Sept 5, 2012

Dear Sis~

Gov. Scott has broken his 5-month hiatus on killing people by signing a death warrant for John Ferguson, a guy out of Miami.  With 34 years on the row and eight murder convictions Ferguson was an easy target (I'm surprised he lasted as long as he did; I'm guessing there were some exceptional circumstances in his appellate proceedings, perhaps some substantial questions about his sanity or mental retardation).  I don't know this guy personally, but I vaguely recall his case(s), which, if I'm not mistaken, involved multiple incidents of drug related home invasions where everyone inside was killed.  I believe he had other co-defendants who were executed long ago, but possibly I'm confusing him with some other cases.  Anyway, the death machine has been cranked up, and like some ancient South Pacific volcano, will now be regularly eating up its quota of human sacrifices.  It's time to mollify the God of Revenge with the spilling of blood!  After all, nothing proclaims our modernity and civilization like the methodical, premeditated killing of our own citizens...

On a more pleasant note I greatly enjoyed our 3-day visit over the Labor Day weekend.  Stepping out of this tiny cell and into the visiting park is, well, it's sort of indescribable.  For those few hours it's like being in the "real world", like another dimension or reality where all my senses are heightened and magnified and everything is well in the world. Then I return to my cell and enter a drab, colorless almost two-dimensional realm which works mightily to suck all the energy and life force from the marrow of my soul.  After 24 years in a 6' x 9' cell this world is about all I know, or at least, it is a real struggle to remind myself that this world, like Plato's shadows on the cave wall, is just a poor reflection of reality.  So, I treasure all of my visits, as few as they are, but especially those with you...

My neighbor Carl was moved a few cells down the row when his sink water (both hot and cold, or more accurately, cold and cold since we have no hot water in our sinks) quit working.  After about 6 days in a cell without water they just moved him into an empty cell rather than get the inmate plumbers to fix it.  That's typical here, where this decrepit, 52-year old building is falling apart due to a complete lack of preventative maintenance and equal lack of competence. This place is a dump.  I came here in 1974, 38 years ago, and I've never seen this prison so poorly run and poorly maintained.  Apathy abounds.  Now, with an empty cell next to mine I've got to wonder who my next neighbor will be; hopefully someone who is not crazy, who yells and bangs all day and night (we get our share of them)...

That's about it for now, Sis.  Keep your chin up and a smile on your face!
Love & Peace,
  Bill