Here's a quick story that illustrates the absurdity and destructive nature of incarceration and why reentry is a bs concept.

Imagine being released from prison the week that much of the U.S. went on lockdown and after you served nearly a decade inside. Add to this the anxiety of not having secured housing and possibly facing being homeless which would put you in violation of your probation.

Then imagine spending your first few nights of "freedom" in a hotel and having to isolate bc of Covid. Two days later your PO calls to tell you that you have to present at "work release" immediately. You don't have a car and public transportation is limited.

Once in work release you're forced into a single cell to quarantine for 14 days, and it's almost like you never really left prison.

Following your quarantine period you're allowed to mingle with the other residents, but there's no PPE and no widespread testing, and NO ability to socially distance.

On top of worrying about how you can stay safe in this situation you also worry about finding a job bc that's a requirement of your probation, but things are closed and the facility won't allow anyone to leave.

Fast forward a few months and you're still not able to leave the facility. Your time in work release ends in a few short months and you'd like to have some money saved up for the next chapter.

You're still relying on family and friends for basics like soap and toothpaste. When you entered work release you had a large tube of toothpaste, but that's now gone so you have to call someone to bring you the things you need.

Your peoples drop off the items that you requested, but someone at the facility has now decided that large tubes of toothpaste are not allowed so you have to call your peoples back and ask them to bring travel size tubes.

Another couple of months go by and things seem to be looking up--you have a job and are looking forward to leaving work release. You're still concerned bc you don't have long-term housing, but your counselor assures you this won't be an issue.

A few weeks after starting your job you test positive for Covid; Instead of being sent to a hospital (bc you're not technically in prison) you're sent back to the prison that you were released from bc that's the protocol.

You can't call anyone before you're transferred to the prison. You're able to get a message to your people so that they know where you are and what's going on.

Your people now have to go to work release to pick up your belongings because you're worried that your things will be damaged or thrown out while you're away.

This is reentry. This is what the state calls "rehabilitation." This is how the state extracts more time from you, more money from you, more energy from your loved ones, exposes you to a deadly virus, and then reincarcerates you as they claim that you're "free."

This is not a system that you can improve by tweaking. This is a system that must be abolished.