Jens Soering

I've been tracking and categorizing my reading for the last 520 books, and this book doesn't fit into any of my 25 categories. I notice with embarrassment that there's no social justice category and no non-fiction category.
OH.
So I will create both categories for this exceedingly well researched and documented narrative about what we call the criminal justice system. It's mixed with biblical stories. Yes. I really don't know how to file this one, but I think "Best of" might be appropriate.… (meer)

recommended for: everybody!; anyone concerned about injustice; readers of autobiographies

When I was in college I had a professor in a sociology class, John Irwin, who wrote the book The Felon, which was one of the books we read for his class. I credit him with my deeper understanding of what it would feel like to have an indeterminate prison sentence. But he was a free man by the time he wrote the book. I’ve never believed in capital punishment, for anyone, even though I admit I hear of cases that try my deep opposition, although I do believe in life without the possibility of parole for certain individuals, people who’ve committed heinous crimes and who would be a genuine danger to the public were they to be released from prison. But I think the number of people/%age of people the U.S. has in prison is ridiculous. So, this is how I came to this book.

The first thing I have to say is that Jens Soering is an incredibly brave man to write this book and his previous books, given that he is still incarcerated and his writings are a justified indictment of the system which has him under its control.

I learned of things in this book that leave me feeling sick. This author’s case is a perfect example of a travesty of justice; I hate even using that word, given that there is no justice here, not for him, and not for so many I read about within the pages of this book. He might be able to find inner freedom but I have an impossible time accepting his situation.

This author is a good writer and he is very eloquent, and the day in the life book is fascinating. There are some “extras” but basically it follows a day from waking to bedtime. It makes me even more eager to read other such books, particularly by those about California prisons (my state) and women’s prisons. I think he has it particularly hard because he’s outside his own identified culture.

I haven’t gone to his website yet, but I will. It’s at www.jensoering.com.

This is not his first published book, and now I have some interest in reading his other books too, particularly An Expensive Way to Make Bad People Worse: An Essay on Prison Reform from an Insider’s Perspective. I’m less interested in The Way of the Prisoner: Breaking the Chains of Self Through Centering Prayer and Centering Practice and not really at all interested in The Church of the Second Chance: A Faith-Based Approach to Prison Reform. For me, this book was the best one by him I could have read, especially because it took me up to his (almost) present circumstances. Mostly, I wish people who would have some sort of influence regarding his release would read them, and read the other materials pertaining to his case.

I deliberately didn’t look up the man or the case before reading this book. I wanted to experience his story as told by him rather than prejudging him in either direction. And, there is information given, gradually throughout the book, about the case and his part in it, and the informative afterword by Patricia McGinty provides great detail of the crime for which he was convicted; I’m glad it was at the end of the book and not earlier in the book. There is also a postscript by the author at the very end of the book.

There are definitely things I find a bit repellent about this guy. He seems a bit homophobic and some of his other attitudes I don’t like, but given his experience, and his inexperience, I can understand his mindset. And overall, he’s a wonderful guy, making the very best of things, not just for himself, but also for his fellow inmates. He’s also Christian and practices a form of spiritual meditation, so those details did not resonate with me. But I do admire him for how he has learned to cope.

Some of what he complains about such as lack of physical touch and isolation also affect many not incarcerated. Also, the insanities of prison life are certainly mirrored in other settings. Given human beings’ natures, I don’t find that at all surprising.

Some information in the book that particularly struck me included: the dog program, and how so few inmates participate and whom it does and doesn’t benefit, the musings of inner freedom vs. outer freedom, the power of meditating as a community, and these stats: re youths in adult prisons and those who’ve committed crimes as minors/children who are serving life sentences without parole. At the time this was written, there were 12 youths outside the U.S. serving those sentences: 7 in Israel, 4 in South Africa, and 1 in Tanzania. In the U.S.?: 2,200. I’d already known some of the (way too high numbers) of life sentences in the U.S. and the ridiculously high percentage of Americans who are/have been in prison.

This is an important account. It’s well written and compelling. It’s heartbreaking too.

I’m grateful that Kara at Lantern Books alerted me to this book and gave me the opportunity to read it. They want it more widely read, and now that I’ve read it, I feel the same way.

I’ve always felt that any prison sentence of more than few months at most would be a death sentence for me because of the lack of vegan food. I thought that otherwise I’d find it preferable to homelessness but now I’m not so certain. I am curious of the similarities and differences in women’s prisons. I suspect there are more similarities than differences between California (my state) and Virginia prisons, which is the state in which Soering is a prisoner.

Given the disturbing nature of the subject, this is a surprisingly enjoyable read. Gosh, I do hate using that term though.

4 ½ stars

edited to add: Reminder to self: level 3 prison environments (at least for men in Virginia) are vastly more tolerable than the supposed better level 1 and 2 prisons. There is a bit more privacy (a bit vs. none) for those of us who care about such things.… (meer)