A new prison program in Texas is bringing some positive changes in the lives of most hardened criminals and death row inmates. As per the new program, ‘recreational time’ is being offered to criminals who are well behaved, which includes the privilege of them spending several hours outside their cells.
As reported by Daily Mail, “The program’s allowances includes communal meals, TV time, prayer circles and – for the first time in decades – direct human contact.” Rodolfo ‘Rudy’ Alvarez Medrano happens to be one of the prisoners who was granted some outside time as after 20 years, he was out of his death row cell at the Allan B. Polunsky Unit in West Livingston without handcuffs.
Before this program, Medrano had spent his days in isolation for almost 22 hours a day. Talking about how great the program is, he said, “All of these changes have given guys hope.” It was under former warden Daniel Dickerson that this program was launched, as he believed that offering certain basic amenities and privileges to the inmates would lead to better outcomes from their prison time.
Dickerson said, “It’s definitely helped give them something to look forward to. All it takes is one bad event, and that could shut it down for a long time. And they understand that.”
Dickerson further added, “It’s definitely helped give them something to look forward to. All it takes is one bad event, and that could shut it down for a long time. And they understand that because they’ve been behind those doors for so long – they know what they have to lose probably more than anybody else.”
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Since the beginning of the program, things have been significantly better both for the inmates and the prison staff. There have been no dr-g seizures, fights, or incidents requiring disciplinary action. Given the way the prisoners are behaving it has significantly reduced the workload of the staff as well as they are having to deal with lesser adverse situations.
Talking about the same, Amanda Hernandez, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said, “Would you rather work with people who are treating you with respect, or who are yelling and screaming at you every time you walk in? It’s a no-brainer.”
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The program allows the prisoners to spend the daytime together without being in the shackles and have face-to-face conversations without having to talk through vents. They are also allowed to pray and on Sundays, the small group also comes together for Church services. Other inmates help with the cleaning of the common room or watch television together.
The adverse effects of solitary confinement is already a widely discussed topic and therefore, this program is naturally showing its positive results on the mental health of the death row inmates. Talking about how it feels to have human contact or live out of an isolated existence, one death row inmate named Robert Roberson said, “It made me feel a little bit human again after all these years.”
