Volume > Issue > Notes From County Jail

Notes From County Jail

RISING FROM SLEEP

By Edmund B. Miller | January 2001
Edmund B. Miller is a teacher at White Pines Academy in Lemont, Illinois. A sidewalk counselor for over 14 years, he was recently jailed for participating in a rescue at an abortion clinic.

The room measures, at best estimate, about 8 by 15 feet. Walls, ceiling, and floor are white concrete. Two long metal shelves, welded one above the other to plates on the wall, serve as bunks. Near the door is a stainless steel unit — a combined sink and toilet. Finally, opposite the bunks is a small metal table, also welded to the wall.

There were nine men crammed into this room in the Champaign County Jail, four on the bottom bunk, more standing against the wall or in the doorway, and one on the toilet seat. Most of the men in the room held Bibles; I don’t remember the topic for that evening’s Bible study — which doesn’t matter much, for most of the studies so far have devolved to two concerns: court hearings and prison sentences.

The Bible study, then, is when I hear the stories behind the faces. Steve (not his real name) is expected to get more time than most of us, so his story is one better known. It begins six years ago, when one night he came home from work drunk. Infuriated, his wife hit him in the back of the head with a flashlight, whereupon Steve’s hand shot out and caught her under the eye. Both went to jail; the two children went to a foster home. At this point, says Steve, the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services told his wife that, in light of Steve’s history with alcohol, she would not regain custody of the children unless she divorced him. Steve believed he had no choice but to agree.

After the divorce, separated from his children, Steve turned to consolations more potent than alcohol. One night, under the complete control of cocaine, he robbed an Amoco of $136. Now he prepares for his prison sentence.

Enjoyed reading this?

READ MORE! REGISTER TODAY

SUBSCRIBE

You May Also Enjoy

Letter to the Editor: January 2000

Feeling So Good I Could Vomit... The Uses of Satire... In Defense of Dr. Laura...

Briefly Reviewed: November 2019

The disbelief of this age can put you on the defensive with charges that Marian doctrines are unbiblical or, worse, idolatrous.

It Only Hurts When I Stop Laughing

People need to be reminded that it's important to have Jews in the Church — one reason being that only Jews get the jokes in the Bible.