jail

After ordering takeout from Del Taco, a Colorado couple were surprised to find among the taco sauce and other condiments a small bag of pot. They notified police who then arrested 26 year-old Dennis Klermund at the restaurant, it goes without saying that he was also fired.

Yes the story is funny, but it also serves as a great example of how casually people break the law and risk arrest, fines, jail, injury and even death that are inherent with drug and alcohol abuse. The above idiot was so nonchalant about his drug use that not only did he goof up an intended drug transaction; he left the rest of his dope and paraphernalia in his work locker where the police dogs promptly found it. Duh!

Before you laugh too hard at this moron, try a little introspection yourself.

Click “Read more” to see what I came up with…

Alabama football icon Ken “The Snake” Stabler was acquitted of drunk and reckless driving following three hours of testimony at a municipal trial this week in Robertsdale, AL. He had been arrested there earlier in the summer after narrowly missing a police officer who was writing up another vehicle (reckless driving) and then admitting to drinking but refusing to take a breathalyzer test. As you can see from the video, the police officer that arrested him displayed both professionalism and courtesy during the arrest while Stabler at best sounds and acts addled. If convicted he faced mandatory jail time because this would have been his third conviction of driving under the influence.

I am always hesitant to doubt the wheels of justice but his repeat offender status, obvious impaired state in the video, and the police officers testimony make me wonder if his football stardom of yore and almost idol status in Alabama became more important in this case than justice In what looks like a cut and dry case, an obviously star struck judge ruled that the prosecution did not prove their case. Bah!

Click “Read more” to continue…

Tatum O’Neal, who at ten in 1974 became the youngest person to ever win an Academy Award as supporting actress in the movie Paper Moon, opened up to the public about her abusive past, drug addiction, and subsequent recovery 30 years later her book A Paper Moon.

Arrested for possession of crack cocaine, headlines this weekend bared her struggle with addiction once again to the public.

Growing up in the 70’s, to me Paper Moon was a boring black and white movie. I will always remember Ms O’Neal as the precocious Amanda in the Bad News Bears. Although it’s seriously doubtful that Walter Matthau had anything to do with it, the above scene with young Tatum and Butterworth the alcoholic serves as an apt analogy to the availability of drugs and alcohol in Hollywood party scene. She was exposed early and often enough to drugs and alcohol that a substance abuse problem was almost a given, her story is sadly similar to most child actors who grow up in this caustic environment.

Click "Read more" to continue...

Russell J. Simon Jr. was convicted and sentenced to prison in 1987 for burglary and assault. According to the books he would write later, No Way but God’s Way and Inside the Walls, his incarceration was the result of a dysfunctional upbringing and chronic alcohol/drug abuse.

He experienced a spiritual awakening after his release and developed a personal recovery program that was so successful that he began promoting it as a motivational speaker. Focusing primarily on a youthful audience, Simon’s program Ten Seconds Can Change Your Life Forever focused on a message of personal accountability and making informed decisions. His website states that he speaks to over a quarter of a million teens and parents yearly on the subjects of drug/alcohol abuse, addiction, and violence. This is probably a well inflated number since I found very little info online of recent speaking engagements, but at least in the past he had earned a reputation as an effective and passionate speaker.

If I had heard of Mr. Russell before this month, he would have probably been highlighted in a post with a TDA salute. The chances of that are nil now that he has been charged with attempted murder and sexual assault during an alcohol and meth fueled relapse rampage.

It must have been a mighty high wagon indeed that Simon J Rusell Jr. fell off of because he struck the ground with a spectacular crash.

Click "Read more" to continue...

In addition to having a penchant for James Brown and Bruce Lee, Henry Earl of Lexington, Kentucky also seems to enjoy sleeping off his frequent drunks in the Fayette County Jail. Frequent is actually an understatement, Mr. Earl has been arrested 972 times, mostly for public intoxication after his streetside singing and kooky kung fu perfomances.

Click “Read more” to continue…

I think this is a rather inventive way to remind people of the perils of driving under the influence even though it probably begins to lose its effectiveness if it is "viewed" too many times in one sitting. It has been my experience that once someone has started drinking it's a little too late for logic and reason.

It's reminiscent of many things addiction related, the good things tend to occur too late to do much good. The alcoholic finally gets sober only to lose his license, job, and family. The addict gets clean and then faces a much reduced lifetime battling hepatitis or HIV. Catastrophe or incarceration are often the catalysts for sobriety and conversely triggers for relapse.

It's never too early to curb your drinking, speak to a loved one, or even just to pull up stakes and move to a safer environment. Do it now while you still have a choice...
before it’s too late.

(H/T AdGoodness)

I want to thank Screedler for posting these Letters From Hell. This is a feature from a guest blogger that I always promote to the front page, some of the language may be disturbing but I think it is important that the text remains unedited the way it was originally written from jail.

It’s been a while since I posted a Letters from Hell. This letter was not included in the original series, as it had been lost. It was found underneath the cushion of a sofa at a relative’s house last week. It would have originally fallen in between Parts 11 and 12; so I guess I could have named this Part 11.5.

Please click here to read all the other installments of the series. Just to catch people up who are new to the site – I spent 76 days in a correctional facility the summer before last as a direct result of my alcoholism. These are the letters I wrote to my family while there. Moral of the story - stay clean and stay out of jail – it’s not fun.

June 21, 2006

Dear Everyone,

Two days have passed since I last sat down to write. Things are okay, I have been thinking about my situation more than usual, which tends to make me more depressed than usual. It’s hard for me to keep my mind off worrying when there is so little to do here. I almost welcome the fighting, stealing, and scheming that go on around here as a diversion.

The book I am reading is very good, however it’s a two parter and I only have part one. I have requested part two, but I am doubtful that they have it. I will certainly get it when I get out.

Click "Read more" to continue the letter...

I want to thank Screedler for posting these Letters From Hell. This is a weekly feature that I always promote to the front page, some of the language may be disturbing but I think it is important that the text remains unedited the way it was originally written from jail.

This is the last letter in the series. I didn’t know I was going to get out until hours before it happened. Click here to read all the prior installments of the series.

July 17, 2006

Dear Dad, Sarah, Amy, James and Audrey,

I hope this letter finds everyone doing well. As I have told Dad, the last week has been pretty rotten. We have been in constant lockdown since last week due to fights and various episodes of contraband usage.

We are simply too overcrowded and the fact that they use this place as a way station for prison inmates awaiting trail dates does not help. They are usually trouble. We have been searched about 5 times in the last week. This means the guards go through and throw away and tear up all your stuff including my pens and writing pad. They also threw away all my letters and several articles of my clothing just for good measure. Since then I have gotten back a pen and some paper but did not have anything to write on (a pad or a table) until today.

Although I still have whatever kind of infection (staph), it is much better. Since Amy and Noah told me to stop using the Neosporin type stuff the nurse gave me it has gotten much better. Thank goodness, it was really bothering me.

There have been several arrivals and departures to my cell since last week. None were welcome, all I was glad to see go. One was a thief (yes he stole from me… and others) another was a bully. One was a thief and a bully. I must say I like only about 1 percent of the people I have met in here. I can tolerate about 20 percent. I dislike 60 percent of them and downright hate about 19 percent. I absolutely believe in the death penalty now. I have met some people here that have no redeeming value; the world would absolutely be a better place without them.

Click “Read more” to continue with the letter…

I want to thank Screedler for posting these Letters From Hell. This is a weekly feature that I always promote to the front page, some of the language may be disturbing but I think it is important that the text remains unedited the way it was originally written from jail.

This is the next to the last letter in the series. As you can probably tell from the contents it sounds like I am pretty much getting accustomed to Hell. You would be surprised what you can get used to. I can hardly imagine how numb the Correctional Officers must be. Click here to read all the prior installments of the series.

July 11, 2006

Dear Dad, Sarah, Amy, James and Audrey,

I hope this letter finds all doing well. It sounds like you all had a really good Fourth of July. We had a pretty quite one here in the slammer. Inmates just slept all day or watched TV. Everyone looked like someone had died, especially the ones that talked to their family and friends, hearing about cookouts and parties. I didn’t see any fireworks this year – not even on TV.

As usual people have come and gone out of my little 12 man area. Two welcome departures were Detroit (a.k.a. Lucifer) and his evil spawn ZuZu (a.k.a Little Nicky). After participating in three fights in two days the guards finally took them out of here. The last brawl with a Mexican resulted in bloodshed and I guess that finally got their attention.

This morning we had two more departures to Seg resulting in a total of four new beds open since last Friday in my cell alone. This was also the result of bloodshed. Several young inmates in my cell were picking on a new inmate named Ben – stealing his stuff and slapping him around. Another inmate, older and not out of prison for very long told them to leave him alone. One of the young guys called him a “bitch”. That was the wrong thing to do. You do not call guys from prison a couple of things and one of them is “bitch”. Needless to say the youngster who slapped Ben in turn got a thorough beating. There was blood on my bunk and sheets where the older guy slammed the youngster’s (we actually called him “Teenager”) head repeatedly. It’s weird but this stuff does not even faze me anymore. I actually sat within feet of the entire brawl calmly watching, eating a fried apple pie and having a cup of orange juice. Not quite “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” but equally entertaining.

Click “Read more” to continue the letter…

I want to thank Screedler for posting these Letters From Hell. This is a weekly feature that I always promote to the front page, some of the language may be disturbing but I think it is important that the text remains unedited the way it was originally written from jail.

Welcome to Letters from Hell - Part 14. Although in totality the letter and memories are pretty bleak, Part 14 nevertheless brings back some positive memories – in particular a change in my overall outlook from absolutely negative to somewhat positive. I think after seven weeks of drying out my brain was returning to a state that at least could be called medically stable. I think it was somewhere around this time that I may have genuinely laughed for the first time in five years. Click here to read all the prior installments of the series.

July 9, 2006

Dear Paul and Nan,

I hope this letter finds you both doing well. Nothing new here. The last couple of days have been okay. It was good seeing everyone on Saturday.

I guess the two biggest things I can talk about are how quite it has gotten since Detroit and his cousin have left the block and the fact that we have no soap. I do – because I order a bar of Lever 2000 every two weeks. – but most in here simply do not have any. Whew. They (the guards) say we went through 6 months worth of soap in 5 weeks. They are not saying when we will get any soap, but I am sure when we do it will be with restrictions. If we don’t get some soon I am sure attempts will be made to steal mine and from the few others that have it.

I have been taking a shower once and sometimes twice a day for the last couple of weeks because of the staph going around. I will probably drop back down to every other day to conserve my soap. Believe it or not if I smell clean people are going to “sweat” me for some soap and I mean constantly. It is getting pretty foul in here.

Click “Read more” to continue the letter…