Ramblings and Reflections

Newsletter 2
October/November, 2003

Dear Friends,
My love and gratitude to the many hundreds of you who have sent letters assuring prayers, support, testimonies of your own actions for peace from all over the world.  I experience a unity in our waging of peace, which includes disarmament, stopping weapons-trade and war.  During this time I must do a spiritual walk with you as you demonstrate in D.C., walk into Ft. Benning’s School of Assassins, resist at the sites of nuclear weapons and carriers, protest on the holy days and speak truth in the courts.  Thank you for taking our message to the streets.

Many have asked about Danbury.  This is my second time here – in 1999 at FCI and this time at FPC.  Dan and Phil Berrigan, Plowshare activists, conscientious objectors galore, many SOA Watch prisoners made the grounds sacred over the years.  We are more than 1300 prisoners, an enclosed FCI unit and open FPC on 400 acres of land, 256 staff, and a 22 million dollar budget.  Unicor, the major prison industry had an 11 million dollar cash flow last year with its electronics military contracts and miscellaneous items.  Profits were 3 million dollars, returned to the corporation for capital growth.  The regular pay for prisoners is 12 cents per hour.  They do all of the work inside:  sanitation, food prep, serving, plumbing/electrical, construction, grounds care, education and assistants to all staff members.

The Federal Prison Camp building was constructed in the early 1970’s to house the 12 Watergate prisoners.  (This was a men’s prison at that time and became a women’s facility in 1994).  It is about 180 feet by 30 feet, half of it is single floor, and half of it bi-level.  Each Watergate prisoner had his own room and access to the kitchen, dining, offices, conference rooms, several bathrooms, etc.  We are 230 in the same space today.  The basement area has A, B, C units with cubicles for two persons on a bunk bed.  The second tier houses six to eight people on bunks.  I came from SHU to Room 11 (made famous by Leona Helmsley who spent time here).  The dorms D, E, F are on the west side of the building and house 16 of us in each.  That is where I have been relegated.  Women call this the projects.  We have floods in these rooms when it rains.  The sewer system backs up in the kitchen a few times each month and we house field mice, ants, etc.  There is not insulation in the cement block exterior walls and the doors have large spaces for the winter winds to enter.  My opinion – the building was meant to be razed after the Watergaters served their terms.  It would make more sense to begin over.  The former education building, a warehouse is filled with mold.  (I heard that Dorm D is also)  It has been closed down.  Our E and F dorms will be the new education classrooms, so 32 persons are being transferred or slots dropped by attrition.

Behind the building on the east side is an overview of the former pool (for the 12).   It has been filled in.  There is a track, exercise building, volleyball area, picnic tables and an enclosure for dogs, trained here as seeing-eye dogs.  The view is awesome, trees of every hue, deer, wild turkeys, geese, etc. come out of the woods to this area.  I drink in God’s magnificent creation daily at this location and breathe the Breath of the Spirit of life and love for nourishment of my soul.  The institutional food is average.

I have met some beautiful women in this month, women are minorities.  The Spanish speaking come from U.S. cities and countries or islands in the south.  I always consider it a privilege to listen, encourage and bless, be blessed by women who have suffered so much

I’ll write more later.  Be assured of my thoughts and prayers with you.

Peace in our days,

Ardeth Platte # 10857-039, FPC Danbury, Rt. 37, Danbury CT 06811