Collective Punishment in Texas Prisons: Doing Another Man’s Time

Daniel Harris writes about the frustration of collective punishment in Texas prisons — when lockdowns, lost privileges, and harsh restrictions fall on everyone because of a few men smoking K-2.

Collective Punishment in Texas Prison: Doing Another Man’s Time

In the 34 years I’ve been in Texas prison, I’ve come to grips with my guilt and accepted doing my time. What I’ve never been able to get used to is doing another man’s time.

Locked Down for Someone Else’s Mistake

Our building just missed our entire two-week commissary because a shank was found in a common area — the shower. That shakedown only happened because of recent drug deaths. Today we are locked in our cells again for a 24-hour investigative lockdown because one guy was smoking K-2 in his cell with two friends standing in the day room at his door.

Miami collapsed immediately. Boogie, true to his name, started tripping out and dancing, then ran and refused to sit down. He tried to fight anyone who tried to help him. Rank was called. Fingers were checked to identify other smokers after medical arrived and took them away. We were still left sitting in the day room.

Then officers got to Beaumont’s cell. He broke and ran to the shower area — probably trying to flush his drugs. They had to wrestle him down.

That’s when they locked all of us down.

Most of Us Don’t Smoke

The truth is most of us don’t smoke. We did nothing wrong. We’re still being punished.

Now they’re saying that whenever someone is caught impaired, their property will be taken for 15 days and they’ll be moved to a building that will soon be filled with smokers under close scrutiny. The next step is supposed to be confiscating their tablets.

We’ll see how that goes.

The strange thing is that most of the hardest smokers — the ones who cause the majority of the problems — don’t own much of anything. Just piles of roach-infested property and fire hazards. It’s not unusual for them to have sold their tablets for drugs or destroyed them while high.

Mass Punishment Creates More Problems

What we all know is this: until smokers suffer real consequences, they’ll keep smoking. There’s no fear of death. I’ve seen men beaten viciously by other prisoners for smoking in the day room, only to go right back and smoke again.

Mass punishment leads to prisoners trying to enforce rules themselves. I see it coming again. We’re all tired of suffering from doing other men’s time.

Where Are the Drugs Coming From?

You would think the many deaths would limit the desire to smoke this poison. They keep telling us the deaths here — and in other prisons — were due to battery acid. Maybe that’s true. Maybe it’s a cover story.

What no one wants to admit is that this quantity of drugs is getting in somehow. That likely means staff involvement. And that would require the prison system to allow outside agencies to investigate staff thoroughly.

In my opinion, until they clean up staff corruption, there will always be a drug problem.

It Wasn’t Always Like This

There have always been drugs in prison, and there probably always will be. The difference now is that today anyone can get them.

Years ago, prisoners were careful. Even drug paraphernalia could get you a major case and rolled to medium custody. People were selective. Not everyone had access. Not everyone wanted it.

Now dope fiends smoke like it’s legal, and the rest of us do their time.

Zero Tolerance or Nothing Changes

Until Texas prison returns to zero tolerance for drug use, this will continue. Beat up a dope fiend and they’ll report you. You’ll end up on medium custody.

At least then you’d be doing your own time.

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