oldtanker

Well-known Member
Don't want to hijack the other tread.

After my father in law worked in in the Stillwater State Prison for a couple of years in the mid 70's he landed a stationary engineering job in the Virginia MN coal fired power plant. After he's been working there a few years he was having dinner with my mother in law in town one day. Guy walks in the door, looks around and sees my father in law in and aloud voice says "Carl! I ain't seen you sense we was in Stillwater!". Guy had been one of the prisoners that worked in the boiler room at the prison.

Rick
 
That's Funny stuff... We had a State prison 3 miles from me,, they had a working farm and Dad would combine the wheat for them,,we bagged it all back then.. The had "Trustee's" that would help on the farm,, One day I was setting on the wagon with 3 trustee's, the guard was setting on the tractor with a rifle across his legs..one of the trustee's said " Hey Whitey,,would you do If we took off running away?" Whitey replied "Oh I would probably have to shoot you".. I was about 9 then..and that kinda tickled me.. We have farmed that prison farm since 1966, it closed down back in the 80's the movie Brubaker was filmed there.
 
A lot of the prisoners aren’t bad people, they just had a weak moment and screwed up. One of Marilyns nephews is in prison. He’s a very nice guy who will help anyone at his own expense, he would never steal, he will never hurt anyone. I won’t elaborate on why he’s in there but I will say: how far do we go in legislating morality?
 
Saw a segment on that prison on the Smithsonian Channel. They said that the prison was slated for demolition, but after that movie, it was saved and turned into a museum/tourist attraction.
Loren
 
Don't know why you would not give the rest of the story since very few people know you personally here. Sounds like you have got something to get off your chest. I
don't know anybody personally that is in prison but from what I hear from the other side i.e. corrections officers sometimes you have to cut friends loose if they are
skirting the law. I'd rather lose a dubious friend than wind up a prisoner because I was at the friend's house when the cops came calling.
 
Reminds me of an old mechanic here who never missed an auction. We were standing around the jewelry wagon one morning while the auctioneer was making his announcements. He singled this guy out,said "Good morning (his name),glad you made bail.".
He just grinned and got a little red in the face and didn't say anything. I still don't know if the auctioneer knew it or not,but he had been arrested for drunk driving.
 
We have a retired CO that works with us
when we need some extra help. There was
also a guy I knew most of my life that
was a skilled taper/painter who had a
drug/alcohol/anger management problem
that spent some time in prison. It could
be quite comical when we had them working
on the same job. Unfortunately the
taper/painter passed a couple years ago
from alcohol posioning, shame, as he was
good at what he did.
Growing up the neighbors farmhand was an
excon. They hired him when he got out of
prison and I don't think he ever left the
farm after that. They told him he was
welcome to stay and he did. I guess he
had no family so when he passed they took
care of everything.
 
The one here has been torn down and a guy is running a salvage yard there now,,a real mess,, the land has been all sold to private owners,,it never was a museum..
 
I had a couple guys at the concrete plant working that had been in prison for killing another man,they never gave any trouble and were only a threat to the person they killed one over
a woman and the other was cornered by a guy with a knife.We would never hire someone that had been in jail for stealing.
 
Maybe you are thinking of the one in Mansfield Ohio ? IIRC Shawshank redemption was filmed there and now it is a haunted house.
 
(quoted from post at 13:36:24 12/12/18) A lot of the prisoners aren’t bad people, they just had a weak moment and screwed up. One of Marilyns nephews is in prison. He’s a very nice guy who will help anyone at his own expense, he would never steal, he will never hurt anyone. I won’t elaborate on why he’s in there but I will say: how far do we go in legislating morality?

I would fine tune that a bit and say "SOME" prisoners aren't truly bad people when they get convicted. Of that percentage that qualifies as "some", a smaller number are still decent people after they've done time. A lot of people that started off in the first group are no longer who they were after they do 3-5 years or more in prison.
 
I grew up on a small lake that bordered the Conn. State Prison farm, The corn fields were directly across from our house. I hung out with a friend my age that lived in a fancy house on prison property, his father had some kind of high ranking job there. I would row my boat over to hangout with my friend, there were often minimum security prisoners around with guards nearby. The prisoners would often help clean up the water fronts of overgrowing Lilly pads and trap snapping turtles and such. I heard stories of one old timer that would keep committing some miner crime just to get back there true or not who knows. The farm had one of the biggest Holsteine heards in the State at the time they also had chickens and pigs and raised Pheasants for the state fish and game, they grew there own food so were pretty self sufficient. Some time around the late 60s they decided it was cheaper to buy what they needed so they phased out the farm. Now all thats left of the farm are a few beautiful historic barns that were built by the Quakers in the 1700s. I remember being with my dad when we were stopped by the guards a few times as they searched the car looking for an escaped prisoner.
 
Pretty much the way I understand it as well. Prison is very corrosive mentally and often a person does things that they would never normally do to survive. I agree with
fixerupper in that in lighter offenses sometimes the punishment can be excessive. Guys 18-19 years in age date girls 16-17 years in age w/o knowing the underage
aspect used to face pretty long sentences for statutory rape if prosecution was pushed for. I remember a high school teacher when I was still in school talking about
such a case as he indicated he had to leave after homeroom attendance to go to court to speak on behalf of a young man charged with statutory rape. The young man
got 15 years which was towards the minimum of the sentencing guidelines then. Even when it seems benign a person has to watch the company they keep.
 
NY 986, the statutory rape laws have changed here in Texas, don't know about other states, but that used to be a common occurrence. A teen couple, suddenly one becomes a criminal because he/she had a birthday.

Now I believe if there is a 2 years or less difference, and there was already a relationship, the under age law doesn't apply.

Still, that is a dangerous place to go. A lot depends on who wants to push the issue and who has the best lawyer and most money.
 
(quoted from post at 13:03:38 12/12/18) Pretty much the way I understand it as well. Prison is very corrosive mentally and often a person does things that they would never normally do to survive. I agree with
fixerupper in that in lighter offenses sometimes the punishment can be excessive. Guys 18-19 years in age date girls 16-17 years in age w/o knowing the underage
aspect used to face pretty long sentences for statutory rape if prosecution was pushed for. I remember a high school teacher when I was still in school talking about
such a case as he indicated he had to leave after homeroom attendance to go to court to speak on behalf of a young man charged with statutory rape. The young man
got 15 years which was towards the minimum of the sentencing guidelines then. Even when it seems benign a person has to watch the company they keep.

986 that’s what I’m insinuating. Here in Iowa and probably elsewhere too, if an underage girl wants to get revenge on an adult man that girl can turn him in for sxually abusing her and he WILL land in prison for a long, long time.
 
You are likely correct. I wasn't paying a lot of attention to the whole thing. They mentioned that a movie was filmed there and as a result, the structure got a new life.
Loren
 
I hard on the radio, you never give anyone a
toothbrush and toothpaste for a Christmas gift unless
they are in prison.
 
Stillwater has had a rough summer. Oak Park Heights, too. I am at the Lino Lakes facility... We all share the same issues as we all get the same people
filtering through.. Just depends on where they are in their sentence.
 
My little brother did 18 years on a life sentence in the MN prison system.
I visited him in several of the prisons over the years. Most of his time was at STC then OPH, Lino and Red Wing.
He never had to go to Stillwater but was one of the first 50 or so they moved to OPH when it first opened. I visited that place too in the 6? years he was there.
He got out in 97. I doubt he's had so much as a traffic ticket since.
He just got clearance to go bow hunting a year ago. Won't ever be able to gun hunt.
I haven't seen him in maybe 8 or 10 years now. Nor hear much of him. Just a little that filters through the relatives.
 
Yessir... We all have a friend or family member who have done jail time. As stated below - not everyone in there is inherently bad. Many just have too much trouble with the bottle, partying too much (with too many party favors), etc... But there are many that are people who have done downright horrible things. It is always sobering this time of year as a reminder just how thankful I am for my wife and my family.. All of these inmates who get Christmas cards from family - they have a support system on the outside (and that is great).... What is sobering, for me, is the inmates that do not get any mail. Ever. That has to be some kind of lonely. Loneliness itself can be a prison inside your own mind.
 

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