Hello friends,

My honey got the news last Thurs. that WA. State prisons are, once again, over-crowded and they are considering any inmate who's in medium security and has more than 6 years left for transfer to either Illinois or Texas. My sweetie is medium security with 11 1/2 years to go. Last Friday, he got his notice that he was going in for a transfer review today. They will give the guys they select a 48 hr. notice, given on a Thurs. and then shipping them out on the following Sat. So if he gets selected, he could leave this week or any week in the next month.

We have gone through the adjustment to him being moved 9 months ago from an institution which was 35 minutes away from me to one that's 4 1/2 hours away. I can't even imagine how I would handle him being across the country for 2 years.

We went through this last year and will go through this for the next 4 years at least. Last year, I totally went off the deep end, envisioning him being taken so far away. This year, I'm much calmer - I decided to just stay in the moment and not get crazy over something that hasn't happened yet. I've written to the Superintendent and she's been pretty responsive to me in the past so we'll see what happens.

I ask all of you to put us in your prayers for the best outcome. Man, this life is challenging.

Lise

Hey Lise!
In the Washington-forum this moving of inmates is discussed as well, maybe there are some people who can help you there!
I wish you much strength in your ordeals,
Abelle

Lise -

Travis is on that list too.... except he's close custody. They told me that they were either going to W. VA or Washington DC. There are so many darn stories floating around that it's unbelievable. I'm calling Olympia again today to see if I can get something figured out. This is getting crazy and I cannot handle them taking him clear across country.

What institution is your guy in? Mine's in Walla Walla.

My thoughts are with you... I hope neither of our guys end up on that final list....

Thanks to both of you - Abelle, I took your suggestion and headed over to the WA. state forum and there's definitely support there around this. Thanks! Heather, you'll get my catch up on this over at the WA state forum. Thanks to both of you for your support.

Hanging in there,

Lise

did you hear anything? my man got no notice and we do not know where he is. they will not tell us. we have not heard from him in 3 weeks

Hi Ashley,

Both Heather and I have been getting info. from DOC and various other places. So far, they are just doing reviews with 1300 inmates here in WA. and then will be selecting 10 - 20% of those to be shipped out. That will be in about a month. Once they notify the guys about who's going, those guys will have a month to appeal the decision with the superintendent of their facility, so we're not expecting much to happen for another few weeks.

Is your man in WA? Since they haven't shipped out anyone at this point, it sounds like your man's situation is different from what Heather and I are going through. That would put me right over the edge if they just took him away and gave me no info. If he is or was in WA., I can give you a number and name/address of people to contact. Have you tried calling his counselor or the prison assistant superintendent? This sounds scary and I would definitely want to know what the heck they've done with him. Let me know if you need any help and I'll do my best.

Take care and hang in there,

Lise

We want a state transfer...but to a closer prison to me...if they are over crowded maybe we will have a better shot....he still has 8 years....please pray!

Can't imagine they'd be moved to DC - all DC felony inmates are in federal prison, not in DC. I'm sorry this may happen but stay strong. My husband was 1,000 miles away for 12 years and we made it through it. It's tough though, so I hope the best for you. Hope there are folks in WA working on some early release programs to reduce overcrowding rather than shipping inmates to other places. If he is transferred, you might think about using the time you would have visited to help make that happen and get him closer again. The Western Prison Project might be a good organization to contact. http://www.westernprisonproject.org Zelda