At RMC-Main, the first thing a visitor notices is the intimidating guard towers on either side. Ted had told me on the phone that he was in a two-man cell with a young Hispanic 19-year-old and they got along well.
Lake Butler is an adult prison, but also a medical center. RMC stands for “Reception and Medical Center”. So even though the visitation room looked similar to Lancaster’s, the differences were immediately apparent. The large room contained many small tables with chairs. A door led to an outdoor area with a sheltered pavilion and open areas with concrete tables and benches. Inmates of all ages were visiting their families. Many inmates were in wheelchairs and another man used crutches for his broken leg.
Inmates dressed in white with blue stripes down the sides were permanent residents. Ted talked to one man who had been incarcerated for 37 years and was due to be released in a couple of years. Others were dressed in blue and were due to be sent to various institutions. Ted was still wearing the dirty thermal long undershirt under his blue uniform. It looked like it hadn’t been washed in a year. He said they could only change clothes three days a week. During one period outside, it started to pour as they were walking back inside. Even though their uniforms were soaked through, they were not given any dry clothes.
The compound’s comprised of many buildings. (There’s actually also a RMC-West, as well as a RMC work camp.) There are four wings in Ted’s building. Two of the wings house youthful offenders. Ted is housed with some other youthful offenders on the end of an adult wing. The adults are free to walk around a lot during the day. The youthful offenders are kept locked up while the adults are out. Consequently, there’re not many opportunities for Ted to use the phone.
Each wing of the building contains three floors. Offices make up the first floor. Cells comprise the second and third stories. Ted said each floor has one row of cells and an aisle. On the other side of the aisle are windows. He also has a window in his cell. The view is limited, however, because apparently there is a wall of concrete squares on the outside. You can only see through the space in the middle of these squares.
I asked him if he got to go outside. He said for three days the youthful offenders were outside sweating for three hours straight in the hot sun. I asked if they had access to water and he said, “Yes, if they let us near it – which they didn’t.” The handicapped inmates go outside with the other adult inmates. The youthful offenders do not go out on the yard with the adults.
He told me he joined in one day in a game of soccer. There’s also an indoor basketball court somewhere and a track in the back that inmates can walk around. In another outside area, there is a covered pavilion with picnic tables and a TV.
For most of the day, he’s kept locked up. He plays cards with his cellmate, reads (he has two books left that he hasn’t read), sleeps and writes. Too bad his letters aren’t getting mailed.
They evidently go to a chow hall for meals. I asked if his current cell was filthy and crawling with bugs. He said that “there aren’t as many bugs this time.” Probably because of the cooler weather.
A couple of people asked if they could write to Ted at the RMC address. It might be best to wait until he arrives at the new work release center, otherwise it may take weeks for letters to be forwarded to him. Hopefully that will be soon.
Photo: Google Earth aerial of RMC-Main. Click photo to enlarge.
