Friday, July 24th the Macon Telegraph published an OpEd written by a woman currently serving a life sentence at Pulaski State Prison. She expresses the frustrations many of us involved in work with the GDOC and who have family/ friends incarcerated share. Unfortunately those who have taken time out of their day to comment on her piece seem to have a negative view (to say the least) of those who are incarcerated. I am posting the opinion by Ms. Fuller below as well as a link to the Macon Telegraph page where the article is found along with comments.
Friday, Jul 24, 2009
Prison system not looking to rehabilitate
By Veronica Fuller
Special to The Telegraph
My name is Veronica Fuller and I am incarcerated at Pulaski State Prison.
I read the paper every day and people complain without giving a positive solution. One person talked about “three hots and a cot” like prison is so wonderful. It is far from it. The state keeps cutting back so there are no real solutions for positive rehabilitation for many.
It would be much cheaper on the state and taxpayers if the prison system provided the resources so that upon release we would not return to the same things that got us in prison.
What taxpayers don’t see is that the prison industry is a billion dollar business, and as long as the system provides no resources we are pretty much sure to return. If there was no crime? how many people would be without jobs. Police officers, prison guards, FBI, GBI, probation and parole officers all would be unemployed. The system is designed for a person’s failure.
Instead of putting a bandage over the problem, fix it and watch how differently things will change. Some truly deserve to never get out, but 80 percent have truly made some bad choices and are looking to change their lives. As President Obama said, “change will not come overnight and it will take all of us coming together.”
We must all remember what our purpose in life is, and it cannot be attained alone. The only difference between me and the other inmates and people who are free is they did not get caught.
Change is a must. As an African American I have reached out to the NAACP in Macon, Atlanta, Henry County, New York and Maryland, seeking assistance. The only time anyone ever responded was when I requested a NAACP membership. The NAACP has truly lost sight of what its purpose was when W.E.B. Dubois founded it. For $30 I can join the “Fight for Freedom” but unless I have money, connections or a high profile case, they won’t respond.
It is a shame when the ACLU and Southern human rights won’t, at the very least, respond and say they are unable to help.
Veronica Fuller is incarcerated in Hawkinsville.
Georgia Prisons 
Robert said,
September 4, 2009 @ 8:55 pm
I agree. I spent 3 years working in the prison at Washington State Prison. Back in 2008, I came up with the idea of running a half-house for women. I came up with strong set of house rules. Planned carefully. Talked to number of Officers and even try to learn about the idea from a inmate’s point of view. I found out that Georgia department of Corrections does NOT care about doing this. Every email is a run around. Every phone call leads to nothing. I have since then lost faith in the idea . It is temporary canceled until I see some people other then me caring about the idea.
These women are in a hopeless situation and there is nothing anyone can do about it. All the prison does teach them how to be a good inmate and hardly nothing how to function on the outside. May God have mercy on their sole.