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BarbaraAnnVT · #1 03-23-2007, 09:13 AM

sadly this isn't the first time he's been there. I've spent many a weekend sitting in their visiting room over the past 4 years as he's been in and out.
He was arrested in MA back in February 2006 and held there for 9 months then brought to Rutland VT and 3 months ago returned to SSCF where they now have him closed custody.. awaiting MA to get him for a one day sentence execution trial then he'll be returned to VT to serve his time. We're hoping that he doesn't get shipped out of state. In may we will have been married for 2 years and together for 4.
I'll get into more details as I get a little more comfortable talking in public so to speak about the entire situation.
I have been a member of Prison Talk for quite some time but rarely post. SomehowI always seem to have people who email me and belittle me for sticking by my man. It's taken me a while but my thought now is.. it's my life.. if you don't like the way I live it leave me alone!
Anyhow, it would be great to chat with other Vermonters who have a loved one in the DOC. I have Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger Yahoo = badurpey and MSN = *email address removed*

Hope to talk to you soon

Barb

Geri12 · #2 08-29-2007, 05:16 PM

I'm new to this site but am very thankful I've found it. My cousin, (who's like a brother to me) is also in the SSCC in Springfield, Vt. I just heard last night from his Dad (My uncle) the he's being shipped to Ky. in 10 days..

pmitch10 · #3 09-13-2007, 06:05 AM

blewinger · #4 10-07-2007, 02:57 PM

I have two sons, one at SSCF in Springfield, and one at LAC in Kentucky;
My son who is in Ky says it is the best place he's ever been; he's back there after serving a year in Oklahoma. He's actually very happy there. I was so worried at first; he's been inside for over three years now, with one to go.
The son who is in Vt. has a major disorder; he has been there for a year, and I've been working to get him out and back on a community sentence. It looks hopeful, but it's been taking forever.
I am a believer that support and connections help the guys who are in there; it's a very different social structure. They all need as much support as they can get.
If anyone tells you you're making a mistake by standing by someone who is serving time; ignore them. Just tell them they're very lucky to not have to worry about such a situation for themselves, if you tell them anything at all! And, other than that, you don't need to keep talking with any person who is so ignorant as to think every inmate is some sort of loser; they're not.

MountainMom · #5 10-07-2007, 03:09 PM

BarbaraAnn,
I haven't seen you around in awhile. I hope all is well and you are finding some support here. It's so hard to be strong and stand by our inmates when others judge so easily.

Hi Blewinger...welcome back to PTO. My friend was just transfered out of SSCF to another in state facility. He has also said that the inmates really like KY a lot. It's got a great Substance Abuse Program, lot's to do and isn't a bad place to do time. I hope your other son, who's in Springfield, gets to transfer out soon.

I am also a huge believer of support and family/friend connections. It gives them a tangible reason as to why they should be working to get better and to learn from their bad decisons or mistakes. Our friend has been transferred about 2 1/2 hours from our home, so we can't visit very often anymore and I can hear the frustration and sadness in his voice. I understand it's about financials, but I wish they would do a little more research before they just start moving them around. I hope PTO is a good support for you and that your sons are okay.

blewinger · #6 10-07-2007, 03:19 PM

Well, one son isn't OK; he has a form of autism and I've had a very difficult time working with the DOC to get him OUT. It's looking hopeful, but just the other day he was put back in isolation; he doesn't mind it there, but he saw a childhood friend die in fromt of him when he was in there last winter.
DOC has actually tried to keep his sensory issues in check; and he was in Hotel unit for a whole four months prior to this; I'm hoping he will call soon and let me know what happened; when I call they never will tell me.
Some of the CO's there are pretty good; they do care; then there are some who actually go out of their way to instigate and create problems.
I have been very busy trying to advocate for him.
My other son will come back to Vermont in May 08. He's so happy to be out of Oklahoma. I'm hoping to save enough cash to go for a visit but I can't predict when it will be! His son wants to go with me (he's 14) so if I go, I'll plan it for a school vacation. I haven't seen him since they shipped him out of SSCF.
I see you post alot here. I can help with some issues that people may have; my experience is with the parole board, and with things currently in the works at the state level. Treatment issues, and contacts within the dept. for getting things done.
What I have found is that the folks in Waterbury really have no clue as to some of the things our inmates have to endure; it's not supposed to be that way!
I found the medical staff to be substandard. I frighten myself reading some of the horrible things that have happened to people in the past.
Ever hear of the Stanford prison experiment? It's true to life as it unfolds in some situations.
Nice to have your welcome; I'm glad to be back!

MountainMom · #7 10-07-2007, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blewinger

Well, one son isn't OK; he has a form of autism and I've had a very difficult time working with the DOC to get him OUT. It's looking hopeful, but just the other day he was put back in isolation; he doesn't mind it there, but he saw a childhood friend die in fromt of him when he was in there last winter...
my experience is with the parole board, and with things currently in the works at the state level. Treatment issues, and contacts within the dept. for getting things done.
What I have found is that the folks in Waterbury really have no clue as to some of the things our inmates have to endure; it's not supposed to be that way!
IEver hear of the Stanford prison experiment? It's true to life as it unfolds in some situations.
Nice to have your welcome; I'm glad to be back!

Okay...I edited and am going to try and respond to each and will probably pm you too. First and most importantly, I'm so sorry you and your son are going through all of this. I got in touch with a medical advocate from the state early on and she was a bit of a help. I'm sure you've talked with her. How have his caseworkers been? Are they of any help to you? Our friends have been a big help to him, but each person and relationship is different.

Can you please tell me why they transfer inmates within the state? I understand if there's overcrowding at one, but if there isn't, is it all about money? Do they just pick a random inmate ID number and say...he's going? Who makes that decision? Does it come from Waterbury? Can you tell I hate not knowing and would like some answers. Do they understand how hard all of this is on the families too? Not just the inmate suffers and I'm sure not going to take off on him, because why would he want to work on it then? Grrr.

I remember when that boy died last year, it was very sad and traumatic. I'm so sorry it happened while your son was there and that they grew up together...that sure couldn't have helped him at all.

What is the Stanford Prison expt? I've never heard of it and I'm not sure I'm gonna like it.

All in all, I have to say that SSCF has been very good to our friend. He worked hard, made the right choices and truly "enjoyed" as much as one can, his time there. He definately appreciates what he had, let's put it that way.

Thanks for offering to help, I do have lots of questions and VT could use some more participants.

blewinger · #8 10-07-2007, 03:45 PM

Well, they transfer within the state due to the fact that A.) SSCF ordinarily will not keep an inmate who has a lengthy sentence. If someone has a 6 month sentence to serve, he might just stay right there, but, if there's a requirement to do a program and it's not available at SSCF, then, he's shipped to a facility that has the program.
I'm not aware that within the state, they have what's called the security levels; min. med. and max., but there are times when inmates are moved due to their DR history.
Inmates with a year or more to serve are always sent out of state. They seem to start with KY; however, that seems to have changed. My oldest son told me that Vt. guys were showing up in Oklahoma, pretty confused, because they had been told they were going to KY.
The plan had been to ship my youngest son to KY; but with his disorder, he would have ended up in solitary for the whole time. The DOC agreed to keep him in VT. for that reason. (he's very passive, for example. He's taken a beating twice and never fought back.) I don't know what you may know about Asperger's or AS disorder's, but they can have some terrible consequences for those who have them in such a setting as a prison.
so, no, they are not moved in a random fashion. The caseworker usually makes the decision, sometimes based on what the court orders, and often times takes some things into consideration, as they did for my youngest.
Anyone who goes in right after sentencing, if the sentence is longer than a year, is generally shipped out asap.
How can I get IM ability?

MountainMom · #9 10-07-2007, 03:49 PM

I know about Aspergers, isn't it a mild form of autism? That's got to be so hard. Do you visit him much, even special visits?

To pm me, click on the MountainMom at the top and it will say pm. Hit that and you can write a note there. I will get it started for you.

blewinger · #10 10-07-2007, 03:50 PM

The Stanford prison experiment was done by Stanford University (can be found on line) and it cocerned keeping other people in a captive state. The experiment had to be called off because it changed good decent law abiding students into little ivan the terribles; it's a psychological thing.
My son may know your friend; he seems to know everyone up there!

blewinger · #11 10-07-2007, 03:57 PM

Yes, it's a form of autism. He doesn't like visits because he has a very hard time reading people; he doesn't like to draw any attention to himself. I visit if he asks; went a couple of weeks ago. He doesn't like the strip search after visits; and one time, he was "dry celled" because a CO claimed to see something; it was retaliation for his speaking out about the boy who died, I'm sure of it. They really ragged on him. He's been traumatized greatly. He doesn't smile or laugh anymore; he's afraid nearly all the time. Some of the CO played on it for quite a while. His last unit has been great, though. His caseowrker knows about Asperger's and was able to help out. There are a multitude of sensory issues (sound, light, smells) and his mind blindness leaves him in the dark in terms of communicating. He doesn't talk much; keeps to himself.
I'll be calling right away tomorrow to get a video visit arranged. He doesn't mind those since he doesn't have to strip.

BarbaraAnnVT · #12 10-08-2007, 05:50 PM

HI all. I haven't been around much I will admit and yes I find great peace of mind here!

As luck would have it in my life things tend to happen all at once and when I least expect them.

SSCF is not good to my husband or to me because he is my husband. His alleged victim worked there for about a year. So they are all being to put it nicely dickheads. One CO was married on the alleged vicitms front lawn and this CO is my husbands unit supervisor. So yeah its been a fun ride at SSCF.

I have had a CO contact me on a personal level through myspace.com and ask me when I was going to get rid of my husband and hook up with the CO. That was reported immediately. Which of course SSCF loved and decided to take it out on my husband in little ways like loss of rec time. Someone dropping off tobacco at the facility front office mail but they realized that was a set up when they saw it didn't have a post mark on it. My hubbie was assaulted by a guard and we are having some serious mail delivery issues there.

It just seems like its one thing after another. Then my son gets tossed in SSCF for a week for not doing his work crew so they made him serve his remaining days with I think was a good idea.. but when it came time to visit... his case worker tells me I am on the banned visiting list. OK right! I have had a visit with my husband every week for the past 20 months... I don't think that qualifies me as banded. Oh nope sorry. I missed one visit. I think it was mountainmom who posted an aerial photo of the prison. Not thinking I sent that to my husband... low and behold they assumed I was sending him a map of how to escape. I immediately had a meeting with the Super and Assist. Super and there the same aerial photo was on the wall of the office. It took about 10 minutes for them to decide that I was not giving him a map to escape and I got visits back.

This is not my husband's first time in SSCF. He was there back in 2003/2004 for a period. It was sooooo much different. Then again they had different administrative people.

WOW! I guess I had a lot pent up that I didn't even realize. Feels good to just sit and type about it and not worry about being judged. Although I will admit I have a bit of a phobia at posting on sites like this. I was in another more local site forum and an ex boyfriend who I broke up with to be with the man I am now with - my hubby - was very angry at me and got on that forum and posted some very awful things. Of course he forgot to tell every one that I had to call the police on him because he was calling my work threatening me and that he created several websites of me that had adult photos of myself that he and I took when we were together that were personal and sexy and playful. He sent the link to the website to my co workers, landlord, newspapers and to my son's school teachers at the time. I stopped posting every where and pretty much hid myself online. It's taken me a while to get over it and realize that he is just an angry little man who needs to move on with his life and leave me alone to live mine.

When my husband was arrested this ex started in again with the profiles of me. I had to report it to the police and yahoo to get it stopped. He even went so far as to contact my husband's alleged victim and tell her all sorts of lies.

It's people like him and the ones that beat us down for caring about a human being who has made some bad choices in life that really just make me wonder where all or hell any compassion has gone to in this world.

ok ok ok I've rambled.. but i sure do feel better.

Barb

blewinger · #13 10-08-2007, 06:31 PM

Wow, Barb! That story sounds a little familiar to me; the CO's can and DO make life a little rough when they want to. Before SSCF began to give some consideration to my son, we went through some similar stuff. Extremely frustrating.
And of all people to have "offended"; seems to me they should be able to relocate him if this is true, to another location where this personal stuff won't take center stage.

blewinger · #14 10-08-2007, 06:34 PM

Yes, and the map thing is policy; they just don't let us know; I also sent an aerial to my son in OK; just for fun and curiosity; he didn't get into trouble, but had to hand them over and sign something; my stupid mistake! Of course, it's overkill except for maybe that one in a billionth time; wish they had a handbook for family on all the rules and regs. There's so much on line; it's hard to sift through.

BarbaraAnnVT · #15 10-08-2007, 06:50 PM

we have asked for just that - for him to be moved to another facility. He still sits in SSCF. The only good thing about him being at SSCF is that he's about a 3 mile drive from where I live. I am going to see him tomorrow... video visits. Better than nothing.
B

blewinger · #16 10-08-2007, 07:15 PM

My son liked them because he didn't have to go through the search thing; my son goes back to his unit tomorrow.
did you ask prisoner's rights about getting him moved? I'd think there's good cause in what you say... I don't see why they can't do it faster; but, then, if he still has court dates maybe they can't. I can look into the rules for you if you want..

BarbaraAnnVT · #17 10-08-2007, 09:53 PM

He's talked to Darla Lawton just about every time she is at the prison. I don't know what the hold up is. The head of security told my husband that just because I wrote and asked them a question didn't mean they were obligated to reply since HE is the one in jail not me. I hate to tell the snot nose punk this but when a wife has her husband in jail.... she most certainly is in jail also in a sense. What they do to him has a direct effect on me because he is my man.
Looking into the rules would be great. Is there a place online that has them? THe Corrections website has the policies and whatnot but when I asked for a copy of the rules and regs I was told that it was too lengthy and that anything I needed could be found in the policies on the doc website. I looked. hell at this point I think I have the policies memorized. So any help is great help!!
Thank you.
B

blewinger · #18 10-09-2007, 06:49 AM

First of all, you are entitled to receive a copy of anything you ask for; I think in Vermont; they can ask you to pay for the copies; something like three cents a page. Tell them to send it, and let you know what the fee is for copying. They have to. I did this for medical records and it cost me five dollars. They do have a right for some level of reimbursement for large numbers of pages; but that's OK.
No one will answer you because they have nothing to say that would indicate things can change and they can't give you any guidance or advice (only an attorney can do that).

blewinger · #19 10-09-2007, 09:28 PM

I heard there's also another forum for Vermont; anyone know? I'd like to join both of them; if there's another....

MountainMom · #20 10-09-2007, 11:06 PM

Ooh, I don't know. There's a site called prisonville, but it's not my cup of tea, shall we say.

BarbaraAnnVT · #21 10-10-2007, 08:36 PM

i was once in a yahoo group that was for loved ones of inmates. It wasn't focused just on VT. There is one that focuses on Chittenden Correctional Facility but not an in general. If I find one I will certainly link y'all to it.
B

lonelyathome · #22 11-04-2007, 08:06 PM

BarbaraAnnVT I am sorry that you have no one to talk to. I know your story very well. I know your side and other peoples as well. And as much as it was not a good thing that happened..you did notparticipate in it. You were and are a vicitim yourself. We have talked online before and I am sorry that you are going through this difficult time that seems like it is never going to end.

BarbaraAnnVT · #23 11-05-2007, 06:07 AM

thank you for your kind words. I have talked to you online before? I'm sorry but your ID doesn't ring any bells to me. I can be reached for further conversation on yahoo messenger at barbdurphey

BarbaraAnnVT · #24 04-22-2008, 08:37 AM

I wasn't exactly sure where to put this... so here it is.

Hello! Hello!

Back in January 2008 and then again in March 2008 I wrote letting my family and friends know that they would be reading about me in the newspaper. Yesterday in Windham District Court down in Brattleboro VT after waiting and waiting for the State’s Attorney and my lawyer to settle on an agreement that would put going to court behind me I very reluctantly took a plea deal and left. I wish I’d asked more questions or even took it all the way to trial but that is too late now.

What did I do to get to court in the first place? I was asked to recreate a card that wasn’t very nice for the victim of someone. For several months I ignored the request. Even lied and said that I had done it when I hadn’t. The card was requested to be sent to family and friends of this victim. It never was and because of my actions never will be.

I took the request and along with a letter explaining what I was asked to do sent it to the victim with the plea that she please take the information and my letter to a judge and put a restraining order on the person who had victimized her. She did just that and was granted a restraining order. About a month later I was charged with Obstruction of Justice. I was charged with this because the victim felt threatened that I had contacted her, even though my ONLY intent was to provide her with a way to protect herself by getting the restraining order.

I have Power of Attorney over the person who had asked me to recreate this card. After the arraignment in January I thinking I was sending POA items was cited for violating conditions of release on two counts. Even though there was no written letter by me in the envelopes printed material off the computer was/is considered contact.

I admit in hindsight that I should have approached the police with the information and let them help her get the restraining order. So I was wrong for contacting her myself. The final charges that I pled to were aiding to commit a felony and two counts of violation of conditions of release. She felt threatened by my actions and so the state offered me a plea and I took it.

The victim has a restraining order on this man and he has left her alone for fear of having new charges brought against him. I may not have gone about it the right way but the end result - her getting a restraining order on him - allows me to accept the consequences and sleep at night.

I wanted to write you and let you know this all so that when you saw the paper if they actually print it that you would know why you are reading about me. And, hopefully this time the reporter will get all his facts right. In one previous article they had me listed as living in Guilford. Nope sorry I’ve only lived three places in my life Andover, Chester and now Springfield.

Love ya

Barb