My brother works as chaplin in a small correctional facility in southeast Arkansas. In addition, several members of my family have held positions at Cummins prison just outside the town of Gould. I have heard similar stories from all of them about the incorrigibility of some of these prisoners. Lifers almost routinely kill other prisoners, sometimes for the most trivial of disagreements. Not only do they remain dangerous, even if only to other prisoners, but they also dream of nothing but getting out and punishing society for their incarceration. Society would be safer if they were put down. I have two stories to present in support of that statement.
The first took place in the correctional facility outside of my home town of Dermott, Ar. There was a convict in this facility who had been sentenced to 20 years for violent assault with the intent to commit murder. He had killed one prisoner at Cummins and was subsequently transferred to my brother's unit. After his arrival he picked himself up a boyfriend. Evidently he was quite fond of him.
A few months later a group of younger prisoners, about twenty-ish, gangbangers, were transferred in. The leader of this group of street punks proceeded to take the older con's boyfriend away from him. Knowing it made him angry, he and his buds then made it their business to goad him about it at every opportunity. One particularly bad incident took place in the cafeteria line one day, when he fronted the older con and dared him to do something about it. When nothing happened he walked laughing back to his gang. A friend of the older con asked him "How can you take all that?"
He replied, "Hey man, every wolf has patience."
A few weeks later, he walked into the cafeteria, where the gang was sitting at the table eating their lunch. My brother had just finished eating and had left the room. The con walked up behind the ring-leader of the gang, pulled his head back, and cut his throat from ear to ear with a shank. Then, he jumped across the table and stabbed another in the chest. He then pursued his former boyfriend into the kitchen, tackled him, and began stabbing him from behind repeatedly. Witnesses said you could hear the knife hitting the concrete floor underneath the victim. The con then pursued two other members of the gang, who fled into a men's room and barred the door against him until he was subdued by the guards.
Two men dead, and another turned into a mental vegetable in less than a minute.
In the second story, a man kidnapped a young black couple out on a date. Good kids. He drove them to a deserted area, where he repeatedly raped the girl. Then he shot them both. The young girl died, but her date lived. He later testified against the attacker at his trial. The prosecutor wanted the death penalty, but the family of the girl begged for mercy. They were good Christian people and believed in forgiveness. So the judge gave him life in prison with no possibility of parole. The state of Arkansas breathed a sigh of relief. He couldn't harm us any longer because he was safely imprisoned.
Two weeks after his arrival at Cummins he escaped. A local farmer arrived home for dinner to be confronted by this felon, who broken into his house and armed himself with a pistol. He forced the man to kneel down on his front sidewalk and then shot him in the head. This con was eventually apprehended near the Arkansas/Missouri border, but only after shooting another woman and a high-speed chase in which he rammed civilian and patrol cars. He is now "safely" back in prison.
These are repeat offenders who couldn't care less about your rights as a human being. For this type of felon, there is only one punishment that guarantees the public's safety.
Regards, Shuckins
