Sex In Prison

Over a 25 year span, I have been on every level yard there is. I’ve been in several prisons in different states. Homosexual sex has never been openly allowed. In the old days, if a person was going over five years,  people would turn a blind eye to discrete behaviors. I guess I need to explain that when i say “allowed” I mean allowed by the inmates. The walls are secured by the guards, The inmates run the yard, Its hard to understand it unless you have been her. I'm sure you have heard it said that “for the right price you can get anything (weapons, guns, drugs) in prison” and its true. Inmates run everything there there are strict rules. If someone forces or raped an inmate, he would be “smashed” immediately. Nowadays, prisons are charging inmates with sex crimes if there are seen masturbating let alone if you are caught with another inmate in the shower. 

That said, to be fair, I thought I'd talk to one of the most visible homosexuals on the yard and this is what he said, “ You wouldn’t believe how many down-lows approach me for sex. I always decline. I'm happy here on this yard. I don't need new charges. I get out soon. Some races (Hispanic and black) are more lenient about sexual behaviors. Even if I was allowed by the yard, I wouldn’t take the risk with the guards.” I then asked about STD risks and avoidance. He replied, “obviously unprotected is understood from the start. Some limit the behaviors they participate in and some focus on limiting contact with semen.” He then hit on me. Probably thought, “I write a blog” was my opener!

Dead Man Walking

“The Green Mile”, wasn’t that a great movie? Modern prisons aren’t built like that anymore. Prisons with multiple tiers of bar laden cells and a guard at the end yelling, “Rack em!” are being used for lower custody inmates now. Death row and “Level 5’s” are now being put in modern state-of-the-art single man pods. These new cells have showers that roll up to the front door. They have a rear door that opens up to a “dog run” where they can exercise one hour a day. Mail is read in your cell on a video screen. In some cases, visitation is done from your cell on video as well. The inmate execution experience in my prison is much different than portrayed in “Dead Man Walking”.
Death row was moved to a new facility, a mile away but the death house stayed where it was. So you remain in your regular cell during the days and hours leading up to execution, even last meal. When the lawsuits and appeals have run out there is a deadline for execution. Media have been in front of the prison for days during the last minute appeals. The entire prison complex is on lock-down for fear of riots and media contact.
The execution is always carried out in the early morning hours (4am), The inmate is cuffed up, taken from his cell and placed in a panel van with no windows. Two identical vans are uses, on as a dummy vehicle. Here the new death row unit is over a mile from the death house. Public roadways are uses. The vans come in through the high prison walls and over to the death house. Inmate is then taken from the van into the small waiting cell just feet outside the room containing the lethal injection table. That’s it. Quite methodical and by the book. No emotion. No extras. Just calculated moves closely monitored by complex warden.
I always wonder about all the people affected. Families of inmate and victims, escort officers, person who buys the food for the last meal, judge, jury, press who witness execution, etc. Who cleans the death house? So many people touched by grief because of one person’s error, be it ever so brief. Two people are being put to death in next 30 days, a stone’s throw from my bed.