It's just part of the punishment

I know that this is a broad generalization. I know my contention cannot be proved. I believe that prison systems---not just ours in Michigan, but prison systems in general---make things difficult for prisoners just to heighten the punishment of prisoners. The stories of prison visitors encountering problems are non-ending. One would think that if the prison system is making it difficult for certain people to visit certain visitors, these people must be trouble-makers, perhaps hoping to smuggle in contraband, perhaps looking at ways to violate rules. But the stories don't come from people like that. They come from elderly parents, from handcapped people, from children of prisoners, from people for whom a trip to the prisons is already difficult.

Just in the past couple of days in the HFP office we had a report from an irritated clergyman who has visited the same prisoner in the same facility time after time, never once having to produce his clergy card. But the last time he went, you guessed it---he had to produce his clergy card, and he couldn't find it. No visit.

The husband of a wife experiencing mental issues was refused permission to see his wife. The warden's office claimed there was a personal protection order issued against the husband because of past abuse. All paper work was produced proving that the PPO story was just a rumor, and there was no such thing. It changed nothing. No visit.

The wife of a prisoner who just learned that his cancer has returned has requested permission to be with him at the time of his surgery. Even though he will be in shackles while strapped to the gurney, her presence was deemed a threat. No visit.

The motto of the Michigan Department of Corrections is EXPECTING EXCELLENCE EVERY DAY.

One of our prison friends finishes the sentence: BUT NEVER FINDING IT.

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