We all know that being in prison can be a difficult experience, and one that can often come with its own set of struggles and hardships. Unfortunately, for some inmates, these struggles don’t just come from the inmates themselves, but from the correctional officers as well. One such inmate is Charles Pickens, who is currently incarcerated at an unnamed facility. Charles was allegedly given an order that he refused, however, Charles is adamant that he did not ever get the order. Charles was given an infraction and taken to a disciplinary hearing after being charged with a C-15 and a B-25.

Despite not having any evidence to support the B-25 charge, the Disciplinary Hearing Officer found Charles guilty of both and refused to allow him to attend the hearing unless he pleaded guilty. Not only was this action in violation of policy, but Charles was also stripped of his phone privileges for 50 days, making it impossible for him to contact anyone for help. Those are not the worse punishments, you see, Charles is scheduled to be released next year. If this infraction sticks, he faces the possibility that he could be in prison for the rest of this life.

During his hearing, a fellow inmate was also present and this inmate had been caught with a knife of some sort. His charges were dropped but Charles’ was not. I am only telling the story as I was told by Charles. I was not present so I cannot say for sure what happened. However, Charles is a very sweet man and I have a really hard time thinking that he would intentionally be disobedient when given an order.

Charles is under the impression that he is under so much scrutiny due to the fact that he is a prison reform activist. I certainly hope that is not the case. I will keep you updated on Charles and what comes of all of this.