A page of Greg's story

13 March 2011

Dear Anne,

"A stray sheep was Israel that Lions pursued; formerly the King of Assyria devoured her, now Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon gnaws her bones." Jeremiah 50: 17

One of the orderlies made a point to evangelize me about the injustice of the system. Greg, I'll call him. Greg has spent 83% of his adult life in prison. It boils down to drug addiction, meth specifically. His original charges were fraud and then for possession of ammunition after becoming a felon. He violated probation, missing a urinary analysis test. The federal marshalls went to Graham from Tacoma to kidnap him from his parents house. He was in the backyard power washing the sidewalk when they entered through the electric fence, guns drawn. He had warned his girlfriend it could happen, that he would just disappear for two weeks until he could get out a phone call. It did. He told the judge how he just needed a drug program. He was supervisor with an asbestos removal company making $38.05 an hour. He had paid off $8000 of the $16,000 child support debt for his two boys. They live in Yakima. He currently makes $0.12 an hour as a dorm orderly when it costs $0.30 for Ramen soup. He knows how it will be at the halfway house; they'll force him to pay down part of the child support first, then out of the gross earnings 25% is taken to pay the cost of the halfway housing. 50% is taken for child support automatically from his paycheck.

Why do American taxpayers pay for him to do nothing here? He wonders. He could get a violation of probation for associating with felons outside, but in here it's okay? Couldn't he have an employment that pays a real wage so he could make a dent in the child support responsibilities? He wants people to become educated about the prisons, the fact that for meth and a gun a kid will get ten years.

He appreciates the privilege of how things are. "The further south you go, the more politics...races don't talk to each other."

It infuriates Greg to remember how a sex offender was given $20,000 bond right in front of him but he got $60,000. "The guy gets out in two months for a treatment program but I'm stuck for 8 months." He says the recidivism rate, or likelihood of a repeat offense for probation violations is 85% compared to the recidivism rate for sex offenders of 100%. It looks to Greg therefore that society would rather prevent the loss of a few hundred people's good credit than secure the protection of children against a crime that will destroy their whole lives.


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The following is written by Greg, enclosed with Chris' letter.

By Greg
3.13.2011

All the things that earth provides for humans to live and coincide
the earth, the moon, the evening stars, the planets above like the one they call mars.
We have birds and bees, flowers and trees, incredible love and hopes and dreams,
we have all these things we're meant to see, all the things above the earth and in the sea.
Why then do we pretend to toy, by building bombs meant to destroy.
It is said there is enough to kill all, you and me and even the birds and the fish in the sea.
Why is it hard to get along when laws they write are meant to fight.
What is the deal when they'd rather kill than heal.
I really just can't understand, why it's okay for them and not me to stand.
I stood up on my own two feet, they stuck me in prison and called my defeat.
They make up lies and tell it their way, telling everyone else "WE'RE WRONG" and that's ok?
I write from in prison just happy and free, because they took my freedom but my heart leads the way!
I hope from now on you'll see what is true, knowing who prints the money and makes the laws: they do!!!