Being summoned to the Centre office is not often a Good Thing. In a prison where contact with staff is
pretty minimal, such a summons can be a malign portent.
I was met by a middle-manager who was holding a couple of pages printed off the blog. He was perturbed, asking if I had permission, who knew about it, and the like. I tried to explain the genesis and status of the blog...this man seemed unconvinced and declared that it would be brought to the governor’s attention.
This has happened, now and then, over the past two years. Some staff are caught by surprise that a prisoner blogging is legal. Some staff recoil at the very notion that any prisoner is able to voice an opinion in public. And some staff are insecure in their work and dread the thought that the prison could be held up to the public gaze.
After two years, though, I still have no answer to the question - why are prison staff still so twitchy about my blogging?
Potentially its because it is a liberty, and HMP always get a kicking in the press if they afford anyone in their custody even the slightest liberty. That and the fact that even if you are innocent, the feeling that everything you are doing is being reported is not necessarily a nice one.
ReplyDeleteOh and I am sure some just want to be hidden and unaccountable.
Why? Because they are warped individuals, as are politicians.
ReplyDelete