Older Doesn’T Necessarily Mean Wiser

Thanks to a zillion prison movies, we all know what evils lurk behind the high walls and razor wire.

Inmates are routinely beaten, starved and left to rot inside dank, vermin-infested dungeons known in universal felon lingo as “The Hole.”

In that chain-gang classic, “Cool Hand Luke,” poor Paul Newman can’t even take a potty break unless he keeps the foliage moving to show the guards where he is.

“Shakin’ the bush, boss!” yells the cagey Newman. “Shakin’ the bush!”

Now comes Donald G. Gosney to tell of the unspeakable horrors he is being forced to endure at the hands of his captors.

Gosney, 68, is one of the 2,000 inmates doing time at the Airway Heights Corrections Center west of Spokane. He has filed a lawsuit claiming his rights are being violated because the prison wants to educate him.

You heard me.

Gosney is furious enough to sue over being forced to earn a high school diploma.

This is Dim Bulb Don, not Cool Hand Luke. “Readin’ the books, boss! Readin’ the books.”

What an ingrate. This guy should shout hallelujah to be locked up in a place that wants to better him. Many would come up a with a far more diabolical punishment for Gosney than study hall.

According to prison officials, the former used-car dealer was convicted in King County of child rape and child molestation. With good behavior, he’ll be out in 2014.

Gosney would be 83. Age is at the core of this man’s foolish protest.

In a letter forwarded to me through his sister, Gosney argues that taxpayers are being cheated by having to waste money educating older inmates like him.

He points out that Department of Corrections policy demands that inmates work on their GEDs if they are under 22 years of age or test below ninth-grade level.

Gosney, a high school dropout, says his advanced age and the fact he tested higher than the ninth grade mark should exempt him from the program.

But that’s not the way things are done at the Airway Heights slammer. Progressive-minded officials here have raised the learning requirements bar because they know the incalculable benefits of education.

Educated inmates cause less trouble. They become role models to other prisoners. The more education an inmate has, the less likely he is to break the law after release.

“Just because a person is 67 or 87 doesn’t mean we’re going give up on him,” says Cly Evans, an administrator at the medium-security prison.

Classes are taught at the prison through the Community Colleges of Spokane’s Institute of Extended Learning. At any given time, about a third of the inmates are enrolled in the GED program, which cost $1.4 million last year.

It’s money well spent because learning changes lives - at any age.

Perhaps this heightened attention to education explains why inmates of Airway Heights Corrections Center have a 37 percent rate of re-offending vs. the national rate of 65 percent.

Last March, the institution had a graduation ceremony where 72 inmates received their GEDs. Like Gosney, many of these students grumbled during the process.

But no complaints were heard when they reached out and took hold of their diplomas.

“Many of these folks have failed at about everything they’ve ever done,” says Evans, adding that earning a GED gives inmates pride, self-respect and better decision-making skills.

“What better thing can you spend your time doing than learning?” he asks.

Gosney, you are dead wrong. Drop your frivolous lawsuit, quit your bellyaching and start hitting the books.

Who knows? With some serious effort and concentration, you just might become smart enough to realize how ridiculous you’ve been.