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| Jonathan White has been incarcerated for 42 years and been repeatedly denied parole in spite of being a model prisoner. |
I have been up since 4 a.m. when the diabetics were called to "stand by" to receive their insulin. For years now my biological time clock has been geared to a 3:30-4 a.m. wake-up. I guess my upbringing as an early riser has been ingrained in my biological time schedule. It is also a good quiet time when I can read my morning devotion and plan my day. It is one of the most peaceful times inside this environment for personal reflection.
Laundry services start early at this facility too. Workers report to work at the same time the kitchen workers start their first shift, 3:30 a.m. They come to the pod and collect the dirty laundry for the wash details, then return it clean later in the day.
Today, another round of transfers is in progress. The process of transferring all those that do not meet the criteria of the new reculturalization project here and replacing them with parole eligible offenders and veterans is still underway.
Last week the transport bus broke down before it could leave the facility, so that run had to be rescheduled. Yes, there were some rather disappointed folks, but they just had to go with the flow. There are over 750 men currently approved to transfer into this facility out of 1200 applicants that opped to participate through the advertisement on the JPay kiosk announcement posted in February. I have seen men recently that have been transferred here from as far back in my incarcerated times as July 12, 1982.
Yes, that is the date I first stepped foot on the Southampton Correctional Center and served my first nineteen years of my sentence. Southampton was considered a youthful offender facility during that time for first-offenders and anyone under the age of 25. I was just a fresh 22-year-old, and had never been in any type of penal system whatsoever, juvenile or adult.
Doing time then was much more productive and rehabilitation oriented then it is today! Men had a desire to strive to earn every privilege they could to make their lives better both while in prison and for when they left prison behind. The foolishness that many of today's younger generation allows would have never existed or been tolerated. I know first hand because I lived through many of the hardships and struggles that the older generation had fought and bled for to achieve. But today the rehabilitation oriented mindset has been replaced with drug abuse and mental health issues.
Yes, the DOC is definitely a major participant in the lack of rehabilitation and the mayhem the prison system faces now. But the type of offender's coming into the prison system are also a major factor. Men who were revolutionary militants fighting to change the economic and racial issues prior to the 1980's and used the legal justice system to fight those oppressive injustices have been replaced by "crack babies" "heroin and mental health post-war veterans," and the lack of rehabilitation. Society has made a prison cell its solution rather than addressing the problem with the proper rehabilitation. It is easy to make excuses for people's criminal behaviors when it doesn't affect them directly. But when little Mikey and Susan are in their elementary school classroom exchanging sexual favors, or using their allowances for some spice, crack, heroin, methamphetamines or some other mind altering illegal chemical substances, that's a problem. Next you have the early development of the soon to be incarcerated felon rather than a social graduate.
Okay, this story does have many different versions as to how it all comes about. But the prison system is not the fix-all for everything. I am told all the time that to heal and redeem one's self we each have to take responsibility for our own actions. Believe me, I have been up and down that rocky path as well. Don't get me misunderstood here, taking responsibility for our own actions doesn't solve all the problems we are going to continually face in a lawless society. But it does allow us to recognize that each of us can be a positive part of the solution.
This LVCC reculturalization project has many men transferring into Lawrenceville with the hope of being granted parole if they subject themselves to the planned programming that this unstructured and undeveloped prison revamping has to offer now that the VaDOC has resumed oversight its day to day operations. I sincerely caution everyone that chose this planned project not to look outside themselves for such a reward that doesn't exist. Those of us here are going to have to deal with some major crap we have to put behind us to live the rehabilitated lives that we have struggled to achieve over the years of our incarceration. The LVCC reculturalization project has a very long way to go to develop. Some of the task is going to have to be of our own design. Yes, we are all back on that road of "responsibility" again. Collectively, this facility has a blighted past history of illicit irresponsible behavior on the part of everyone who was here when many of us arrived.
Today, that can change and a positive solution can be achieved. It is going to take a community of minds working together to set the tone for true reculturalization in this facility. It should start with granting parole to those of us who have been through the fire of change and allow us the opportunity to serve as examples for others to follow. Give us the second chances and employment and volunteer rights to help those behind with our community service. This will be a positive demonstration of rehabilitation.
Blessings,
Jonathan White
Parole Eligible/Veteran - LVCC
Here is a link to a record of Mr. White's achievements:
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