last stop in a long life of incarceration. i ve been locked up virtually since age 12 in institutions and reform schools and prisons and penal farms, and i m in here this time for prying into an empty drawer in the lobby of a hospital. i received a life sentence under what they called the habitual criminal clause because i ve been convicted so many times before for theft, shoplifting, and just being a pain to the members of society and midtown memphis. ziggy had grown accustomed to life in riverbend s minimum security unit. he has what he calls a cushy prison job, editing the inmate newspaper. my punishment is not going to begin until i walk out those front gates because this is the world i ve gotten used to since age 12. but when i get out there, it s an entirely different world, and it s a changed world, and to be honest with you, i m very, very scared. our crew would soon learn
many of those inmate-enforced rules revolve around racial politics. a lot of people here have affiliation with gangs. they ask me who i run with? i run with teachers and librarians usually. when i find them, i will run with them. i haven t found too many of them yet. parro must also deal with racial politics in his prison job as a housing clerk. i got a message you called over here. usually i come in in the morning, see who paroled, if there have been any roll-ups in the last 24 hours and beds open. i got 109 up, 242 up. those are open since yesterday. i kind of look at those and see who we have waiting and place them. it is a bit of a puzzle because we have to house according to their ethnicity, gang affiliation and medical needs.
i said yeah i m ready to come home i just haven t earned my mickey mouse ears yet. so a couple more years and i ve got my mickey mouse ears and i m out the door. uh-huh. and i m taking all the rides with me. i ll go ahead and fill out the paperwork and have you sign it. morgan also held a prison job as an inmate advocate. a sort of amateur lawyer for inmates facing sanctions for rule violations. on this i m going to try to get you suspended sanctions. while morgan lived in the minimum security level two section of the penitentiary of new mexico, he was awaiting transfer to an even less restrictive level one prison, commonly known as the farm. i told them, it s like disney land. oh, i m going to disney land. go find a ride. the farm is a lot more freedom. it s four-foot fences. you know, you re pretty much on your own will. you do what you want to do, you
grown less violent and more committed to his prison job, which today will take him to the fifth floor of i cell house. the intensive detention unit. the most dreaded cell block at isp. there s currently about 99 people, that s our maximum capacity, here on idu. and here this is what it s like pretty much every day. you ve got you walk out pretty much with a lot of headaches every day. this is like prison within prison. someone is going to try to gun you down. these guys are going to get combative with you. these guys will try to stab you, and, hence, the stab vest i have to wear. this is idu. this is the real deal. [ bleep ] and you ve got to have a thick skin to work here too. they ve got an overflowed toilet on idu. i m the backup. i ve got to clean blood, crap,
money there, or i m not going to be nice the next time i come back. over the years, stone has grown less violent and more committed to his prison job, which today will take him to the fifth floor of i cell house. the intensive detention unit. the most dreaded cell block at isp. there s currently about 99 people, that s our max capacity, here on idu. and you can hear this is what it s like pretty much every day. you got you walk out pretty much with a lot of headaches every day. this is like prison within prison. someone s going to try to gun you down. these guys are going to get combative with you. these guys will try to stab you, and, hence, the stab vest i have to wear. this is idu. this is the real deal. [ bleep ]. and and you ve got to have thick skin to work here, too. oh, no. they got an overflowed toilet on idu. got to go up there and clean up. i m the backup in biohazard.