Not One Drop of Blood

Not One Drop of Blood: The Human Side of Prison Versus Probation

In the late 1970’s the Washington State Prison system opened the Geiger Corrections Center just west of Spokane, Washington.  Under the guidance of Superintendent John Heffernan, 60 employees and a budget of $1.5 million dollars the refurbished military barracks became a state-county facility diverting probationers from prison and accepting inmates returning for work release. These memoirs chronicle the time prior to and including his years supervising probationers, work release, Geiger, Pine Lodge and Airway Heights until he retires in 1993.

Prison life shocks citizens who learn fear, anger, guilt, loneliness, a loss of humanity; humiliation of strip searches and lost dignity. Fear grows beyond Shylock, in “The Merchant of Venice,” who got no pound of flesh, for the loss of a drop of blood, today’s custody extracts much more than time. I say we go too far. John Heffernan