Prison and Khodorkovsky

Dear Editors,

In response to your article in Issue #102/103, Winter/Spring 2009, you expressed your opinions in reference to the imprisonment of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, as well as certain beliefs about imprisonment itself. Rather than go into detail about the specifics, I send you this article, which I believe contains some surprising facts about today's prison prisons and politics [in the U.S.].

"State of Affairs"--by Wayne T. Dowdy

The state of affairs "out there" must be bad, because even inside the federal prison system, which is where I've lived since 1988, the state of affairs has deteriorated: fewer jobs, too many prisoners, higher prices on commissary items, less food.

Prisoners were once required to work, but now the requirement is to be assigned to a job. Since there are more prisoners than jobs, some prisoners may only have a job on paper (does not have to report to duty, because if he did report, the area where he is assigned is often too tiny to accommodate safely those assigned).

Congress created the Federal Prison Industries, trade union UNICOR, which is the place where I am fortunate enough to work....