it that much thought, so I didn’t go into it with very many expectations. What I saw and learned was deeply powerful. When we first got to Parchman, one of the prisoners came in and talked to us about his experience there. The stories he, and the other prisoners we spoke to throughout the day, told us were some of the most alarming I have ever heard.
I’ve never been to a prison before, most certainly not a farm prison like Parchman. It sits on 18,000 acres of land, most of which is farmland. They grown all sorts of crops, have catfish ponds, and have factory type jobs where the inmates work. So many thoughts went racing through my head when we drove past all these fields. I imagined all the men working in them, and the only images that flashed through my mind were ones of slavery. I know that these men committed crimes and should have to face the consequences, but after listening to them speak, I have to wonder about the levels that we consider to be humane treatment. We had a very interesting conversation yesterday about working in prisons. In many places, prisoners are paid a nominal wage for their services. It was interesting to hear both sides to this discussion, because I’m not sure how I feel about it. One side points out that these men are supposed to be facing punishment, so it makes little sense to take jobs away from people in the free world to give them to prisoners. The other side says that if we give prisoners a way to earn wages, when they get out, they will be less likely to return back to prison. While both are compelling arguments, I have to say that I think I would side with the second one. As a nation, the US outsources millions of low-wage jobs. If these jobs were instead given to prisoners, it would really help their families and it would increase the likelihood of them making it in the free world.
Another compelling thing I observed had to do with sentencing. It is so alarming to me the intensity of drug sentences, especially when they are taken in comparison to rapes, child molestations, and murders. Someone charged with manslaughter can be jailed for fifteen to twenty five years and someone in possession of crack cocaine can be in for forty…this just doesn’t seem logical to me. I am not advocating that drug users and dealers should not be punished, but more so am curious how we can weight that more heavily than someone who has taken a human life. Moreover, a child abuser serves an average of about 6 years, I think. Unfortunately, the victim of that crime serves a lifetime sentence. Many will relive the haunting images of that act every day for the rest of their lives. And this person only deserves to be punished for 6 years? I don’t think so…
When we first arrived at Parchman, the prisoner said something that really hit me hard. He said, “For us, every day is a life sentence, because we have no idea what tomorrow holds.” I can’t even fathom what it would feel like to live everyday with that burden.