Day 116: The B9 Shuffle

Day 116: Another day in the POB (Prison of Bureaucracy), the outside world was ravaged by a health crisis, but the system was in the human warehouse business and business was good.

Original Entry: Saturday, 10/16/21

• Morning: Wrote letters to Dad and Mike B. Feeling mentally scattered, trying to find a stable space to work.

• Brunch: Scrambled eggs, potato tater tots, salsa, orange, wraps. Reserved one wrap for the night.

• Afternoon: Spent time outside talking to J.K. the "Idea Man." Tried to hand off the B9 form (likely a progress report or request) to the Case Manager, who deflected to Larkin. A clear sign the bureaucracy was stalling.

• Supper: Chili, white rice, cornbread.

Four Years Later: The Retrospective

That "B9 shuffle" wasn't just a simple clerical error; it was the Bureau of Prisons in its natural state. While the world outside was wrestling with the Cares Act and trying to purge the system to handle infection rates and overcrowding, the prison staff was actively tightening the screws.

Prisoners were caught between two realities:

1. The Legislative Reality: The government officially acknowledged there were "WAY too many in prison" and created pathways for release (Cares Act, Compassionate Release).

2. The Bureaucratic Reality: The BOP saw those pathways not as opportunities, but as threats to their existence. They did everything in their power to keep those cells filled, because, at the end of the day, that’s their job.

It’s the ultimate irony of incarceration: even when the law changes, the people holding the keys still treat your time as their property.

#prison

#broken

#system