Don't be a Rat (#38)

Jeff just finished his first year at Taft Prison Camp on April 13th. He is sending a quarterly update soon. Here is his latest blog

I’m kind of jumping around a bit in my entries. In a previous blog, I wrote about how the little things matter. That principle pervades all of prison life. I want to comment on one aspect of that principle specifically as it applies to prison living (I guess among criminals in general). That is, don’t be a rat. Being stigmatized as a “rat” in prison is not the way you want to spend your time. In fact, whether justified or not, being labeled a rate is about the worst way to go through prison.

How does one define a rat, or get the label of rat? This starts with the details of your case. The assumption is that if you accepted a plea bargain, then you agreed to testify against someone or did actually provide information against someone to lessen your own sentence. This seems to be most true of drug cases, which are an extraordinarily high percentage of all the federal cases, well over 75%. In cases like mine, white collar crime, accepting a plea bargain does not necessarily mean you testified against someone, or volunteered information. In fact, the government would rather have a plea bargain in white collar crime because the cases are often far more complex than drug cases. The prosecutors don’t have time to delve into the intricacies of the general business transaction that led to the indictment much less proving that actions were criminal. It is much easier to have the indicted just accepted a plea bargain and save everyone a lengthy and complicated trial. Fortunately, at a prison camp, you can find many more white collar criminals than in higher levels of prison. So, a white collar criminal is not automatically assumed to be a rat because of accepting a plea offer (as I did).

At my camp (and I assume in all prisons), the inmates are watched closely by other inmates to see what kind of person the inmate is. The dumbest thing an inmate can do is write a negative note to the prison staff about another inmate or group of inmates. This is called writing a “cop out.” You write “cop outs” for all kinds of complaints, from food to lack of heat. However, if you write too many “cop outs” other inmates will assume that some are complaints about your inmate peers. One of the most frequent “cop out” complaints is when an inmate is offended by a movie and complains about it. Too many of these and the staff stops showing movies, which in turn, irritates the inmates.

Another example that hits me closely involves a group of inmates who live in bunks in the back corner of the dorm, also where I happen to bunk. These guys have decided to have all the lights out in this corner by 9 pm. This is fine, except that the prison does not require lights to be out until 10 pm. Technically the inmates have no authority to do this or enforce it. I could write a “cop out” complaining about it, but what would that accomplish? I would be labeled as a rat. I could leave my light on and get the ire of the other guys too. Not much better. The solution I arrived at was to be flexible and live with the early lights out. It’s not a big problem and there are worse things I could worry about. By not complaining, my reputation as a guy who can “get along” increases. Like I said, you are always being watched and evaluated. The other inmates want to know what kind of person you are, and because of the small living areas, it doesn’t take long for them to figure it out if you do something to earn their distrust.

There are legitimate “rats” here. Some guys do get benefits by helping the guards and counselors find contraband. In a situation where weapons are drugs are involved, I’m not sure I mind having an insider around. Those things can threaten my safety. Despite the constant accusations though, I cannot say for certain whether I know who is an insider. The most blatant thing I’ve seen that would cause concern is a guy who has been accused of being a rat by numerous people took cuts in line in plain view of 4 guards whose job was to watch for people taking cuts. They caught several people that day, at least 5 while I was waiting in line. They did nothing to this particular guy. There are probably numerous explanations for this and it doesn’t confirm that he’s a rat, but for the first time, I was suspicious of someone.

There is one situation where I have no problem being a rat. This is when one inmate is trying to cheat another inmate. In higher security institutions, you would still not be a rat in this situation. You would stick with your group. In a camp, you don’t really have a group. You just try to stay out of trouble. Well, if I know a guy who is getting cheated, and I know both parties, I generally bring it up. This might make me disliked by the guy trying to cheat the other, but the guy who was getting cheated feels like he can trust me. Again, you are always being evaluated. The guy trying to cheat people will establish a bad reputation. I don’t want to earn his trust by keeping quiet. I don’t want to be “in” with a cheater. I would rather establish a reputation as a guy who is fair. I think that my reputation has helped with guys that I don’t know. If someone thinks I’m trying to do something to them that is cheating, hustling or whatever, most of the time they will ask around. Most guys know that I give when I can, help out when I can, and repay what I borrow. They know I’m a Christian and that I try to live to those standards. When another inmate vouches for you and who your are, you have achieved a very noble compliment. I’m proud that I have established an honest and fair reputation in a place where everyone failed in these circumstances at some point.

Jeff