Letter from Wayne Fincher

From the Sebastian County Jail
[In response to AFV editor’s request, this is a day in the life of Hollis Wayne Fincher inside the Sebastian County jail.]

I am doing OK here in jail. It’s not where I want to be, but it’s where I am and I try to make the best of it.

The temperature is pretty constant, probably near 70 both day and night with a few warmer and cooler spots here and there, but no problem.

The light after 10 o’clock [PM] is subdued and about 6 o’clock [AM] it is turned on bright all day and is OK for reading or writing. About 7, we are let out of our cells for breakfast, which might be about a cupful of oatmeal or grits and a piece of bread, some gravy and a tablespoon of margarine, a half pint of milk and some about 50% strength coffee. We go back to our cells for a while and then may be let out for maybe an hour, more or less, and then back to our cells until dinner at about 12 [noon].

Dinner might be some macaroni or beans or peas or sometimes a hamburger (a bun, a piece of meat and a slice of cheese with a tablespoon of mustard) and a small dessert.

A typical dinner might be maybe a half cup of salad or chopped cabbage, some beans, some margarine, two slices of white bread and some kind of meat with a small tub of applesauce and some tea.

After dinner we are sent back to our cells until about 2 [PM] or so, then let out again for a half hour to over an hour and then back to our cells until supper at about 5 [PM] for 30-40 minutes, and then back to our cells until morning.

While the food varies from day to day, it remains pretty much the same. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would say that it is about a 5. It is not bad food, but there is nothing much to complement it for. The food is supposed to be 2000 calories a day, but some days, I doubt if it makes it. Some days it might be a little more.

The bedding is like the food – adequate, but no more; an wool army blanket, a bed sheet and a cotton mattress about 30 inches wide and about 3-1/2 inches thick. Showers are open every day and you can shower nearly every day with a bit of luck. Soap, a toothbrush, toothpaste and toilet paper are provided. Other supplies can be bought at the commissary. Every one complains about the prices. I only buy a few things; paper, stamps and a very few other things. I buy no food.

We can attend in house church a couple of times a week, sometimes more. I talk to other prisoners about their need for Jesus to save them. Some take heed and are willing to listen and some go to their cells and pray. I have a Bible. Most anyone who wants a Bible can get one with out much trouble.

It is somewhat unpredictable using the phone. There are three phones for about 50 prisoners. The phones are open at meal times and the timeout of our cells, but it is a real hassle to use one with any regularity or dependability. In the visitation rooms the noise makes coherent conversation nearly impossible to take care of family needs and the 15 minute time limit is a contemptible mockery of compassion for the families of prisoners who sometimes have to travel quite a distance from home to visit their loved ones.

To sum it up, the jail is designed to provide a place to hold prisoners at the least amount of cost to the county, at the lowest acceptable level under the law.

Dear Loretta, I saw Linda for a few minutes today and she said things were looking very good, but could not elaborate.

Loretta, you and Paul and Teresa Dramer and many others are the light that shines into the darkness of tyranny.

I pray that God blesses you all and please continue to pray for me.

Yours in Jesus Christ our Lord
Wayne Fincher

Source: American Family Voice news, P. O. Box 127, Russellville, AR 72811; 479-880-2026; americanfamilyvoice@yahoo.com; Subscriptions: $25/yr