Mary McNaughton Feezel

Mary McNaughton Feezel, former Business Owner (Retired) (1972-2007)

Updated May 13

My son spent 3 years on a Level 3 yard at the AZ State Prison-Yuma. My husband and I visited him regularly, and after observing what went on during the visits, as well as talking to him about his living conditions, I learned a lot more about the US prison system than I EVER thought I would.

Side note: We adopted him in Chicago when he was 4 days old. He is black/white biracial, and identifies as black. We raised him in a solid middle class home, we owned a house, he had two parents, a brother (also adopted and black). He received a good education and medical care. My husband and I are white. He is bipolar, and spent part of his sentence on a medical yard. He was under the care of a psychiatrist until he was 18, and then refused to take his medications. As a result he made poor decisions that led to prison.

Now, to the topic at hand. He joined the Crips while incarcerated. This has its upside and downside. The gang will protect its members, but the members are controlled by the gang leader, and when he says you fight, you fight…whether you want to or not. Gang membership USUALLY protects its members from rape, so long as the individual is straight and a fighter. If you are gay, or a child molester/murderer you will be an outcast, and you may be raped, and probably beaten.

Don’t think the other inmates won’t find out what you did to wind up in prison. My son said someone in his gang had a secret cell phone, and new inmates are researched through public court websites. They did that with him, and found out he was in for burglary, so he was accepted as a garden variety criminal.

Rape may be avoided, but as someone else mentioned in this thread, you can expect rampant, endless brutality. On one occasion a Hispanic inmate (yes, racism is alive and well in the prison system) walked up to him and stabbed him in the chest. Unfortunately for him, the knife stuck in my son’s breast bone, and didn’t seriously hurt him. My son pulled the knife out of his chest, and stabbed the other man in the neck until he died. My son was not charged with murder, because it was determined he acted in self defense. After that incident my son had the reputation among other inmates as being a friendly guy, but someone you didn’t want to cross.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3987687&forum_id=2#36135969)