2300 Co Rd 29, Sandstone, MN 55072

Pay Phone Problems

September 18, 2017 Brett Booker
1,796 Comments
Day To Day

Hello World! If your reading this, thanks for checking out my site. I’m extremely proud of the progress we’ve made on it, and grateful for the opportunity to be able to broadcast out to the world from behind these walls. To share my experiences, give you an interesting perspective on different issues, entertain you a bit, and share my stoic philosophy on life that has brought me great joy while continually surrounded in chaos.

However, I’ve got some serious pay phone problems. They limit you to 300 minutes a month on the phone, which is just 10 minutes a day. When not using the phone, I take full advantage of my two other modes of communication, letters and email via Corrlinks. I am glad to have them both, but it makes communication slow. It takes 30 minutes for an email to arrive in someone’s mailbox after being sent or received on both ends of the Corrlinks system, and letters can take anywhere from a couple of days to a week.

So you can only imagine the difficulty that arises in trying to produce and procure fresh content for Booker Paradox or simply making minor adjustments on the site. Really, it is a miracle that we have made it this far. Forever humbling me in that regard. Moreover, doing research on topics that I’d like to discuss is even more of a challenge. I can’t just Google something, for we don’t have access to the internet. So I do everything the old fashioned way. I read, investigate and interview.

I’ll go to the institutional library and scourge through any and all resources that have available. Plus, I am fortunate enough to have a New York Times subscription, as well as other periodicals such as The Week, Mens Health, Entrepreneur, GQ and many more. When I find something interesting, I will then cut it out and try to divulge in that topic some more by trying to find more resources on that topic. And I love it! Love the search, and the challenge that comes along with it. It helps pass my time, expand my mind, and distract me from this chaotic environment.

Nonetheless, I have made the most out of my time here at USP Leavenworth, which I am hoping will come to an end in the next 6 months to a year. I am waiting for my next custody review, in which my classification/custody points will drop to low security, transferring me to a much better prison. Somewhere I’m hoping will have more programs available, recreational activities and an overall better environment. I hate to say it, but there is a real savage mentality here. Almost everyone here will agree with it too.

There is no thinking through various issues, just go, go, go. Like animals. Which is sad really. However, I believe this is all part of the psychological environment and the roles people fall into here. But this is a topic I’d rather discuss at a later time. I mainly want the world to know that their are good people behind these walls, but the indoctrination into the system criminalizes and hardens them. The system we have now is broken. The majority of people in federal prison, some estimates at over 80%, are here for non-violent drug offenses. But why?

There has to be a better way. I know of at least 10 different people in my cell house alone that are doing life for a non-violent drug offense. Many of which weren’t caught with any drugs, or had a small amount of them. But the system is weighted against them. With the conspiracy laws, the non-existent ghost dope conundrum and the criminal history statutes, it makes it easy for the feds to send people to prison for the rest of their life’s.

And its a tough issue. No one really has the right answer, but I know we can work towards a better one. Bring back the correction in corrections. Which was lost a long time ago. But like they say, out of sight, out of mind. So until then, I hope I can continue to bring light to some of these issues and help usher in some type of reform!

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