Mail Call from my son

I need to give my son a name;  I have alway like the name Clark so here he is..

So here is Clark:

For me and everyone else who is locked up, the most important part of the day is mail call, at least if you get mail. For me, My day revolves around mail call. I know its between 6:30 and 6:45 Monday thought Saturday. Starting around Noon, I do the count down in my head every time

I look at the clock.."1:45.. that, 5 hours until mail call"

"5:00! only an hour and a half to go!"

its kinda sad really that ,, that's the only thing to look forward to, but there not really even a second place. I feel bad for the ones who don't get mail. Because what do they have to look forward to? Not much.

I don't care if you write about your boring day, what crazy think the neighbor are doing, if you make up a story about what you would do if had a super power or even just what you bought at the grocery store. Well actually, don't mention food too much because it just makes me hungry and wish I had read food to eat.

One the rare day that I get 3+ letter, I feel like a kid on Christmas trying to decide which present to open first.

Mail here is almost hard to put into words, getting a letter from home or some one you know just brighter up an otherwise dark day, and it just another reminder that people do care about you.

This part he wrote to me. but thought I would share it with you anyway;
Saw the tail end of a fight in here earlier, was watching Die hard 3 when I turned to what everyone was staring at. Pulled out my head phones in time to see a guy take a mean punch to the jaw and fall. and the guy who punched him said "call me a Bitch, A$$ "N" again"  His words not mine, Couldn't really see the guy on the ground from my angle, but he didn't get up. Ended up having to get a guard and get the guy to the infirmary  to come get him because he "slipped in some water, and fell." busted his head open as there was quiet a bit of blood on the floor. Guard didn't see it of course. It should also be known that you don't ever call anyone a "bitch" in here. In fact, Don't even say it. One of the worst thing you can do.

Another part from Clark:
I swear if you went trough and sorted everyone here by how smart they are and got the first 90% of them starting form the idiots, you would have the collective brain power of a  lab rat, that's missing half its brain. So.. Many..Idiots.

 I hope you enjoy YOUR letter from Clark today. 

Also: this month is his Birthday, He will be 22 at the end of this month. As you now know he loves getting mail. So if you want to send him a card with a letter, Please let me know and I will give you his address,, but only if I know who you are. Let see how many Birthday cards we can send him this month.

some numbers to amaze you

 This was sent to me by a friend. So the "I" isn't me. Thought I would share this with you. Very interesting.

How many are there on the sex offender registry?

            I recently received a letter that deserves notice.  Mr. W. the writer, had pulled together statistical information from readily available published sources.  He concludes that:

·         1 out of every 354 people in the state of Arkansas is listed on the sex offender registry.  When calculated to include only adult males the ratio falls too 1 out of every 148.

·         By 2020, 1 out of every 59 adult males in Arkansas will be a registered sex offender.

His information was based on the following:

            2010 Total population based 2009 population (2,889,450) plus the increase from 2008-      2009 (34,060).  (Source, Article in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, September 2010.)

            Total male population assumes 58.9% of the general population is male.  (Source, Article   in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, September 2010.)

            Adult population (age 15 and over) assumes 20.2% of the total population is under the      age of 15.  (Source, Time Almanac, 2008)

            2020 Projected Total Population based on growth rates from 2000 – 2010 and       extrapolated Source, Time Almanac 2008)

            2020 projected registered sex offender population based on current September 2010 total,            plus additional 2000 waiting for processing, plus an additional 100 added per month.  (Source Article in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, September 2010.)

            Estimated percentage of registered sex offenders may be higher than 93%

            I researched my own figures and came up with the fact that Arkansas ranks 7^th in the per capita number of sex offenders per 100,000 population, The national average is 236.  In Arkansas we have 386 registered sex offenders for every 100,000 Arkansans.  We follow behind, Oregon with 612, Montana with 517, Michigan with 477, Vermont with 393, Wisconsin with 386, and North Dakota with 377.   The two states or territories with the lowest percentage of population on their sex offender registry are Pennsylvania with 87 and Puerto Rico with 76.  This information is according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children,http://www.missingkids.com/en_US/documents/sex-offender-map.pdf.  Of course these figures are per 100,000 population in total, if you drop it down to the 93% male guesstimate and limit that to men over 15 you will come up with similarly startling statistics.

            Most recent surveys state that the number of registered sex offenders in the U.S. is 739.853 (according to Carolyn Atwell-Davis, director of legislative affairs for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children).  With the number of men, women and children on the sex offender registries nationally nearing ¾ of a million we must begin to examine how these laws are affecting the millions of friends and family of registrants nationwide.

            I want to think Mr. Wadsworth for bringing this to our attention.  If any of you readers are interested in doing your own statistical research or if you can come up with the ratio of males to females listed on the Arkansas sex offender registry that would be greatly appreciated.

More Sex Offender Myths (Busted!):

From the U.S. Department for Justices’ Center of Sex Offender Management, http://www.csom.org/pubs/mythsfacts.html

Myth:  "Most sexual assaults are committed by strangers."

Fact:  Most sexual assaults are committed by someone known to the victim or the victim's family, regardless of whether the victim is a child or an adult.

Myth:  "Most sex offenders reoffend."

Fact:   Reconviction data suggest that this is not the case. Further, re-offense rates vary among different types of sex offenders and are related to specific characteristics of the offender and the offense.

Myth:  "Sexual offense rates are higher than ever and continue to climb."

Fact:  Despite the increase in publicity about sexual crimes, the actual rate of reported sexual assault has decreased in recent years.

Myth:  "Youths do not commit sex offenses."

Fact:  Adolescents are responsible for a significant number of 1/3 of all rape and ½ of all child molestation cases each year. 

 Back to me now:

I hope you enjoy these number.. They will open your eyes!! 

 The next  blog will be from my son. He wrote to YOU again.

Surprise

I have a surprise for you at the end of my post. I hope you enjoy it.
But first, I wanted to bring you up to date. I have been busy with the new group Arkansas Time after Time. We have been busying working on a Brochure, that we can hand out, or mail. I really shouldn't us the word WE,, as I have not done much to help with this but just say "it looks good" 

Plus we are going to be on the radio. Wednesdays from 12:00 to 1:00, we start October 12. http://www.kabf.org/     You can listen here.
Our show will be called "It Could Be You."  

Out of the 6 of us who are on the board of Arkansas Time after Tiime (ATAT) There will be 4 of us going to St. Louis in a couple of weeks for the big RSOL National Conference,
We can't wait. https://sites.google.com/site/rsolnationalconference/  
The bad part of this is, We only get to see our son on the 2nd and 4th weekend of the month.  Hubby and I will be in St. Louis on the 2nd weekend. so we will miss him. His sister is going to make the drive herself, 2 hours, to go see him.  I have two great kids. I am so happy that she want to see him so he will know that we love him. Make me very proud that I raised two great kids.

Well, I don't want to keep you from you surprise any longer. So here it is:

I have asked my son that if he wanted to write to YOU, that I would post his story here. I got a new letter And he wrote to YOU. So here is my son:

There are 4 main groups of people here and most people fit into at least 2.

First, You have what I call "the long timers" People who have a lot of time, usually having to spend at least 10 years in prison. These aren't people who are sentenced to 10 years, but have to serve at least 10 calendar years. These are people who don’t really have a lot to loose it they get in trouble, so you don't want to get on their bad side. They are the one who get in fights and cause problems.

Then there are the "short timers", usually serving just a few months to less than 10 years, they are the ones who stay out of trouble and want to do everything they can to get out fast.

They are also the "new people or rookies", the people who have never been in prison before. Some you can tell right away, but most you just find out. Generally, they are young but there are some older people as well.

Lastly, the "been here, done this before" crowd. The ones who have been through at least once, It seems at least to me, for most people this is their 2nd, or 3rd, time in. a few others this is their 4th, I have yet to see anyone on their 5th term.

For the most part they try and keep the short timer and the long timers separate.

Its' very boring in here. most people are given "a job" working in the kitchen, cleaning the facility or grounds or any other meaningless task they can make us do, like using garden hoes to chop grass.

 Breakfast is between 3- 4 am. I have no idea why, but is. Most people go right back to sleep. Lunch is around 10:00 am. Supper is usually around 3-4 pm. Lights out (aka bed Time) is at 10:30.

 The food here is great if you lack taste buds and love beans. otherwise it sucks. Some meals suckles then other thought. I swear for every lunch and supper, they serve white or pinto beans and cornbread. I never eat the beans, as just the thought of them makes me Queasy. I look forward to eating real food.

Shower here are like a big gym shower except probable with more people and with the occasional guy trying to hide in a corner as he masturbates. Thankfully that is very rare. Something people are worried about on the outside is dropping the soap. People do it all the time and they just squat down (not learn over) and pick it up. Sometimes people laugh but most of the time its ignored.

Prison rape is pretty much non-existent. It’s the second worse thing you can do here, after murder and they have all sorts of stuff set up to prevent or report it, plus there are enough gay people to make them happy.

My son adds that if anyone has any  question, he will try and answers them.

Hugs are the best.

What is life like for a SO in prison? As a mother I don't want to know but at the same time I need to know.

My son has only been in prison for two day when someone told him he was cute and ask him he was a homosexual! I don't want to hear this. Now he is telling me not to worry about him as he has made a friend with the one guy no one messes with. Great now how much is that going to cost my son for his friendship.

My son was watching Tv when he went to his common area room where his bed is. He found a note and some of his stiff is messing. The read read: He went to his new friend who has been behind bars a few times. He is one very tough guy you don't want as an enemy. Some how my son made a friend with this guy. Or at least I hope so. My son goes to the  friend ( Ned) tells him how they took some of his stuff.  Plus a note left on his bed,. "We now your a petal file, tale your stuff got stolen and it tell everyone."  Ned goes talk to some guys and gets his stuff back.  This bad guys were not expecting that.

Their bed have a box where you can put your stuff in but my son can't lock his yet. So now he is using Ned's lock box. Great now my son owns him twice.

My son goes to the library the next night and find a new note. "Listen chomo, if you're not out of here by  Wednesday, your dead" something else about the blood game is watching him and they called him the "N" word.

My son know they're not going to kill him but they could jump him any time, There are plenty of times when there are not guard around. My son goes to talk to Ned again about he should do. They decided it would be best for my son to tailed to the guards. Which is a big no n. But he wants to be put in Protective custody.  he waited for lights out. He took the note to a guard. The guard then took my son to another until. Not in PC but at least he is not around those guys anymore, And he isn't around Ned either.

One good thing about all of this,, well kind of.. He is off the hoe Squad,  In the new Unit everyone is on the kitchen crew. But since he now doesn't have a job,, Which he has to have one for 60 days before he can become a Class 1. I though it was called Level 1. http://momtoasexoffinder.blogspot.com/2011/07/soft-happy-song-in-my-heart.html      So now I need for him to get a job,, so he can home sooner.  Right now he is a Class 2.

Last week he send in a request to sign up for Stress management.  a few day later he got a notice saying he is on the waiting list for Anger management. This has stressed him out so much he is mad..  Quote from his letter. I love the way he can make me laugh.

Now to the good part of this blog. I GOT TO SEE MY SON TODAY!!  I got the best hug since April 1.  Have not gotten to touch him, give him a kiss or hug him since he was taken away.  now that he is in Prison, We get to set at a table. let me back up:

We got ready to leave the house this morning by 9;00. It took us 2 hours to get there. We were not sure how this works but had been reading where a cars start lining up at 11:00. Visits are from 12:00 to 4:00. We got there right about 11:00 and was 10th in line. Now we know we can get there at 11:45 and still make it on time.  At least we were able to set in a HOT car, read, knit.. while we waited. We parked the car and walked in. It was just like going to the airport, had to take our shoes off and we got patted down. They took our finger print. this whole process didn't take more the about 10 min. We then had to walk through 3 big gates.

We walked into a Cafeteria looking room. Our son was not there yet, but other inmates where there with family. We could order some lunch, and ice cream. We sat a small table. We waiting for our son what seem like hours. He finely walked into the room. He would of been there early but they made him shave. Like I really cared. He looks good, Has lost about 40 lbs. His hair is growing back but real slow. He gave his dad a big bear hug, and then Me.. the best HUG ever. If you every get a change to get a hug from my son, Its the best hug ever. His sister was next. We then sat down to order what we wanted. Our son, was shock by the food and how good it tasted, He ate some of my and his sister. We even got some  ice cream for him. All in all it was good 3 1/2 hour visit. We could even get our picture taken with a pretty garden background. We passed on this.

We get to see him again next weekend.  I can't wait for my hug again.

PS.. I can't believe I am about to hit 1,100 views. Thank for listening, And I hope you leave here learning something.



.

should I worry?

I have gotten about  5 letters from my son this week. I think he is bored. Today letter has me a bit worried.

\
He writes:
Went out to the "yard" today. Very big, has a basketball court, volleyball and softball, yes they give us aluminum bats with like 2 people to watch over 150 or so of us. Anyway, I was sitting in the shade, on the grass because its so hot out. So, I'm setting there when a  black guys come up and starts chatting to me, Seems nice, gives me some advice and stuff. Then he randomly asks if I am homosexual and I'm like NO.  Then he say I'm kinda cute... Great. Someone already hitting on me. I left and hung out with some guys from my barracks after that. Been here 2 days, thought it would take longer for that to happen. NO clue what barracks he was in, they had a lot out there, Hopefully that's the worst that happens.

Should I be worry? Or should I be happy that someone thinks he cute. ? OK I can't believe I just wrote that.

Tomorrow (Sunday)  I am driving to Little Rock for a big meeting of the minds. Can't wait to see my new friends.  We should be able to get a lot done, We have lots to talk about.

A soft happy song in my heart

Got back to today from Gulf Shore beach, Had a great time doing nothing.  I did check my phone for email on my son to see if he was getting moved. Never did get any notice.  Could not understand why they were still keeping him.

I can go to his web-page and see when his release date is. It went from Nov-12,, to May-12 and now it March-29-12.  The people at the holding place where he is/was can change anything after doing all the
 initial processing called, intake is conducted.They receive physical, psychological, and academic examinations.They are also medically and mentally classified. So far it looks like they have decided he didn't need to do the RSVP program. We got our second letter from him today saying the same thing, That the RSVP is for S.O. who touch and /or are real bad.

We were home for about an hour when I got on the computer and it pop up. He has been moved to his new place. He is now at Varner about 30 min out of Pine Bluff. We were hopping to get a phone call from him but its 9:00 pm and no phone call. So maybe tomorrow. I know he has to get info from the guards, get set up in his room and sign paper work. So I am sure that took all day.

I didn't know much about Varner. He is going to have to be very careful there with his story. The other place I thought he was going to go to held all S.O. so I know he would not have to worry about getting in trouble there. But at Varner they have all kinds there. I know the guard are to tell him how to stay safe. I hope he listen to them.

Now that he has a new date for release, he will have to start at a level 3 for good behaver,   I am not sure how the number are so I am going to make them up so you can understand.   All prisoner start off at Level 3 (this has nothing to do with being a S.O.)   for every 1 day you are good you get 2 days off your date, after 30 days, Now remember I am not sure about the numbers. You move to a level 2 or 4, level 2 being good ,, level 4.. bad!!  Level 2.. you will get 3 days off for every one day good. After 30 day or less you then move to a level 1,, oh course that mean you have been good. This number I do now for sure. For every one day you get 6 days off.  All it take is for you to mess up and you move up a level. So you want to stay at a level 1.

I know my son will be a good kid,, it all the other guys I am worried about, The one who will pick on him, and get him in trouble.

This is why my heart is singing. it is a small step to him coming home sooner. PLUS someone somewhere,, Up above or down below.. is listening to me, I didn't want nor did I think he needed to go through the RSVP program.  So thanks to everyone for the prays and whoever is listening to me. Thanks you so much so this big step in him coming home sooner.







 

a so call friend

It has been seen to me by a couple of "friends" that what I talk about on here is Offensive. Well it is MY Blog not yours. This my view not yours. Yes you have your right to your Opinion, just like I do. If you don't like what I have to say then don't read this.

If your son or daughter was into drugs, would you not do what every you could to get them help. To try and get them on the right path of life. The same is true for my son. I know what he did was bad, And he is paying for it. At the same time I want him to get help but there is none. There is no place he can go. Prison is not the path I want him to take. So I am fighting the law. Just like you would fight for your kid. So don't look down on me for what I am doing. I am going to take a guess that you would do the same as me. Fight!

If this could happen to my family it could happen to yours. What kind of parent would I be if I didn't do anything? Would you want me to just seat on my butt?   "Well, he did wrong so now he has to pay"  Is this what you want to hear from me ? So the next time you see me don't act like a friend to me, instead be a friend to me. You don't have to agree with me but I do ask that you walk in my shoes and tell me you would be doing the same thing.