DannyBoyinExile

In TDCJ lingo, “IOC” stands for Inter Office Communications. It’s basically a memo from one department to another, but it can also be posted in public areas (such as the dayrooms, hallway, etc.) and used as a means to notify inmates of new rules or policy changes.
In the past, these IOC’s have covered topics ranging from when we’re allowed to wear our gym shorts in the dayroom (or not), when we’ll be required to turn in our jackets and blankets (or not!), or even where we’re allowed to carry our tablets (or not).
Ordinarily, the inmate’s role in this process is very limited, to say the least. Most of the TDCJ administration probably feels that the motto of its inmates should be akin to a line from The Charge of the Light Brigade, by Tennyson. “Ours not to make reply, ours not to reason why, ours but to do and die.” We’re expected to obey orders as thoroughly as the Ten Commandments – excepting the fact, of course, that in TDCJ there are about a hundred pages of rules. (And copies are even provided in Spanish, by the way, so the No Ingles-ers can read them, too!)
So I was amazed to see a new IOC in the dayroom recently, asking for our suggestions about an upcoming change to the Wynne Unit. Apparently, someone in the upper stratosphere of the TDCJ administration has decided (ahem… decreed) that an additional 100 beds should be added to the Wynne Unit. That in itself isn’t groundbreaking, but the fact that they are asking for our feedback is. Clearly they read my previous essay, wherein I said that there were probably many good ideas trapped in the heads of various inmates throughout TDCJ, that they kept to themselves, for whatever reason.
Concerning the extra hundred beds, most of the ideas that I can think of would cost a lot of money – which in itself makes them not very good ideas. For example, they could take the unused B wing gym and turn it into a dormitory – but that would require constructing the bunks and cubicles, running phone and internet lines, extra water and electrical lines – not to mention the cost of the extra mattresses, clothes, and food that the hundred extra inmates would need.
There are also ratios, in dusty old law books that are mostly forgotten about, concerning exactly how many guards must be on-site for X number of inmates. An extra hundred inmates would surely require extra guards to supervise them – and that won’t be cheap or easy to accomplish, considering the general short-of-staffageness throughout TDCJ.
My own solution is so simple that it almost sounds sarcastic: Let a hundred people go home, and you’ll have an extra hundred beds. In fact, let 150 people go home, and you’ll have 150 extra beds! And it wouldn’t cost a dime from the taxpayers of Texas or the TDCJ budget. I’m so willing to “take one for the team” that I’d even volunteer to be one of them! =-)
Seriously, I do have an idea to contribute. Search the records of TDCJ for every inmate who is in the US illegally. (By computer, I mean, and not with a flashlight and magnifying glass!) This shouldn’t be difficult, since many of them will have ICE detainers. Compile a list of them who are already eligible for parole (or nearly so) or are already serving set-offs for various disciplinary infractions. And let them go! This shouldn’t be objectionable, considering that they will immediately be deported, without ever posing a threat to the good citizens of Texas. There may not be a hundred of them on Wynne Unit, but there are a large number of them scattered throughout TDCJ, which will open up more bed space for our homegrown criminals!
It’s an idea that would make Donald Trump proud – even if it originated from a prison cell, right here in Texas. I’m proud of the fact that TDCJ even asked us what we thought about a new policy, or asked for our suggestions. Whether my idea is acted upon or not, it’s always a good idea to ask even lowly inmates for their opinions. It serves to remind us that our opinions still matter – and that’s never a bad thing. So says DannyBoy.