The decision to bring this ministry to these men, tagged as most dangerous, was because they were also tagged as those for whom it could be of greatest benefit, and those who were most influential to the rest of the prison population. The “C” in “C-Yard” meant that this yard had the distinguished reputation of being the maximum-security yard, where the inmates considered most dangerous spent their time. We meet in the gym and for our four-day weekends, we frequently get snipers on the catwalk above us. But a lot of the time, like today, we are locked inside with no supervision – five to one inmate to volunteer ratio. The decision to bring this ministry to these men, tagged as most dangerous, was because they were also tagged as those for whom it could be of greatest benefit, and those who were most influential to the rest of the prison population.
Handball was played against the walls below the barbed wire and the armed guards. This was the scene of C-Yard at Salinas Valley State Prison. The “yard” looks like a sprawling version of my old elementary school playground complete with basketball hoops and posts for a volleyball net. Instead of swings, a slide, and jungle gym, however, there was one sole heavy punching bag. And no grass or baseball diamonds – just dirt, rocks, cement, and evidence of a favorite past-time – blue handballs strewn around the grounds, both whole and in fragments. I couldn’t help but speculate as to how the basketball got caught in the barbed wire, or the volleyball, or the red rubber ball, or the white garbage bags blowing in the wind. Stepping back, the spiked barbed wire curled its way all around the yard, reminiscent of Christmas tinsel with the balls representing ornaments. The analogy ended there, however, as above the “tinsel,” stood guards and snipers walking the cat way, burdened with masses of weapons, keys, radios and bullet-proof vests.
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