Clang of the prison door

I well remember the feeling when I heard the clang of the prison door at Walla Walla closing behind me.

This needs some explanation.

When I was with the newspaper in Bothell, I heard of some of the reforms at the state prison at Walla Walla.

A call to the prison eventually led to a visit with warden Bobby Rhay.

I told him I was interested in pursuing the reforms with a story, particularly the elected prison inmate council. He said if I wanted to come over, I could visit with him about the reforms and also meet with the prisoner council members.                                                                              So, I was off to Walla Walla.

The reforms ordered by then Gov. Dan Evans included no longer censoring prisoner mail, allowing prisoners to wear their own clothes, and the elected prisoner council, the reform I was interested in.

Rhay stated at our meeting that the prisoner council had helped quiet things down at the prison.

He said I could indeed meet with members of the council.  He added that the prison council had a lot to do with the running of the prison and that he met with them on a regular basis.

I was ushered into a meeting room, and the iron gate clanged shut behind. He agreed that no guards would be present when I met with the prisoners.

I admit I was apprehensive at first, but the council members were polite. I asked each of them to tell me why they were there and how long they had been there.

They told me the experiment of the elected council was a very positive step.

Their plea was for a larger budget for the things they were doing. That included a jobs training program preparing inmates for job opportunities when they were released.

When I returned to Bothell, I called a state representative and a state senator I knew and told them of my visit to Walla Walla. I asked if they would make the trip over there to learn about what was going on. Both agreed to go and I set it up with warden Rhay. He set up our visit with the prisoner council.

We went via state patrol vehicles. We were picked up by a patrolman in Lake Forest Park. He drove us to Snoqualmie Pass where we were met by another state patrolman who took us to Yakima where we were taken on our third lap of the drive.

We met first with warden Rhay and then were ushered unaccompanied into the interior of the prison.

The elected officials reacted when the clang of the door behind us sounded.

We had about an hour’s meeting with the prisoners, on their turf.

When we were ready to go, we were told that the prisoners had prepared a skit for us.

When they said the name of the skit was “Kill

Whitey,” I could see the hair on the back of the two elected officials’ necks rise.

It was a stunning gaffe, and the skit didn’t match its name.

The two got after me on the way home. I thought at the time that they were really scared.

We repeated the same process for getting home, with three patrol links.

A few years later, there was a change in feelings of why the prisoners were there, and the reform effort was set aside; I think it was a poor decision.

I can still hear the clang of that door closing me inside the prison.

It wasn’t much later that I arranged a visit to the prison at Monroe. I have to say that it was a chilling experience, nothing like my visit to Walla Walla.

No reforms there.