Chronicles from Parchman #12: Robbery by Default

This is the latest installment in the Chronicles from Parchman series, a monthly column by writer, L. Patri, who has been fighting his wrongful conviction on Parchman’s death row for over thirty years. You can listen to the voiceover if you want to listen to Mr. Patri reading “Robbery by Default.” Please read the postscript for a dispatch from Mr. Patri regarding the upcoming execution date of Richard Jordan. When it comes to having access to people on the outsideAs a death row prisoner, I have rights that must abide.At this prison, MDOC gives me three ways to communicateAnd they contracted Global Tel to bring the systems up to dateI’m having serious concerns, so this upgrade is up for debateAs I don’t believe GTL is even a third-rate.Because if they are the only game in townIt becomes robbery by default that’s going down.It’s more akin to a Ponzi scheme conThat’s robbing the s**t out of me without using a gun.MDOC and GTL are f*****g up my daysHolding my connection hostage in multiple waysAt 5 cents a minute, I’m allowed access to video callsAs long as I use the portal stand nailed to the guard tower wallThe majority of the time, I’m catching hell just trying to log in.When I finally succeed, it cuts off and kicks me out againThinking I might have better luck, I try a regular call by phoneI dial the numbers and pay by debit to call homeThe static is so bad that my family can’t hear what I’m sayingAnd when I complain to MDOC and GTL, they mean mug me as if I’m not payingThey had me giddy as f**k after 33 years in a cellWhen they told me I’d be able to send an emailBut this goddamn wifi keeps hijacking my messages so they don’t get savedAny time someone decides to use the microwaveError! Login failed! You are currently logged into another device #112206Hmm, now ain’t that some s**t.At these inflated prices, they’re treating me like a sharecropper’s slaveAnd they’re picking my pockets, ensuring they get paidI’m feeling like a junkie, a goddamn cluckerWho’s fiending for a fix from these crooked motherfuckersYou best believe when service is this shitty all the timeThat some funky-ass crook is stealing my last dime.I don’t know what to do, I’m at my wit’s endBecause GTL is causing smokescreens between me, family, and friendsIf I get a contraband cell phone, MDOC makes that a sinNo matter what I do, I can’t f*****g win.Having lived on Mississippi Death Row for over three decades I have watched twenty men walk to the death chamber to be murdered at the hands of the State. I have watched six men walk back to claim their freedom after serving decades fighting not to be murdered at the hands of the State.Mississippi has an upcoming execution scheduled, June 25th, for a seventy-nine-year-old man—Richard Jordan, a man who has been on death row for the past fifty years. Richard is a man whom the prison allows to be out of his cell all day, from 3:30am until 6pm. What does that say that after fifty plus years that the State now deems it necessary to kill this man? What does it also say that religious and anti-death penalty organizations are willing to wait until this man has been set a date, or wait until the day this man is executed before speaking out and speaking up about the injustice and inhumanity to this process within our judicial system? So, here is some food for thought: when Rome nailed Jesus Christ to the cross, that was an execution. How can people of faith claim to be followers of Jesus yet continue to stand on the sidelines and watch as States like Mississippi continue to execute people? L. Patri - June 19, 2025Rooted Magazine is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rooted.substack.com/subscribe