One Day in the Life of 179212: Notes from an American Prison

by Jens Soering

To a correctional facility in Virginia he is known as Prisoner 179212. But to a legion of journalists and legal reform activists he is Jens Soering, a German citizen who has endured for the past twenty-six years the harshest and most unforgiving punishment this country can offer—a life sentence without realistic hope of release, which some refer to as "the other death penalty." Told with dry humor, One Day in the Life of 179212 provides an hour-by-hour survey of everyday life in an American medium-security facility with all of its attendant hardships, contradictions, and even revelations. Soering poignantly illustrates the importance of meditation and faith when confronted with extreme adversity, in addition to making a highly compelling case for prison reform. Although this inspiring, eloquent memoir recounts just a day in the life of one man, much like Alexander Solzhenitsyn's One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, it provides a powerful voice for the over two million men and women lost in the maze of America's prison-industrial complex.

Genres: Nonfiction

176 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2012

About the author

Prison reform advocated and convicted double murderer.

Soering had been imprisoned for a double murder of ther parents of his girlfriend in Virginia, USA. Söring claims he took the blame for his girlfriend and an other mom, thinking he had diplomaric immunity. Söring denies having committed the crime.

In jail Soering has written books about prison reform and his case.

Reviews

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was in college I had a professor in a sociology class, John Irwin, who wrote the book The Felon, which was one of the books we read for his class. I credit him with my deeper understanding of what it would feel like to have an indeterminate prison sentence. But he was a free man by the time he wrote the book. I’ve never believed in capital punishment, for anyone, even though I admit I hear of cases that try my deep opposition, although I do believe in life without the possibility of parole for certain individuals, people who’ve committed heinous crimes and who would be a genuine danger to the public were they to be released from prison. But I think the number of people/%age of people the U.S. has in prison is ridiculous. So, this is how I came to this book.

The first thing I have to say is that Jens Soering is an incredibly brave man to write this book and his previous books, given that he is still incarcerated and his writings are a justified indictment of the system which has him under its control.

I learned of things in this book that leave me feeling sick. This author’s case is a perfect example of a travesty of justice; I hate even using that word, given that there is no justice here, not for him, and not for so many I read about within the pages of this book. He might be able to find inner freedom but I have an impossible time accepting his situation.

This author is a good writer and he is very eloquent, and the day in the life book is fascinating. There are some “extras” but basically it follows a day from waking to bedtime. It makes me even more eager to read other such books, particularly by those about California prisons (my state) and women’s prisons. I think he has it particularly hard because he’s outside his own identified culture.

I haven’t gone to his website yet, but I will. It’s at www.jensoering.com.

This is not his first published book, and now I have some interest in reading his other books too, particularly An Expensive Way to Make Bad People Worse: An Essay on Prison Reform from an Insider’s Perspective. I’m less interested in The Way of the Prisoner: Breaking the Chains of Self Through Centering Prayer and Centering Practice and not really at all interested in The Church of the Second Chance: A Faith-Based Approach to Prison Reform. For me, this book was the best one by him I could have read, especially because it took me up to his (almost) present circumstances. Mostly, I wish people who would have some sort of influence regarding his release would read them, and read the other materials pertaining to his case.

I deliberately didn’t look up the man or the case before reading this book. I wanted to experience his story as told by him rather than prejudging him in either direction. And, there is information given, gradually throughout the book, about the case and his part in it, and the informative afterword by Patricia McGinty provides great detail of the crime for which he was convicted; I’m glad it was at the end of the book and not earlier in the book. There is also a postscript by the author at the very end of the book.

There are definitely things I find a bit repellent about this guy. He seems a bit homophobic and some of his other attitudes I don’t like, but given his experience, and his inexperience, I can understand his mindset. And overall, he’s a wonderful guy, making the very best of things, not just for himself, but also for his fellow inmates. He’s also Christian and practices a form of spiritual meditation, so those details did not resonate with me. But I do admire him for how he has learned to cope.

Some of what he complains about such as lack of physical touch and isolation also affect many not incarcerated. Also, the insanities of prison life are certainly mirrored in other settings. Given human beings’ natures, I don’t find that at all surprising.

Some information in the book that particularly struck me included: the dog program, and how so few inmates participate and whom it does and doesn’t benefit, the musings of inner freedom vs. outer freedom, the power of meditating as a community, and these stats: re youths in adult prisons and those who’ve committed crimes as minors/children who are serving life sentences without parole. At the time this was written, there were 12 youths outside the U.S. serving those sentences: 7 in Israel, 4 in South Africa, and 1 in Tanzania. In the U.S.?: 2,200. I’d already known some of the (way too high numbers) of life sentences in the U.S. and the ridiculously high percentage of Americans who are/have been in prison.

This is an important account. It’s well written and compelling. It’s heartbreaking too.

I’m grateful that Kara at Lantern Books alerted me to this book and gave me the opportunity to read it. They want it more widely read, and now that I’ve read it, I feel the same way.

I’ve always felt that any prison sentence of more than few months at most would be a death sentence for me because of the lack of vegan food. I thought that otherwise I’d find it preferable to homelessness but now I’m not so certain. I am curious of the similarities and differences in women’s prisons. I suspect there are more similarities than differences between California (my state) and Virginia prisons, which is the state in which Soering is a prisoner.

Given the disturbing nature of the subject, this is a surprisingly enjoyable read. Gosh, I do hate using that term though.

4 ½ stars

edited to add: Reminder to self: level 3 prison environments (at least for men in Virginia) are vastly more tolerable than the supposed better level 1 and 2 prisons. There is a bit more privacy (a bit vs. none) for those of us who care about such things.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars -- I received this book as a free review copy from Lantern Books.

I have a fascination with seeing “how the other half lives”—especially if those hidden lives are behind institutional doors. And who can tell us better than those currently incarcerated?

The author is currently serving a life sentence for the double homicide of a former girlfriend’s allegedly abusive parents. The point of this book is not to rehash the crime, but rather to explain to readers just what it means to be a “lifer” in a federal prison. A section at the back of the book, penned by a different author, explains the circumstances behind the murder and argues for Soering’s innocence. The publisher wisely tucked this chapter at the end so the real focus is upon the flaws of the American prison system.

Soering is definitely not your stereotypical prisoner. He is obviously highly intelligent and erudite. He deliberately remains an outcast in the gang- and violence- centered prison culture. He chooses literature and meditation instead of the usual prison pursuits. At the same time, I cannot say I find the author to be an entirely sympathetic voice. He often takes a smug tone that rubs me the wrong way, and he is rather homophobic. However, the writer’s personal faults still do not excuse the revolting treatment he and his fellow prisoners at times receive.

Readers are likely to be highly disturbed by the things they read in this book, particularly when those things involve prison guard corruption—a frequent occurrence. This book simply reinforced something I’ve believed for a long time—that positions of power attract all of the wrong kinds of people. It’s not hard to imagine Soering may pay a steep price for exposing the behavior of his captors.

Non-incarcerated readers—that is, the vast majority of us, will no doubt walk away wondering, “Could I survive prison?”

[Anne Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a classic and will be studied in universities worldwide for centuries to come. The author, who is serving two consecutive life sentences for murders that I truly believe he did not commit, offers the reader a rare look into the mundane, miserable, and dangerous reality of day-to-day life in an American prison. Soering speaks with integrity and humility. Every page carries with it a stinging indictment on the highly dysfunctional correctional system in America, backed not only by Soering's experiences, but a ton of research. It took courage for him to write not only this story, but all of his other books. While the negative fallout for some authors who write controversial works is nothing more than weak sales or bad reviews, the consequences for Soering with one of his earlier works involved six weeks of punitive segregation- simply for telling the truth as he saw it. Most fascinating, for me, was the chronicling of Soering's spiritual journey since his conviction in 1990. He has miraculously transformed from the status of a suicidal inmate fearing for his life at the hands of other prisoners, to a peaceful, strong, and yes, even hopeful, human being. Perhaps the truth will one day prevail and Soering will be paroled and pardoned. Then he can live out his final days in a monastery in Germany, as he dreams of doing. For now, he remains in the most oppressive of crucibles... and he magnificently endures.

[Westbrook · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was sent this book by the publisher with the expectation that I would write a review of it. I work in the criminal justice system and so Mr. Soering is speaking to the choir when he writes with disgust about the Prison Industrial Complex. His writing adds nothing new to that discussion and his description of his ability to transcend his incarceration doesn't seem all that believable. He writes much like a teenager writing in her journal about an unfair parental decision, but who invisions her parents will read the account and gain some insight and change their practices. In this regard, this books feels much like a statement to his incarcerators that they can't break him despite their efforts and a desperate attempt to change the system by exposing it. I feel he fails at both these efforts.