Prison’s lifers turn to honor

OROFINO, Idaho — Some men have a lifetime in prison to think about tomorrow.

“We’re trying to look for the future,” says David Z. Wilson, 48. “That’s all we got is the future.”

Wilson, a tall, black-haired man with pox-scarred cheeks, is serving a life sentence for robbery and murder. He explained a new program during a recent tour of the Idaho Correctional Institution in Orofino that marked the institution’s 20th anniversary.

Wilson lives on the prison’s HONOR unit, an acronym dreamed up by the “lifers” to mean “helping ourselves naturally, orderly and responsibly.”

There are more than 60 inmates in the unit, all serving four or more years in prison, who have volunteered to leave a rougher prison population and live as a community.

“All the convict ways go out the window,” says another inmate.

A couple years ago, the lifers noticed short-time offenders had programs that allowed them privileges and improved their lives. In response, they developed the unit in cooperation with prison officials.

The Honor unit started just two months ago on a dormitory-style wing in part of the prison that was formerly the state hospital. In return for good behavior and good work ethic, prisoners are given a movie viewing every couple of weeks and other privileges.

The inmates require only one supervising officer, and they tend to stay out of trouble.

“Officers now try to come work here because it manages itself,” Wilson boasts.

Honor unit prisoners hope to start training seeing-eye dogs by living with them in their cells. They also produce art and crafts to sell at auction and donate the profits for victims’ restitution.

“Several inmates are doing fixed life sentences. They will die in prison without a pardon. How do you make a life – a meaningful life – out of that?” asks Eric MacEachern, who has worked at the prison since 1985.

There are other “communities” within the prison targeted toward certain populations. The Therapeutic Community opened in 1998 to treat drug- and alcohol-addicted prisoners. Another community opened earlier this year to help prisoners transition from prison to the work camp or to parole.

The communities provide safe environments for people who want to change, says MacEachern.

“It’s a really great social experiment,” he says.

Both MacEachern and Deputy Warden Dean Allen, a veteran of 28 years, are ardent spokesmen for the prison, maintaining that it leads the nation in preparing prisoners to re-enter society.

Maintaining that it is not strange to celebrate the anniversary of a prison, MacEachern believes Orofino has given people a chance to pay for their crimes and earn their penance. In his job, he has changed lives, inside and outside the walls.

“People have to say, ‘Welcome back,’ and mean it and give them jobs,” explains MacEachern. “If it’s just to be punitive, I don’t want any part of it.”