I've started volunteering for the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization that takes on some very curly social issues as advocacy campaigns. They are, as far as I know, the only folks in town who are actively pursuing prison reform. It may seem obvious why I did this, from my history with Justice Action, but it still wasn't entirely clear to me until I encountered the question on their info form. Why now, after a year back in the states, and why them, after having decided to volunteer on border issues with No More Deaths?

For starters, at the end of last year, NMD's decided to take 3 months off of meeting, but continued to support the project in Nogales. Decisions were still being made, but not with the input of the membership. Then last week, I heard rumors of a faction starting up their own meetings because they were not happy about the decisions that were being made. While I agree that there needs to be some attempt at democracy within the group, I'm not interested in getting in there and stepping on toes while sorting it out. I also felt very uncomfortable with the idea of being on-site in Nogales under the banner of a fragmented and disorganized group. My medical skills and knowledge are considerably worse than my Spanish (which is adequate to be generous), and so I would be about as useful as Mr. Clippy, the annoying paperclip assistant on Winblows.

"It looks like you're trying to migrate to the U.S. Would you like some water and a burrito?"

When what they really need is a week's rest, money, and a decent coyote at a minimum. Some of them need an ambulance and a lawyer.

So I thought I would go volunteer my time back with the crims. At least with them, you can maintain contact and see what kind of effect the work is having. On my second day there, I was on the phone with the Assistant Attorney General, asking him to help me shine some light on something called the "Violence Control Unit" at Eyman in Florence. It is so secret, it's not even on their website, and they refuse to release official policy on its use. So, already, I've put the powers-that-be on alert that somebody in this state gives a shit about these things.

I also responded to a prisoner who wanted to get his G.E.D, but because he is in super-maximum security, there are no education programs available. I phoned the prison and asked them why he was in super-max. They said it was because of threats to staff and violent behavior. So I wrote to him and told him what they'd told me. I added that while I know it's easy to get angry about the conditions, his ultimate revenge would come when he gets out of lockdown and back into education classes. Then when he gets out and gets a good job, he can laugh at the guards who still have to go to prison every day.