November 26, 2017

By: Gunther Fiek

Posted by: Bob Chatelle

A few months ago, I started sending out a newsletter type email to some individuals who had subscribed to the JPay email service as a way to communicate with me. (The Georgia Department of Corrections, GDC, uses the JPay services as a way for our loved ones and friends to communicate with us). These emails were something additional I wanted to do aside from the posts on the blog. They were, in a way, somewhat more personal as I shared about my life within this place. But then I realized that it wouldn’t be fair for the rest of the individuals who have also been reading my blog, following my case and supporting me in different ways. So, with this post, I’m going to start a series of posts that I will call ‘Inside the Fence: Life Unhindered.’

This series of posts will allow me to share with everyone about the ins and outs of my life as I serve my sentence within the GDC. I believe it will also keep the blog a bit more active. I confess that I often struggle with topics for a post and it is a factor as to why I don’t post stories as often as I would like to. Although I feel that I do express myself better in my writing, I do not see myself as being creative enough to write on the subjects that I have come up with. Nonetheless, I do hope that with experience I’m able to surpass any factor that hinders my writing. Also, it is my goal to write on this series of posts at least twice a month.

I believe there is so much that goes on in places like this that the general public is not aware of. The GDC operates without much scrutiny, if any — I believe it is the crux to many of its problems. I desire to share those problems because they affect me – and many others – one way or another. And I’m not just referring to those serving a sentence. It also affects society as a whole thus the number of incarcerated individuals in this country — most of any other country in the world. There is definitely something not working with the justice and penal system. Harsh sentences will not solve any problems. I truly believe that if there is a need to reform the system, then any improvements should start in corrections — beginning with the individuals who work there.

So, by sharing my experiences and those of other guys in here, I hope and pray that it will be one stroke as we swim against the current that is the mindset of this nation: punishment. Unless that is changed, it will lead us nowhere and the flow of the system will remain the same.