16 months ago, I moved to my current housing unit and have been placed on a waitlist to begin a recidivism reduction program. A new class of 22 people had been announced this week, but I did not make the cut. The threshold for entering the class is approximately 28 months until release from custody. Currently, I have about 41 months until release, so I still have a wee ways to go. Rumors percolate that other prison facilities do not have a waitlist for these programs. Heck, 16 months ago, FCI Morgantown did not have a waitlist.
Now I have been waiting the longest out of the hundreds of guys that have been admitted (and finished) the program. What does any of this mean? Well, I will just continue to wait for availability in the program and participate in the daily activities like working in the apprenticeship and pickleballing in the evenings. Some good news trickled from the powers-to-be this week: the “28 month rule” (as we call it) will incorporate some projected credits from the First Step Act! Confused? Yup, that is typical even among guys and staff here. I will receive credits for essentially “being good” and participating in recidivism reduction activities (even if those activities include a waitlist). My new projected release date, which is not published online, will be the end of May of 2027. Doing simple math, I am still 37 months away from the door…so the long wait for the program continues.
I am fortunate to be in my housing unit, even as I wait. I have my own bunk, central air-conditioning, and in some sense seniority. The downside to being on the waitlist is that I cannot begin the program which takes 13 months to fully complete, which also provides a “year off” credit. However, too many credits do not amount to credits at all. Please allow me to extrapolate the (il)logical guidance of the 28 month rule: 13 months are required to complete the recidivism program, 12 months are credited for the completing the program, and 6 months are mandatory by law for home confinement. The total of required months to effectively serve prison time in this scenario is 31 months. Therefore, requiring 28 months to complete the recidivism program prior to release means that too many credits are not really credits at all (well, at least 3 months are not credited). This scenario reminds me of an ouroboros: depicted as a circular snake where the head eats its own tail.
For the past week, I have been truly blessed with so much love and support from family and friends. I received an incredible gift, a book called “The Waiting Branch”. The book is sentimental since it was written by Father William Krizner and published postmortem by his family and friends. The Krizman family kindly thought of me and generously sent one of the first copies. The simplicity of the book’s message moved me to tears, but mostly symbolizes the simplest message of hope while waiting. I won’t ruin the beautifully crafted story, yet the timing of “The Waiting Branch” and my continued aghast of being on a “wait” list is meaningfully symbolic for me. I hope you encounter or become mindful of a little miracle in your life this week. Thank you for your support and encouragement. Have a wonderful week!