Dollars and Sense

They can put you in prison, or vindicate your civil rights. Of all the public officials involved in our justice system, prison guards, parole officers and the parole board, along with the Department of Corrections (DOC) and the Montana State Prison (MSP) personnel wield the most influence and power over a prisoners life. Presumably then, when we entrust members of the administration system of the judiciary with such power, we expect them to follow the law and conduct themselves in an ethical and professional manner.

Unfortunately that is always not the case, as demonstrated by the following examples of misconduct and outright corruption:

From 1966 to 1996 the State of Montana spent a little over 380 million dollars on Corrections. From 1996 to 2000 your DOC spent over 480 million dollars. Now each year DOC continues to request larger and larger operational budgets consisting of millions upon millions of your tax dollars, so inept, indolent family and friends of these appointed officials, can now have a job with benefits and paid vacations. Some of these people who feed off your tax dollars are so unqualified for their jobs, they were not able to retain a job at the local hamburger joint, because they could not, “with or without pickles” right.

There is so much abuse of power and corruption here at MSP, it boggles the mind at where one would begin telling the story, but I will try!

Top prison officials were found ordering material through the prison to remodel their private homes. These materials were “all” bought with prison funds, and of course paid for with your tax dollars.

Were these officials reprimanded or fired? No! In fact some even received promotions and pay raises.

Prison officials use cars from the prisons ample carpool, for their own personal and private usage. Of course these vehicles operate on fuel from the prisons fuel tanks, which of course is paid for with your tax dollars.

The term “trickle down economy” has been perfected by those who have power here at MSP, and it all trickles right down into their pockets. Your tax dollars, that is!

Montana Correctional Enterprise (MCE) is probably one of the most corrupt organised set-ups the State of Montana has created. The Montana State Prison has the largest acreage of land for its prison ranches, than any other prison ranches in the United States. At one time everything eaten by the prisoners was either grown or raised here, all done with prison labor. Everything is still operated with prison labor, which of course you the taxpayers pay for. Only now, everything grown or raised here is sold on the open market at pure profit.

Then they buy “d-grade” products, such as meat and food products, that can only be sold to institutions and dog food companies, to feed to the prison population, which of course alot of the staff will not even eat. Even thought these meals are offered to them free of charge, they still choose to bring their own lunches. even our dairy products, which are all produced right here at the dairy are bought back from MCE with your tax dollars, before these items are fed to the prison population.

Even our prison canteen (which has always made a profit, with the proceeds going to the prisons Inmate Welfare Fund, I.W.F), has been taken over by MCE. Upon MCE taking over the operations of our prison canteen, products we are forced to purchase are now sold to us at an unbelievable price increase. For example: A pair of thermal grey socks we once paid $1.75 for, are now sold to us at a cost of $11.76. A container of dental floss of 100 yards, we once paid

.78c for, is now sold to us in 18 inch strips, at .04c a strip, which now cost us $8.00 for the equivalent 100 yards. And this type of extortion goes on and on, throughout the canteen items we are forced to buy, if we, the population wish to obtain these products.

So why would MCE borrow $150,000.00 from the IWF to restock our canteen?

For decades, prisoners, elected by the prison population, sat on the IWF committee and oversaw theexpenditures of those funds. But DOC has taken that oversight away from the prison population, and now the money is spent how administrative personnel sees fit.

A prisoner is sent to prison because that person broke the law. One would think that person is sent to prison to be rehabilitated as well as being punished for his actions. Although, one would think that in the process of a prisoners rehabilitation, he would hopefully gain an education, or maybe learn a vocation whereupon he may be paroled back into the community as a productive member of society.

But politics have changed so drastically within Montan’s DOC this is no longer true. A prisoner who now enters DOC or MSP is nothing more than a commodity for those who run the operations.

Even the parole board has worked out a symbiotic relationship between the administration and the guards, who hold so much power over a prisoners release.

When prisoners sit in prison long pst their parole eligibility dates, because of write-ups like: wearing their baseball cap backwards during their recreation time, or smoking a cigarette, sitting on a concrete table…or any of the other insane, trivial rules designed to keep prisoners in prison long past their parole dates, at a cost to the taxpayers of millions of dollars. There is no other reason for this kind of treatment, other than to perpetuate an already bloated prison population, at a cost to the taxpayers of millions upon millions of dollars year after year. This is diabolical!

You the taxpayers have got to wake-up and start demanding how your prison system is wasting your tax dollars! Otherwise your elected and appointed officials will continue to get richer and richer on your tax dollars, and, “you”, the tax paying public will be left with no sense!

Anthell A. Brown -MSP 2009