I was finally able to visit some of the Buddhist women on death row at the largest female correctional facility in the West. I have been trying to meet at least once a month with a group of regular inmates. Seven women have taken refuge. Since the women hold jobs at the prison and can not always arrange their schedules to attend our classes and services and are both released and transferred to other facilities, it is usually a different group that attends each session. It is challenging, but very rewarding. The women are amazing, eager to learn the dharma, and very insightful. Not all are “releasable” but are “lifers” with no hope of parole. They understand impermanence and karma. I do not think that is true for all of the women in the prison, but for the ones who find their way to Buddhism, it is true. One of the most serious students is like that and is not only working on herself, but works to bring others to the dharma.
The prison was designed to hold around 2,000 inmates, but there are close to 3,000 there now, down from the 4,000 plus population that was incarcerated there a few years ago. The inmates combined with the 1,205 staff make it a small town located in the middle of orchards, vineyards and other agricultural uses. The chapel where I usually go is located at the top next to the oval track. It is a long hike from the entrance near the parking area and administrative building on the upper right.
Guard towers located around the octagon shaped site are housed with armed guards keeping a watchful eye on the inmates. I am not allowed to wear maroon or any other colors worn by the inmates–they even confiscated a chartreuse handkerchief I once had with me. They are very careful about anything that can be used for gang communication and, yes, the women have gangs that control their behavior both inside and outside the prison walls.
The chapel is a sort of oasis where the women can go to participate in spiritual programs of just about anything you can imagine. I just witnessed a very touching scene where one of the inmates came to see the chapel staff to give a teary-eyedqq goodbye after she just found she had been released. It seemed she didn’t really want to go. It is scary on the outside, too.
There is no Buddhist Chaplain, but the wonderful Rabbi who is in charge of the Jewish inmates has responsibility for the Buddhists and the other non-mainstream religious groups. Things are very severe and what ever you do can be interrupted at any time with blaring loudspeakers announcing where you need to be. It is hard to find time to concentrate, but the women here seem to be able to do it. All the inmates are counted several times during the day. Once there was some sort of disturbance when I was leaving and all the women had to drop and remain on the ground until control was reinstated. With armed marksmen watching every move and having authorization to shoot, you do not deviate from protocols. They just installed video cameras everywhere in the Chapel so we are constantly under surveillance. And the rules concerning what you can and cannot do are maddening–no hardbound books or notebook binders. It is amazing what can be weaponized. They warned us at orientation, that the system does not negotiate to release hostages. Now that I have my “brown-card,” I can at least bring a suitcase in with my books and lunch, but before, I could not even carry a purse. For a short time yesterday, all of the chaplains were away from the chapel and I was given the alarm to carry on me. I am not sure what would have happened if I had pushed the alarm bell, but I was warned that I would not want to find out and I believe the warners.
Only yesterday did I get a glimpse of what the rest of the prison was like and how the women lived, when I was taken to the “Condemned Housing” where the inmates with death sentences and those considered dangerous were housed. It was not what I expected. The Rabbi warned me that there was no way he could describe the experience and he was right. This is the only facility in the state having a death row for females. There are 23 or 24 women there now, of which five have indicated they are or want to be Buddhists. I believe all those on death row have been convicted of murdering at least one person. Some have been there for over 20 years. Several have exhausted all hope of parole or appeal. At present the State is not executing anyone, but that could change at any moment. California has not abolished the death penalty. I was only able to meet three of the Buddhist women and spend time with two, but I will return. There is no place to sit, and you have to put on an armored vest to enter, but they are so eager to learn dharma that it is worth the effort. They do have access to some books and just discovered a correspondence course from I think the Amitabha Buddhist Society, a Pure Land Group. I am not allowed to offer any correspondence-like program since I have physical access to the prisoners.
We are planning a two day Buddhist retreat from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm on July 9 and 10 with a group meal served at noon. There is a Christian group that comes twice a year and does something like this. For a one-time event like this, I can bring other volunteers to help with the event, so let me know if you are interested. I would need your name, date of birth, social security number, and driver’s license number and state or passport number before June 5. It does require advance vetting, but not the detailed process that I needed to be a regular volunteer. This is a challenging environment, but I love it and am very happy and fortunate to be able to do this.
Add comment