PRISONERS DON’T GAMBLE ‘CAUSE ITS ILLEGAL
by
Dortell Williams

(Approx. 490 words non-fiction)

Although prison libraries are seldom quiet, today the library was a bit nosier than usual. The small crowded room full of books and people was a-buzz with disgruntled gamblers owed by Boxer: a habitual gambler who knows no limitsm owns no discipline and is terribly sick with wager fever.

“That fool owes me $22.00!” rose a forceful voice from behind the librarian’s counter. “He owes me $12.50,” retorted another, and so on it went.
From one sports season to the next, Boxer is always in hot water with someone, somewhere. Basketball season was particularly sour for Boxer and the frustration within the ranks of those he owes brewed an ominous threat of violence.

Like free society, prisons have their share of gamblers. For some it’s a pastime. For others it’s a hobby, and for yet others it’s their livelihood. However, the worst of them all is the addicted gambler; the compulsive who just can’t seem to get enough.

Those who make it a livelihood are well understood and respected. “It’s his hustle,” as its often described – the way one earns his money. For them betting is a way to counter the institution’s neglect in assigning them to a job or educational placement. Others are fortunate enough to have a job with a pay number, which range form $.08 to $.32 an hour (or even $.95 if the employer is a corporation from free society) a day. But for those with no outside support or a paying job assignment, for those who otherwise couldn’t buy necessities like deodorant or toothpaste, a $12.50 debt owed can be quite a big deal. And for some, a big enough deal to get impatient and even violent about.

It was the violent bloody episodes that initiated bans on gambling in the penitentiary decades ago. Yet the practice on the inside, proportionally, is as prolific as it is on the outside, only wagers are a lot smaller. According to Christiansen Capital Advisors, online betting is expecting to hit $24.5 billion by 2010, nit counting on the other sectors, like casinos, horse racing, and other forms of gambling.

Boxer, a tall, well built athletic brother, said to have had his day in the ring has yet to be pushed into a defensive corner. Still, at the rate he’s going- following un the victimization path of so many of his ilk in the past – we all know it’s just a matter of time. We know it, the guards know it and the administration knows it.
Yet for Boxer, and perhaps thousands of others like him locked within these confining walls, they’re locked out from the desperate help they needed. For Boxer and others, the reality of their addiction is ignored by the state because gambling is illegal in prison and therefore should not exist.

The main problem with that approach is that violence is also illegal, but the threat of it, for some more than others, is every bit as real as their addictions.


Sources:

Jon Swartz,” Arrest Bill Won’t Deter Online Gambling,” USA Today, August21, 2006: B1.

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation: Director’s Rules (Title 15), section 3009:”Inmates may not participate in any form of gambling or bookmaking.”

SEPT 2006