By Anthony Moore Jr., MCI-Shirley
On days when I’ve worn myself out trying to untangle my various legal issues, I go to Leroy’s cell. Leroy is a 74-year-old man undergoing chemotherapy for his lung cancer, a consequence from his excessive smoking during the Vietnam War. The treatment usually leaves him fatigued and tired, but when he sees me, his eyes gleam with anticipation for what’s to come. His energy immediately shifts to upbeat; the chemo can’t compete with his love for the law. And I can’t wait to solve the puzzle in my head. I sit on the one available space in the cell, the toilet, and tell him, “Put a pot on for coffee. We have work to do.” Two hours of legal sparring pass, and suddenly, he stares out the window as though he’s searching for something, perhaps his peace.
His window gazing leads to a question. “A,” he says, using my nickname. “What is justice to you?”
I give it some thought. Then I give Leroy a philosophical rendition of my version of justice. He sits, listens attentively, and just smiles. The chemo is starting to take a toll again. This time, he looks at me with the eyes only a man with an 18-month prognosis can manage. “How can there be justice, when dogs are treated better than humans?” I raise an eyebrow. He grins mischievously and proceeds to deliver a speech that goes something like this.
When the Puritan sailors embarked on their journey to the new world, dogs were their companions. Above deck, dogs were able to roam freely on the boat. The captured African slaves were shackled below deck, restricted from movement, forced to defecate themselves. The dogs of the masters ate healthy portions of pork, while the Africans were subjected to eat the remains. When master and dog arrived at their destination, their companionship was nearly symbiotic. If the cargo made for an escape, dog would help master recapture his runaway property.
Fast forward a few hundred years and now we have the 13th amendment, which states “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have duly convicted, shall exist within the United States.” As Leroy explains it to me, this effort to end slavery would amount to nothing more than an empty proclamation. Why? Because one would have to be visually impaired to miss the fact that the demographical makeup of prisons like the one we’re in is both a reflection of America’s greatest sin and nothing more than a new form of slavery.
In the Massachusetts prisons, the social pyramid mirrors that of the slave boats. The dog program run by the Department of Corrections or DOC, DOC’s dog program, which teaches inmates how to train service dogs, highlights such realities. Inmates who are part of the dog program live with, train, and feed their Labradors until their training is complete. Afterwards, the dogs depart from their inmate trainers to their new homes, because prisons are no place for puppies. Nonetheless, it is not the dog’s environment that bolsters their social status, rather, it is the interactions between staff and dogs. Whenever staff members see these dogs, they can’t help but shower them with affection. Now contrast that with the interactions between staff and inmates. If, for example, an inmate’s child dies, a handshake would be deemed inappropriate.
Recently the DOC closed one of the oldest jails in America: MCI Concord. Considered condemned, Concord’s water was undrinkable, its buildings were riddled with asbestos, and living conditions were unfit for anyone. Due to the contaminated water, bottled water was delivered to the inmates. Well, that’s what the inmates thought before the announcement was made. “Make sure you guys give the dogs the bottled water. You guys can drink from the sink.”
We’re ordered to drink polluted water, forbidden to hold hands on visits, and forced to eat processed foods that frankly a dog wouldn’t want to eat. The dogs, meanwhile, are treated to bottled water, showered with love, and eat better than we do. Meanwhile, prisons in our sister-states, California and New York, continue to have conjugal visits, and inmates in New York receive 40-lbs of food from family members monthly. The rest of the country may think of Massachusetts as progressive but it’s hard to find those values here in the state’s prisons.
Leroy didn’t articulate his speech quite as eloquently but I’m sure you get the gist.
I shake my head and smile, finally conceding, “you’re right.” As I get up to go , he voices one last grievance.
“When Lassie became rabid, he was led out back. His suffering was eased, his discomfort soothed. He was shown mercy,” says Leroy. “I killed a man in self-defense. Now I have to train these dogs until a new law passes and hope for a ‘chance’ at freedom.” Leroy gazes at me through tired eyes. “I’ll tell you one thing A, one thing. If Massachusetts had any justice, they would just take me out back and put one in my head.”
Anthony L. Moore Jr is a prisoner at MCI Shirley and a student in the Boston College Prison Education Program. He will receive his degree next year.
