There has been a lot of coverage lately about Sheriff Joe and his opinions and treatment of prisoners in Maricopa County. The opinions on this topic are quite polarized, and I don't want to beat a dead horse with another inexperienced opinion.
I think we've forgotten that it's human beings we're talking about.
The following are the words of a man on the inside, awaiting trial for a crime he has not even been convicted of.
The popular conception is a view of drug dealers and dirt bags, perhaps an illegal or two, the dregs of society that deserve to be treated like crap, right? This story is quite different — it is one of a man just like you and I, a man in the wrong place at the wrong time. Mark and I have been friends for 10 years and have been corresponding through letters during the past 6 months he has been in jail waiting for his court date to be set.
Jim enrolled in the Marines after high school; he was a survivor of the Beirut barracks bombing as well as an RPG attack in Iraq, which resulted in injuries requiring several surgeries and rehab. After his time in the Marines, he joined the National Guard, went to college, earned a degree and eventually earned a commercial pilot's license and flew for a major airline.
Now, he is incarcerated. The following are his words:
"The food is barely palatable and the place is filthy with broken toilets overflowing on the floors. I'm not sure if its stress or bacteria related, but I've had horrible diarrhea for the last three months.
"I've been working in the bakery from 2 a.m. to 7 a.m. Monday through Friday, the kitchen here is filthy, and there is no food handling or sanitary procedures in effect. The place smells of rotting food. I thought working during the hours I could not sleep would help, but I don't even want to touch the food here now after what I've seen.
"I bought two jars of peanut butter and pretty much plan on living on that.
"The cells smell so bad and the area is so filthy, I have to hold my breath when I walk into them from outside. The cell housing unit I am in smells like someone smeared their s--- all over the walls and they probably did. Combine that with the smell of garbage and moldy backed-up shower drains it just turns my stomach. Lately, I'd rather sleep outside on the ground than be in here.
"My doctor started feeding me antidepressants after all this happened, I guess they just make me numb most of the time. I think I've slept 65 out of the last 72 hours, mainly because it is about the only way to stay warm, pull the blanket over my head and pray for unconsciousness to escape the reality of what's going on.
"It's so cold in the cell block at night; it makes it a challenge to stay warm, inmates are issued one blanket that is usually worn out. A second blanket would be nice but they are not given out."
"The nurse came in with the morning meds; it's just like 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.' We all line up with a dull expression on our faces shuffling along in these God-awful slippers we have to wear, pop your pills and drink your water then open your mouth and lift your tongue like a good boy to show that you swallowed your pills. Some days I really feel like I am in a mental institution.
"So much of the hardship now is mental, just trying to keep faith and hope. I have never had to work so hard not to loose hope.
"I was told by the paralegal here that taking a public defender for a murder trial guarantees the defendant a death sentence."
This is a good man who I believe is innocent, merely in the wrong place at the wrong time. He has served our country from day one and is now treated like an animal. Let's try to remember we are dealing with human beings here.
Who knows, one day it may be you or I in his position.
The cost of retaining a lawyer for his case? $150,000, which Mark cannot afford. Wrong place, wrong time — that's all it takes; it could happen to any one of us today.
Jamey can be reached by e-mail at: jamey.sackett@asu.edu.
