The Black Box
August 19, 2007 - 11:00pm
I was scheduled to take the trip from Snake River Correctional Institute located at Ontario, Oregon to the Oregon State Correctional Institute in Salem in February 2007. At 0430 the officer woke me up on the day I was to go and gave me plastic bags to pack my things in. At 0600 I had gone to chow and by 0700 I was in R&D preparing to leave.
Preparing to leave is a major task. You are brought out, ordered to disrobe, under go a cavity search, are leg shackled, waist shackled, handcuffed and the Black Box is installed. The Black Box goes over the connecting links of the handcuffs and immobilizes the hands crossing them in front of the body. It causes the cuffs to dig into your wrists, your arms and hands cramp up and totally deprives you of the ability to use your hands for anything. It was supposedly invented by an inmate. You are then placed on the bus. Today we are lucky the bus has windows, this helps the trip go by quicker.
The bus leaves Ontario, Oregon at 0715 with Salem as the final destination. We ride in silence except for the complaints of pain due to the Black Box. As we ride the noise increases, the complaints multiply, and the need to use the restroom increases. After over three hours on the road we pull into our first major stop, at Two Rivers Correctional Institute.
While at Two Rivers Correctional Institute we wait two hours, eat a dry bologna sandwich, nothing to drink and get on the road. We come into the Portland area around 1530, take the bypass and head south to Salem. By now everybody is miserable. Our hands and arms are in extreme pain, everybody is thirsty and our patience is gone.
By the time we reach Oregon State Correctional Institute our hands are in total pain, thirst is beyond belief, and our bodies are beat. We unfortunately arrive at count time and thus have to wait two hours in holding. After about half an hour our restraints are removed, we can utilize the toilet, and get a drink of water.
Two at a time we are let out, undressed and get cavity searched (I can’t figure out where anybody could have gotten anything). We are issued two blankets, two sheets, one pillow case a t-shirt, underwear, jeans, shower shoes, socks, and one pair of tennis shoes. We get a sack lunch for dinner with water and patiently wait to go to our assigned areas. By 1930 we are in our cells.
The agony of settling in has begun. We can’t brush our teeth, or have any of our property for two days. The adventure of meeting new people, experiencing new guards, and learning a totally new procedure begins. Amazingly, every prison in Oregon is different.
I make my bed. Put up with the harassment of having a new cellmate. As I lay my tired aching body and mind down to rest I think about the next day.
BC is in prison in Oregon.
Preparing to leave is a major task. You are brought out, ordered to disrobe, under go a cavity search, are leg shackled, waist shackled, handcuffed and the Black Box is installed. The Black Box goes over the connecting links of the handcuffs and immobilizes the hands crossing them in front of the body. It causes the cuffs to dig into your wrists, your arms and hands cramp up and totally deprives you of the ability to use your hands for anything. It was supposedly invented by an inmate. You are then placed on the bus. Today we are lucky the bus has windows, this helps the trip go by quicker.
The bus leaves Ontario, Oregon at 0715 with Salem as the final destination. We ride in silence except for the complaints of pain due to the Black Box. As we ride the noise increases, the complaints multiply, and the need to use the restroom increases. After over three hours on the road we pull into our first major stop, at Two Rivers Correctional Institute.
While at Two Rivers Correctional Institute we wait two hours, eat a dry bologna sandwich, nothing to drink and get on the road. We come into the Portland area around 1530, take the bypass and head south to Salem. By now everybody is miserable. Our hands and arms are in extreme pain, everybody is thirsty and our patience is gone.
By the time we reach Oregon State Correctional Institute our hands are in total pain, thirst is beyond belief, and our bodies are beat. We unfortunately arrive at count time and thus have to wait two hours in holding. After about half an hour our restraints are removed, we can utilize the toilet, and get a drink of water.
Two at a time we are let out, undressed and get cavity searched (I can’t figure out where anybody could have gotten anything). We are issued two blankets, two sheets, one pillow case a t-shirt, underwear, jeans, shower shoes, socks, and one pair of tennis shoes. We get a sack lunch for dinner with water and patiently wait to go to our assigned areas. By 1930 we are in our cells.
The agony of settling in has begun. We can’t brush our teeth, or have any of our property for two days. The adventure of meeting new people, experiencing new guards, and learning a totally new procedure begins. Amazingly, every prison in Oregon is different.
I make my bed. Put up with the harassment of having a new cellmate. As I lay my tired aching body and mind down to rest I think about the next day.
BC is in prison in Oregon.
