Bloody bath it was. I was covered in the two inmates’ blood and so was
a lot of others. I hated fights, but I really hated knife fights. And
there were two kinds-the knifing: to kill and the one just to cut or
teach a lesson to someone. But today, it was all about more than
respect, it was all about death and dying. And this was it-The Snake
Pit, Ellis Unit near Riverside, Texas in 1978. This unit was known then
as the deadliest, most evil, most cruel, most barbaric prison house
known to mankind. It was not a place where photos were allowed unless
you were some freaky freak enjoying it and got away with it. Well, I
wasn’t and I hated blood being sprayed all over me. But more than that,
I hated being blinded with it in my eyes going into a knife fight. And
this one was nearest me and the one closest to the fight had to handle
up on it. I was the Correctional Officer closest to it. I had beat the
Turnkeys or Floorboys to the fight. It was now my fight to get it
stopped without anyone dying.
See complete article at:
Counterpunch One more excerpt:
Like in the latest Harry Potter movie, the flying sinister prison
guards in it is how society sees today’s Correctional Officers. But the
hardships placed on both Offender and Correctional Officer is just
something that no one wants to talk about. But a person’s self ordained
knowledge of both Offender and Correctional Officer is what is helping
to turn Texas into the Garden State of Incarceration without a fair
trial (jurors are given informations that premeditate them to a guilty
verdict, even if unconscious) and spiraling prison costs. And for sure,
folks already know about most everything and put some of the dumbest
ideas about things in their brains from a fictitious book or movie. But
things have got to change. I ,for one, don’t believe that a fair trial
has ever taken place in the history of Texas at all. Yea, that’s right
and I said it. You can take it to the bank now baby.
Texas Civil Rights Review 