Setting:
“The possibility of locating a regional prison in Newport is already receiving opposition even though a public hearing concerning the prison will not be held until tonight…An ad which appeared in the Monday’s edition of the Independent and paid for by M.______ of near Engleside, asks questions about the safety of children playing in their backyards and mothers shopping after dark. The questions are addressed to the ‘concerned citizens’ of Jackson County.”
EXAMINER
Who has McPherson’s Unit impacted?
MR. PROVE-IT
That’s the real question isn’t it.
The one we should’ve been answering from the beginning. What does any of this matter if it is not affecting real people in real ways?
(MR. WHINEY appreciates MR. PROVE-IT’s dedication to keeping things real but thinks comments like that depreciate the amount of work that has gone into this investigation. He wants to respond, “Hard-ass skepticism doesn’t erase or trivialize the work of contextualization.” Instead, he takes a breath and tries what he hopes will amount to a more productive conversation.)
MR. WHINEY
In a roundabout fashion, I’d argue that we have been.
We just had to answer this question first for ourselves. Because part of the illusion of incarceration in the communities around us—in our cities, our states, our countries, our worlds—is that either they do not affect us unless we end up housed within them, or else they only positively impact us by separating us (the good and law-abiding citizens) from the really dangerous elements of society—
MR. PROVE-IT
(Interjecting.)
—like the murderers.
MR. WHINEY
(Responds with a dry sarcasm.)
—Yes, like the murderers.
When we think of a society without prisons people immediately assume that means a world of violent criminals running wild in the streets. Never mind that levels of crime can always be tied more closely to income disparity than to lax codes of criminal justice.
MR. PROVE-IT
(Chuckles.)
Ok, ok, ok! I think we’re on the same page here. We don’t need to run back over the same shit we’ve already covered about why places like McPherson’s Unit exist.
So, “everyone” is one answer. But we can get a lot more specific than that, right? Some groups are going to be more impacted than others.
MR. WHINEY
The most obvious answer then, would be the women incarcerated there.
MR. PROVE-IT
Yeah, for sure. But that’s an incomplete answer to me.
Shouldn’t we say: The prisoners, the people who work there, and the community/city that houses it.
MR. WHINEY
I don’t buy that, Mr. Prove-it. That seems like a pretty contrived answer that reinforces systemic injustice.
The women incarcerated should be centered in the discussion on that I think we agree, but what kind of false attempt at impartiality is it to list the prison staff separately from the community that houses it?
(MR. WHINEY pauses a beat to let the weight of MR. PROVE-IT’s capitulation to the state sink in.)
And…
(Pausing another beat.)
…if you are going to set aside time to consider the guards, wardens, nurses and others involved in the process of incarceration, you better talk equally about the companies that built McPherson’s Unit and profit off fat government contracts to provide services to it now. Not to mention, we you better address all the politicians, the Department of Corrections employees, and everyone else that takes it upon themselves to make the decisions that affect how McPherson’s operate. I don’t just mean mention them, I mean name them. Make them real. Investigate just how much money they have made off their positions.
I mean you better call out people like chaplain Kenneth L. Dewitt who was charged with fifty counts of third-degree sexual assault for pressuring three inmates at McPherson’s Unit into providing him sexual favors, and then situating those people in the larger social world they occupy. Dewitt for example, based his prison ministry and classes on the teachings of Bill Gothard, a man with deep ties to former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee—yep, that Mike Huckabee—who as governor opened McPherson’s Unit in 1998 and pushed corrections policy towards giving religious organizations the kind of access to McPherson’s Unit that enabled Dewitt’s abuses. Oh, yeah, and for TV fans, Gothard’s ministry is the one that the Duggar family, of 19 Kids and Counting, sent their son Josh to for counseling after molesting two of his sisters. Bill Gothard who is accused, himself, of sexually harassing as many as 30 women under his influence.
MR. PROVE-IT
—Do you need to tag out?
We can call Conspiracy Theory Mang back out here—
(MR. WHINEY does not find this a time for jokes. He continues and some measure of nonverbal communication between him and MR. PROVE-IT silences all further interjections.)
MR. WHINEY
And while we are at it, we should give space for the families of the women incarcerated in McPherson’s Unit to exist and express the sorrows and pains of having their daughters, sisters, wives and mothers locked up on the opposite side of the state, many for years.
We should explain the difficulties of arranging travel when that means having to drive five hours or more, and many without their own reliable means of transportation—which can mean no visits at all for the duration of the sentence.
Twelve years probably seems like a long time to serve a sentence for possession to the woman behind bars, but what does it mean for her children?
MR. PROVE-IT
(MR. PROVE responds honestly, but in a tone that respects MR. WHINEY’s serious demeanor.)
You are on the warpath, Mr. Whiney, and I like it, but you might be slipping into some hyperbole.
Newport is located on highway 67, which is the major highway between Little Rock and St. Louis, MO. You can take a Greyhound to Newport for less than 30 bucks. Now that ain’t nothing! And it is probably too much for a lot of folks to manage. But compared to some of the other possible locations in the state the prison could have been built, I’d call that relatively accessible.
MR. WHINEY
Maybe…
(Pause for a beat.)
…Maybe if your family is based in Little Rock. Then Newport is not the opposite end of the state—but Little Rock is smack dab in its middle. Newport is in the Northeast quarter of the state. Not too far from Little Rock, but what if you were arrested in Fort Smith? Or Texarkana? It would be almost a four-hour drive for your family to come see you.
MR. PROVE-IT
You know, this is one of those emotional appeals that could be real powerfully made through one of those fancy infographics, don’t you think?
Something like a chart that shows where the women incarcerated in McPherson’s Unit were arrested by county.
Can we put one of those in a script?
MR. WHINEY
Yes, it would be, and I don’t see why a script couldn’t have an infographic, although its performance would be quite the directorial challenge.
Unfortunately for both us and our audience, as you already know Mr. Prove-it, this kind of statistical data is exactly the kind of information that has been denied to us by the Department of Corrections research and planning office. It feels a little underhanded for you to draw attention again to the fact that the Department of Corrections has chosen not to participate in this investigation.
MR. PROVE-IT
Well, you say that this is the space that we should talk about ALL the people impacted by the existence of McPherson’s Unit, right?
And that sounds all high and mighty…but we both know—and all the rest of these voices know too—that that is waaaay beyond what amateurs like us are gonna make happen.
Your ideas, about getting an in depth, big picture, look at the economic and political development of McPherson’s Unit is right on. And it would be a great project for some professional and respected social scientist or journalist to undertake…But, “mang,” that ain’t us.
Instead of getting caught up again in some hypothetical discussions that our audience will smartly dismiss because, “who the fuck does this guy, or guys, think he—
INSECURITY DUDE
(Interrupting.)
—For real, Dudes, who do we think…
MR. PROVE-IT
(Interrupting the interruption.)
—Shut up, Insecurity Dude. You’re not helping.
Let’s take a look at some specific stories of people who have been impacted by McPherson’s Unit then and see what they can tell us, you know, as investigators.
MR. WHINEY
Splendid suggestion Mr. Prove-it!
I think I have just the case for us to study—compiled previously by Benjamin C. Roy Cory Garrett—that looks at an example of a women who died of an illness while incarcerated in McPherson’s Unit, and the difficulties that her family had in finding out in time to help her.
Let me present the case of Nikki Rust: