I am an inmate here at Jefferson City Correctional Center. I have been in prison for two years now and I have been truly done in. I have a 10 year sentence and I am certified as a Dangerous Offender by the $tate of Missouri.
Prisoners are allowed ten minute phone calls and showers every day, two to two-and-a-half hours of recreation a day. Ad Seg has three hours of recreation a week and three showers a week with no phone calls. We have written letters to the Attorney General, Governor Bob Holden and the Director of the MDOC for change but we get nowhere. We file grievances but they take up to 30 days to six months to get a response. The parole board refuses to release people from prison here and we have a dangerous problem on our hands.
I am a soldier-warrior who will not break or bend for these people. The reprisals are harmful to us. If they see you kiss your wife/girlfriend too much you can get a violation and lose your visits for 12 months.
The state censors certain books, and reading material in this prison system. The housing units have no group dining or recreation. If there are six people or more in a group they take you out to the hole for a violation. The control units are at Jefferson City, Licking, Bonne Terre, Charleston, Cameron and Potosi. The controlled movement and 22-hour lockdown are pitiful.
--a Missouri prisoner, 28 May 2004