My Prison Experience I am a convicted felon; it defines my circumstances, not my character. Being a convicted felon brings with it a seemingly insurmountable stigmatization within society, of which I battle through daily. I am not proud of the choices I have made yet I am distressed by the lifetime of consequences I have and will continually endure. Despite these consequences I have not given up hope of a better life to come. With seven years of personal experience, I can assert with confidence that by enduring the criminal conviction process, the racial disparities within the system, the current utilization of convict leasing and physical and mental abuse, and continuing mental and legal effects, that the criminal justice system in America
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On March 27, 2003, at 5:50 pm I was processed into The Chesapeake Correctional Center on 23 indictments, or warrants, relating to passing bad checks. I was not given bond. On May 2nd, 2003, I was served with ten indictments from Norfolk VA, and on May 3rd I was served an additional 23 direct indictments from Chesapeake Va. In Virginia, direct indictments are those which bypass a grand jury and arraignment process. “Direct indictments are relatively uncommon, and most often occur in serious felony cases, frequently with strategic considerations in mind, such as depriving the defendant of a preliminary hearing, which is only available in a district court following arrest on a felony warrant” (Haywood, n.d.). The additional charges from Chesapeake were a surprise to me. In The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander, she states “[t]he prosecutor is also free to file more charges against a defendant than can realistically be proven in court, so long as probable cause exists. Whether a good plea deal is offered to a defendant is entirely up to the prosecutor” (Alexander, 2012). I was offered a plea agreement in Chesapeake, it stated I would …show more content…
Racial disparity seems to be built into the structure of the United States criminal justice system. “Racial disparity continues at the correctional level of the justice system in Virginia. Virginia’s prisoners are mostly African American, family‐aged and under‐educated. African Americans incarcerated in state‐run facilities comprise over 60 percent of the inmate population, despite making up less than 20 percent of the general population” (Braford, 2013). I noticed this disparity in most of the facilities in which I was housed. The only exception was Chesapeake Correctional Center. As a white woman in a black world, I encountered many forms of racism. The simplest form was a nickname I was given while in jail for my probation violation in 2007. I was known as “RWC” or resident white chick because I was the lone white female in a pod of 30 women. I was mocked daily but chose to laugh about it for fear of reprisal. The guards were of no use to me as most them were black as well, they often participated in the activities. Dealing with being the minority was an adjustment I soon learned to make. However, it was the least of the issues I would face in
On March 27, 2003, at 5:50 pm I was processed into The Chesapeake Correctional Center on 23 indictments, or warrants, relating to passing bad checks. I was not given bond. On May 2nd, 2003, I was served with ten indictments from Norfolk VA, and on May 3rd I was served an additional 23 direct indictments from Chesapeake Va. In Virginia, direct indictments are those which bypass a grand jury and arraignment process. “Direct indictments are relatively uncommon, and most often occur in serious felony cases, frequently with strategic considerations in mind, such as depriving the defendant of a preliminary hearing, which is only available in a district court following arrest on a felony warrant” (Haywood, n.d.). The additional charges from Chesapeake were a surprise to me. In The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander, she states “[t]he prosecutor is also free to file more charges against a defendant than can realistically be proven in court, so long as probable cause exists. Whether a good plea deal is offered to a defendant is entirely up to the prosecutor” (Alexander, 2012). I was offered a plea agreement in Chesapeake, it stated I would …show more content…
Racial disparity seems to be built into the structure of the United States criminal justice system. “Racial disparity continues at the correctional level of the justice system in Virginia. Virginia’s prisoners are mostly African American, family‐aged and under‐educated. African Americans incarcerated in state‐run facilities comprise over 60 percent of the inmate population, despite making up less than 20 percent of the general population” (Braford, 2013). I noticed this disparity in most of the facilities in which I was housed. The only exception was Chesapeake Correctional Center. As a white woman in a black world, I encountered many forms of racism. The simplest form was a nickname I was given while in jail for my probation violation in 2007. I was known as “RWC” or resident white chick because I was the lone white female in a pod of 30 women. I was mocked daily but chose to laugh about it for fear of reprisal. The guards were of no use to me as most them were black as well, they often participated in the activities. Dealing with being the minority was an adjustment I soon learned to make. However, it was the least of the issues I would face in