South Dakota is the only state where ingestion of a controlled substance draws felony punishment. Ryan Redler received one such felony conviction for taking meth in 2012. The judge suspended his seven year sentence and gave him five years probation, but Redler apparently tripped up and sits now behind bars until the end of October (according to the DOC Offener Locator).
Redler writes with the Lifers’ Group that Eve Fisher mentors at the State Pen. He pens this article about the mental anguish he has suffered at the hands of the State and the refuge he finds in Buddhism:
My prison experience has been horrific, to say the least. I failed a drug test in North Sioux City, South Dakota, on July 25th, 2011. I was not on probation or parole. In fact, until that time in my life, I had never had one felony. I was subsequently sentenced to seven years in the Penitentiary for possession by ingestion. It ruined my entire life.
I was not raped physically or sexually abused in any way, and my heart and prayers go out to all of the unfortunate inmates who have been. However, mentally I was raped by the State and the laws that govern it. I have been through every level of incarceration from minimum custody to super max administrative segregation. I have seen, felt, and dealt with many horrible things while incarcerated. I have heard the screams in the night, seen the blood, and felt the mace in my eyes. I have lost loved ones, friends, and a piece of myself behind these walls. At times I was sure even God had abandoned me. Forced into isolation and shackled daily, my perspective grew. My inner mind became richer, my soul expanded. I found my strength in Buddhism. I still pray to the God of my mother and my father. I still go to church every Sunday. I know now that God is death and life, but the Buddha is only love. Love and forgiveness were the keys to my survival. Through almost daily meditation I was able to develop a safe place in my mind and soul, a place of love and light and peace. Without that inner strength, I never would have survived the trials of the mind that incarceration brings.
I have lived many lives it seems. I have grown strong through weakness and humble through loss and isolation. I know pain and hardship but also love and joy. There have been days and nights in this place when I have fallen asleep laughing with my cellmates. I have experienced joy in the face of sorrow. I have. I have. I know that all of us can find the peace inside ourselves that acceptance brings. This is life. We must free our minds and our souls inside this place, inside these places. The burden is ours alone. This is life. It is time to live. Freedom within is freedom without. Freedom.
[Ryan William Redler, letter from prison, September 2019]
BTW – South Dakota is the only state in which ingestion alone (without any physical possession) is a felony and can carry years in the penitentiary. If alcoholic ingestion were treated the same way, every South Dakotan ever arrested for DUI would have a felony on their record. Most law enforcement personnel would like the ingestion statute repealed and replaced with something more like DUI – and lots of treatment.
Mr. Redler writes a wise letter. Thanks for publishing it Cory. And Eve, that group is a good thing you do. Thank you.
It’s very rewarding, working with people who are trying as hard as the Lifers are to make life better in prison, and not just for themselves, but all the other inmates as well. We’ve brought in Toastmasters, hospice care (because all too many will die in prison, and their fellows want to know how to help them), companion care, suicide watch, and many other things. Very inspiring.