I am already awake at about 4:00am when the guard comes to get me to bring me down to intake/booking to be processed to go to prison. The trouble with my back is usually the culprit but occasionally my elbow somehow discovers its own relevance as previous injuries persist as chronic pain. After a few hours in a holding cell I get to sign a receipt to release funds and another to indicate I am not leaving any property behind. The balance on my account indicates that the release I submitted to make a child support contribution and another for legal purposes, was not processed. When I question it the woman behind the glass tells me not to worry about it. It seems to me that they are eager to tell me since they do not care if I have access to the court system, or prefer that I do not for all the wrong they are so eager to do to inmates. After I am shackled, I am told the supervisor, Willstead, was unavailable to collect my legal discovery material from wherever they keep it. Howard and Heeter both tell me they will make sure it gets sent to me in prison. Since I already signed off I wasn't leaving anything behind now I worry. Especially after they failed to process my release of funds to complete the envelopes I prepared for payments for my other concerns. I am then loaded into a van and depart Kenosha County Jail and head to Kenosha County Detention Center to collect a few more inmates. We then travel north where I get to see familiar territory and construction of a freeway expansion in progress. I spend most of the day in a van on a tour of the states various penal institutions. An inmate is dropped off at Winnebago, Taycheedah, and some other facility near Fond du Lac. We pick up a guy from Red Granite who says he knows who I am. I have never seen him before. I think it was about 2:00pm when we got to Dodge Correctional Institution. As soon as I get in the door an inmate I know is standing in a holding cell with the door open. He tells me he heard what (his friend, Marquan Washington) "Munch" did. I tell 'scoe that everybody knows its not true. Me and a few other guys are directed to a different cell while guards go through our belongings and throw a lot of it into the trash. I am called out of the cell with much of my property already gone and asked if I wish to send my legal books and contact lenses back to Kenosha so someone can pick the stuff up. I tell the guard that Kenosha is hours from my family and that it would be better if they could collect it from here, Dodge. He tells me it is not an option and that they will just throw it away. I tell him they are good legal books and ask if I could at least donate them. In mild surprise he agrees to that. When I second guess the instruction to throw away brand new contact lenses he tells me that the nurse will take care of it all. When I finish showering and changing into my "prison greens" I get to talk to the fantastically inpatient and offensive nurse who is then further agitated when I tell her they just made me throw away my contact lenses. By the time they go look, the trash bag has been collected and disposed of. It is explained to me that the correct procedure is to give the contact lenses to the nurse who issues them as needed until my eye exam and prison issue glasses can all be taken care of. Then there are two more people who do some intake questions, fingerprints, and identification. Then I saw a second nurse who issued me a contact case and bottle of solution. Once about fifteen of us collect in a holding cell we march down the long, wide hallway to Unit 19. Here they play a video about the Prison Rape Elimination Act which is drowned out by a guard yelling orientation stuff at us. We sign a digital acknowledgement of "document 2468" and are issued a bag of basic hygiene items. Cell 12. We also got bologna sandwiches during the van ride and a tray of food when we got to Unit 19, but it was a day that was so distracting I probably could have not eaten anything and not cared. While in prison, inmates are required to "stand for count." 6:15am, 12:15pm, 5:30pm, and 9:15pm, Inmates are required to stand up and wait for a guard to walk passed and visually account for you. It seem like a tradition that began after an inmate stuffed some clothes full of extra straw from when they tended horses and then faked out the guards with his straw likeness tucked in his bunk while he wandered out a door someone habitually left open for convenience. The reformative or rehabilitative value of petty harassment and nuisance anyone? People that run prisons believe the world is flat? It isn't a matter of how to effectively accomplish nothing. It is a matter of promulgating a culture of inconvenience where guards and inmates strive to be whatever sort of burden to each other instead of just leaving each other alone unless intervention is somehow needed. Tax dollars at work. Anyway, we stand up four times a day. It doesn't remedy substance dependency or behavioral problems but maybe the clinic here still provides blood-letting with leeches. Maybe the guards and inmates forget who is in charge if the people in blue shirts aren't telling the people in shirts that aren't blue that they need to be doing something multiple times per day. It is my broader impression that inmates and guards both customarily measure low on skills that are required for better academic performance. It probably is just a big game to help us all remember. *Disclaimer: All journal entries are hand-written by Zachariah Anderson and transcribed to text format. All content is transcribed as written and intended, but minor spelling or grammar errors may be corrected for ease of reading.
29 Comments
Laura
6/26/2023 23:21:17
Hang in there Zach. We are doing everything for a appeal..stay strong. We love you!!!!
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Tracy
6/27/2023 00:08:19
My thoughts always seem to lead to you, Zach. I stopped praying for a long time, until you. The appeal will be successful. How could the truth not be? Keep your chin up.
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Cindy Jackson
6/27/2023 03:05:07
Hello Zachariah
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BetsyR
6/27/2023 05:36:09
Dear Zach,
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Terri Lee
6/27/2023 05:55:58
My heart aches for you and what you’re going through. Stay strong and always remember the number of supporters who fight for you grows daily! These song lyrics came to mind as I read your journal entry…
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Sarah
6/27/2023 06:41:23
His superiority complex is present in abundance here.
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Jen
6/27/2023 09:14:23
Thanks for your thoughts. I would implore you to consider how traumatizing and psychologically damaging being incarcerated is, especially when you are incarcerated for crimes you did not commit. In that situation, any of us may feel disparagingly toward those around us if we knew in our hearts we had been wronged and placed there by a system of ineptitudes and failures.
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Elizabeth
6/27/2023 20:38:04
I am so sorry Jenn
Stacey
6/28/2023 05:49:05
The problem is, it's not even imaginable!! I think about how indignant people are when they've encountered bad service or are blamed for something small they didn't do and thats just on a tiny scale of day to day irritations nevermind suffering a life changing fate at the hands of others... and then I try to think how I would feel being trapped in a system, having to remain respectful, even when you don't belong there and you can see all that's wrong with it...I cannot imagine the feelings and thoughts that would burn within me! I think out of respect to the vulnerability of someone in a very unique situation sharing their thoughts, observations and feelings with others who aren't in that same situation, one has to engage empathy when having the privilege of reading the journal they've shared.
Elizabeth
6/27/2023 20:29:43
Clearly his articulate vocabulary and natural intellect has shocked some people. I encourage you to watch one of his brothers interviews; there is a strong inherent ability surrounding communication in this family.
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Lou Hillier
6/28/2023 12:10:36
Sarah - I will go out on a limb and guess that you are not any kind of psychologist or mental health specialist, but even if you were, you are in no position to make any assessment about Zachariah because apart from the fact that you are not a mind-reader, 1) you have never met him, 2) you have never spoken to him, 3) you have no personal knowledge of him, 4) you have never met any of his family and friends, 5) you have never spoken to any of his family and friends. So, in summary, your comment is about you, you are just describing yourself.
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Paulina
6/30/2023 21:33:46
And yours seems to be too his. At least he has reason for being “not so optimistic”, what’s your reason for being so nasty?
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If you think he should be there, then please let him be. As my mother used to say, "If you can't say something nice, just don't say anything at all." As a former Prison Guard, his life in prison is horrendous. Please don't make it harder on him. Thank you and God Bless
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Dona Idt
6/27/2023 06:52:00
Miss our chats Zach! I am sorry for the petty guard behaviors! I hope things improve!
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Billie Marie
6/27/2023 06:56:18
Zach ... my heart hurts for you. I pray for you to have a supernatural strength through this. I appreciate you writing these things down, for your own state of mind if nothing else.
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Patsy Pace Maines
6/27/2023 07:48:45
So sick over what you’re being forced to endure. I’m praying for you daily and know that justice will be served. Just a little meditation to help you endure … I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philipians 4:13
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Terry Varela
6/27/2023 08:45:29
Thank you for sharing your journal with all of us Zach. I am so glad to hear that you are able to get outside and get some vitamin D, view the sky and keep your body in a fair condition. Remember, each day to build your inner strength as well. I know that you can find the strength to endure in spite of your circumstances.
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Michelle
6/27/2023 14:16:34
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us! Hang in there, I know easier said than done! Praying that this nightmare is over for you soon! Also hope “your boys” show up often. Oddly this reminds me of the character Brooks and his black bird! Which now makes me want to sing Black Bird by the Beatles! Zach #truthwins we are all out here spreading the word for you whether by casual conversations or through social media. Sending you many thoughts and prayers from the Mitten!
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Cathy Lang
6/27/2023 15:56:16
Someone said Zach's arrogance was showing but I had a different impression, his intelligence clearly shined through, and I thought that incarceration in our crude and unintelligent prison system has to be even harder on the intelligent and perceptive who see its pointless rituals and inefficiencies---and their harm--- so clearly. (Especially when they are innocent!) These detailed entries help us all to see just how our antiquated prison system is needlessly debasing and harming inmates constantly. It's like a fire alarming calling us to deep prayer and reform efforts. Other countries--and even experiments in the US (largely ignored)--have clearly shown that there are much more intelligent, cost effective and successful ways of doing this. I can't even imagine coping with it!
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Maria
6/30/2023 18:59:21
I'm with you on this, Cathy. Reading it reminded me strongly of how his brother speaks. Articulation clearly runs in this family. I appreciated his vivid descriptions. Better than: I slept, got up, walked and went back to bed.
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Elizabeth simon
6/27/2023 20:16:49
Hi Zach!! My name is Elizabeth, a 42 year-old Canadian woman who supports you and your loving family 100%. I have started and crumpled approximately 6-10 letter attempts since your sentencing nack in May. Typically words fly out of me, but I really struggled to initiate communication with you. Firstly, I feared you would think I was some sort of creepy internet troll. Secondly, your tragic case has sparked communal support globally!! I don't want you to feel obligated to respond to a minute Canadian ...when there are so many others nationally that can aide your cause with affective protestantism ( le; someone from Wisconsin could file grievances that are likely heard as apposed to a random Canadian. Finally , my hesitation and nervousness to write is refusing to bore you with manontenous comments and questions about that joke of a trial!! Here's my attempt to be different !!
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cathy lang
6/27/2023 20:25:10
Just read this for the 2nd time with my daughter and this time the Catch 22 satirical nature of it came through more clearly; we chuckled in more than one place at the incongruity and nonsense of this ridiculous system exposed. Not to make light of any of it, but if at all possible in those circumstances, humor may just help keep you sane! Here's hoping anyway. When it's not fun, perhaps funny helps?
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Stacey
6/28/2023 06:02:54
Thank you for sharing Zach! It is so unimaginable! I am so sad at the many injustices in the world and after watching the trial feel so sick that the fate of people accused of crimes can be handed to a group of people, who are just that...people...flawed human beings who can be easily swayed ..
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Nikki Wheeler
6/28/2023 06:20:18
Hi Zach,
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Lou Hillier
6/28/2023 12:21:56
Hi Zach ... I am looking forward to reading your next journal entry, although what you are going through sounds as rough as hell. I am hoping that you knowing that there are so many people involved with your family and friends (growing numbers too) keeping you in their minds and hearts and doing what we all can to fight for you ... I hope this will give you strength, a sense of peace and reason to smile now and then. I will write soon and sending very best wishes to you from your UK psychologist! (PS: I checked and Jen said you do get these messages!)
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Linda Valentin
7/1/2023 17:02:45
Hi Zach,
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Eve Reynolds
7/1/2023 19:29:21
Hey there! This is AMAZING! Love, love, love the website! Now to get the word out that it's here! Thank you for taking time to share your thoughts and daily living activities with us. Hope some things get better in general population. Till then know we are all out here supporting you emotionally, spiritually, financially, ect. And we all have one goal and desire...get you home to your family. You ARE amazing!!
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7/3/2023 13:02:24
Zachariah, my friend, I feel so bad I don’t even know what to say. Just know you have a ton of people on this side that know you are innocent. Try to keep your chin up in knowing this. Some people have no one or nothing on the “outside” and you have a beautiful family along with us doing the best we can to exonerate you from the bogus convictions wrongfully bestowed on you. We all love you and will see you through this. We are here for you.
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Cynthia Jackson
7/5/2023 12:23:59
Happy Birthday, Zachariah!! 🎉🥳💞🤟🏼
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aboutThese are the journal entries of Zachariah Anderson. All entries are originally handwritten by Zach and then transcribed on his behalf. Please note that occasional misspellings and grammar errors may be fixed during transcription for the sake of making the entries easier to read and sensitive information may be redacted. Archives
September 2024
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