February 10, 2026  • By Dennis Beaver

Prison is a place like no other. It is its own world and has rules that apply there and nowhere else. Knowing this reality was what my young reader needed to understand three years ago.

“Mr. Beaver,” wrote “Molly,” “my son ‘Ray’ just turned 18. He has been in and out of juvenile detention for years, primarily because he can’t say no and hangs around with boys who are up to no good. But he has a very high IQ and has been reading your column for years.

“Now that he is an adult, if he continues on the same path, he will wind up in prison. Could you talk with him about what the first days behind bars would be like and how to keep himself out of trouble? You might be able to wake him up. Thanks, ‘Molly.'”

I set up a video call with this polite young man who said he “just wanted to make friends, so I went along with whatever it was.” He could not hide the “smart-aleck” side of his personality that I doubt Molly saw.

If anyone needed to know what the first days in prison would be like, it was Ray. What follows is a summary of our conversation.

Some healthy fear is beneficial

“Ray, I’ve learned from our clients who did their time, and through letters I’ve gotten from inmates across the country, that when you are sentenced to prison, which only you can prevent, a dose of fear is healthy.

“It is a place where very bad people are forced to live together,” I went on. “For the first-time inmate, who is referred to as a ‘fish,’ danger stems from a lack of understanding the unwritten social rules that control prison life.”

The eight unwritten social rules that Ray needed to know:

1. Leave your ego at home. Do not fall into the newbie trap.

Never think that you are different or better than anyone else. You are, at first, a “nobody with a number.” An attitude of superiority will make you a target. So, be as plain vanilla as possible — to other inmates and the staff.

2. Keep your head up — literally.

Eye contact in the free world is considered polite, but in prison, looking at someone for too long is seen as a challenge, as in much of the animal world.

So, while you should keep your gaze low, you don’t want to stare at the floor, which would give the impression that you’ll be an easy victim.

3. Absolutely DO NOT accept gifts.

Accepting an offer of a package of ramen noodles or a hygiene item from another inmate is never simple generosity. Nothing is free in prison.

Consider it a transaction that creates a debt similar to a high-interest loan. In a few days, your “new friend who is so nice” will return to collect, and the repayment price will not be noodles. It might be your commissary privileges or physical self-respect.

So, decline all gifts, but politely.

4. Maintain a respectful distance from staff.

One of the most ill-advised and life-threatening things you can do as a first-timer is to try to develop friendships with the correctional officers and staff.

This could get you injured or even killed if other inmates see you being overly friendly with a CO. The message you are sending is that you are a snitch.

Likewise, being disrespectful to a CO is an invitation for a host of subtle, yet nasty, annoyances. So don’t be a jerk.

5. Understand the many aspects of respect.

“Mike,” a longtime client who has been in and out of prison, described respect in the joint this way: “In the free world, I deserved no respect because of what I had become.

Yet, in prison, the most despicable people demand respect. Respect is a matter of life-and-death, often meted out by people who never respected anyone on the outside.”

He described how this single concept is so powerful:

• It creates boundaries for personal space and conduct. Invading someone’s personal space, touching their possessions or sitting on their bunk is considered a sign of disrespect.

• Having manners and showing consideration for others is obligatory. Say “please,” “excuse me,” “thank you” — these simple words can prevent a fellow inmate’s anger from erupting.

• Newbies are often told to “be a man of your word.” If you lie or refuse to make good on your debts, the result is often violence.

• Stay “solid,” which means “don’t snitch on others.” And “keep your head down” by not messing with other inmates’ concerns.

6. Keep family and friends close by writing to them often.

Having the emotional support of people on the outside should not be taken for granted. Those who love you want to know that you are OK, so write to them often. Ask them to write back, and this way, at least mentally, you can escape the prison walls.

7. Read. Go to the library.

Mentally removing yourself from confinement will help prevent your own decline. Use the educational resources that are offered. Get your GED or even a college degree, as these things will enable you to establish a more normal life once you are released.

8. Remember your objective — going home.

All of our clients have stressed the importance of visualizing walking out that main gate the day of your release.

This will happen as long as you don’t create trouble for yourself while inside by causing fights, committing other crimes that add to your sentence or a host of other bad decisions that only hurt you.

Three years later …

Both Molly and Ray called our office three years later and asked for another Zoom session. I had almost forgotten them by then.

“You scared me, Mr. Beaver,” Ray told me. “I could not forget how you described life in prison. I woke up, dumped my bad friends and am just about to graduate from college and will become a physical therapist.

“I was really mad at you at first,” he went on, “but then I realized that you were trying to help me. All I can say is thanks.”

Molly said nothing. Her tears spoke volumes.

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

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Dennis Beaver practices law in Bakersfield and enjoys hearing from his readers. Contact Dennis Beaver.

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Care to guess the population of Houston, Texas? Here’s a hint: The same number of people are in U.S. prisons, about 2.2 million, and that is a world record.

That’s right, our country has more people in prison than any other, according to the United States Department of Justice.

Of that 2.2 million inmate population, about 150,000 are serving life sentences which means that the others will pay their debt to society by doing time and then released, stepping into the sunshine, finding a decent job, having learned their lesson, never to return.

Of course I was told that by the Tooth Fairy who apparently never heard of the terms recidivism rate or repeat offender. While the figures do vary depending upon the types of crimes committed, within three years, from 60 percent to 80 percent of people sentenced to prison will re-offend.

In many cases, because of something on a job application form, and, as we learned:

“They may have been released, but so many are, practically speaking, still locked up, inside an invisible prison due to a small box on a job application asking if they had ever been convicted of a crime,” we were told by an assistant warden who holds a law degree and has over 20 years experience at well known West Coast prison. We will just call him “Warden Jack.”

“We failed to anticipate the consequences of this growth industry”

“As a nation, we failed to anticipate the consequences of a nation which keeps so many people behind bars. When prison building became a growth industry, little thought was given to ways of helping inmates truly re-enter society through employment.

“Professionals in this field openly discuss the fact that the ‘lock’em up and throw away the key’ attitude is working well indeed as a round-trip ticket, back to prison.

“A huge problem is that many employers will not hire anyone who has a criminal record, even when the offense has nothing to do with the job. This attitude is fanning the flames of recidivism.

“If you want to know what drives wardens crazy, it’s seeing a guy who got an education in prison, has ability, grew up, and could become a productive member of society, but that job application form or a background check disqualifies him from employment. Add to that being a minority, and the deck is even more stacked against the inmate,” Warden Jack maintains.

Rejecting all applicants with criminal records can be discrimination

“The saying, Hire the best — Reject the rest, is something that most employers live by. It is common sense — employers only want to best employees. However, today, following this motto could become an expensive legal nightmare, as employers find themselves running afoul of federal laws prohibiting discrimination,” Nashville, Tennessee-based employment attorney Jennifer Lankford makes clear to the lawyers who attend her National Business Institute seminars.

“Dennis, you would be surprised at the number of employers who are engaging in employment discrimination without intending to or even aware that they are doing so,” she explains.

“We call this disparate impact discrimination and it often results from what on the surface appears to be a reasonable, neutral policy — treating everyone the same — but which disproportionately screens out a legally protected group, such as racial minorities.”

“It is well established that African Americans and Latinos are arrested and convicted disproportionately than their numerical representation in the population. When an employer has a blanket policy of not hiring anyone with a criminal conviction — even when the crime has no relation to the job — then more minorities than white applicants are being screened out. This is a classic example of disparate impact discrimination.”

We asked Lankford if this means that an employer must hire any minority who shows up, regardless of having a nasty criminal past.

“Employment attorneys hear that question often, and the answer is that you do not have to close your eyes to a person’s criminal past. But, you need to demonstrate that your policy of exclusion is job related and consistent with a business necessity.” Employers should consider:

• Requirements of the job
• What the person was convicted of
• The time that has passed since the conviction.

“These questions demonstrate whether the exclusionary policy is truly relevant to the underlying job position. As you might imagine, if the person has a history of theft offenses and is looking for a job as a cashier, the person is not suited for employment.

“However, if the applicant had a minor drug offense, years ago, the exclusion is less justifiable,” Lankford concluded.

For our employer-readers, we suggest a review of your hiring practices by an attorney who specializes in Employment Law. Running a business is no piece of cake.

Dennis Beaver practices law in Bakersfield and enjoys hearing from his readers. Contact Dennis Beaver.

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You really have to give credit to the staff at Avenal State Prison, the Department of Corrections and California’s Government Claims Board. In terms of ducking from responsibility and having any sense of just doing the right thing, these guys get our JOY award.

That stands for Jerks of the Year, and we will explain in a moment why, but first, this question:

Let’s say that you are out walking your dog when my dog gets out, then, unprovoked, bites you and your pooch. Who is responsible for required medical/vet bills? If you ask me to pay, isn’t the right thing to simply pay the bill or immediately turn the matter over to my Homeowner’s Insurance and let them handle it?

The answer to that question proved simply mind-boggling impossible for the top brass at the California’s Claims Board, the Department of Corrections and Avenal Prison — and if anyone should know right from wrong, the prison should!

Were it not for Hanford Sentinel reporter Joe Johnson’s desire to help 84-year-old subscriber John Thompson, in our legal opinion, this Hanford resident would have been ripped off, and he did nothing more sinister than walk his dog at about 10 in the morning on Jan. 2, 2013, when:

“With my little dog, Blondie, we had hardly gone ½ a block on West Claridge Way when an Avenal Prison K-9 in the care of a corrections officer, quickly came up to us and began aggressively sniffing my dog and lifting her off the ground. Trying to protect my dog, I bent over to pick her up and at that instant, the K-9 began to bite her, and then me.

“Fortunately, a neighbor–also a prison employee – saw what was happening, ran across the street, grabbed the K-9 and pulled it off of us. He then took it to its handler’s house, who we would later discover was out of the country on vacation.”

We learned that the dog should never have remained at the home when its handler was absent.

“Veterinary and medical bills came to $200, and that’s all that I ever wanted,” Thompson explained.

Animal control was contacted, and a report was generated leaving no doubt that the prison owned the dog and that it had in fact been on the loose earlier that morning.

Thompson’s attorney sent a well-written demand letter to the warden, but instead of accepting responsibility and paying the bills, there was no response. This situation now required filing a government claim —within 6 months of the incident–but for some odd reason, his attorney waited until May 22 — and then sent in a claim which was certain to be rejected even though it was obvious the prison was at fault. Here’s why:

California’s Government Claim’s Board makes it clear that damages for “pain and suffering” are not allowed. Yet, the attorney asked “$5,000″ for pain and suffering, which triggered an automatic rejection.

As You and the Law would discover, if his attorney had simply asked to be reimbursed for out of pocket medical/vet bills — what his client wanted — the board would have paid!

Crime reporter Joe Johnson phoned our office. “Beav, I have a great story for you!”

Soon thereafter, we would realize just how morally bankrupt are the folks at these huge state agencies, and here’s why we say this:

Nothing prevented the prison from reimbursing those medical expenses at once. Receiving a flawed Government Claim did not prevent a friendly phone call to Thompson’s attorney, pointing out the error, and suggesting that he submit an amended claim.

They could have done it, realized his claim otherwise had merit, but knew very well that over $200 or so dollars, few would ever file a lawsuit, as it would cost far more with filing and service of process fees.

After our coaxing, cajoling and ridiculing, finally, the State of California has paid our 84-year-old reader, “472 days after the bite,” Thompson told us with a big smile.

There’s something else which makes these kinds of stories so compelling, and it is John himself, who we got to know.

He enlisted in the Army Air Force 1947, served in the Korean War as a flight engineer in combat missions surviving a spectacular runway crash. Leaving the service, he would spend the next 37 years – 17 of which were overseas – working for McDonnell-Douglas as an adviser to air forces around world, including Israel, Turkey, Taiwan, and Greece.

He is an American hero, deserved better and the power of the press got it for him.

Dennis Beaver practices law in Bakersfield and enjoys hearing from his readers. Contact Dennis Beaver.

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