Inmates object as the Legislature considers a ban on pumping iron behind bars.
Lovelady - Convicted murderer Johnson has used his 13 years in prison to make something of himself - a 179-pounder who can do a squat with 660 pounds on his shoulders - and some lawmakers are not happy about it.
"There's a psychological mindset to being bulked up and I don't like that mindset in a criminal." said Rep. Ramsay, D-Mt. Vernon who's pushing legislation to ban inmate weightlifting. "It is a process where they can build themselves into a strength situation where they could be dangerous, not just in prison but after they get out."
Weightlifting inmates and the officials who work with them say Ramsay and Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio and sponsor of a similar bill, are missing the point.
"We get a sense of discipline we never experienced before," said Johnson. "There are dozens of guys in here that are totally different people because of weightlifting . A lot of us have never put such an importance on anything. This has really given me new direction, a new foundation. The discipline reflects on a lot of things in my life."
His comments came between lifts last week as Eastham Unit inmates tried to defend their prison system title. The lifters qualify for the team by following the rules. In prison, working with free weights is a privilege earned by behaving. A minor screw-up is cause for revocation of the privilege.
Easthasm Maj. Sharp watched as Edwards, a massive man wearing a weightlifting belt with the monicker "Bank Robber," lifted 660 pounds.
"I'm the baddest dude in the land," Edwards, doing life for aggravated assault in Harris County, screamed by way of psyching himself up as he approached the bar.
He may be "bad," but he's not dangerous, said Sharp.
"He's 'yes sir' and 'no sir'" he said. "There is probably not an officer who is afraid of this inmate. No fear at all. He's never given us any problems, which I'd hate for his to do as big as he is."
Edwards, incarcerated 15 years, says weightlifting helps relieve the tension of a tough day in prison.
"I feel like this here is the way I relieve my stress," he said. "I get to work out and take out the anger on the iron."
"That's the point, says Cotton, recreation supervisor and coach of the Eastham lifters. Working with weights is about dedication, discipline and reward - not about bad guys getting stronger," he said.
"It's not that they want to get big and assault an officer of get big and go out to the city somewhere and break somebody's neck with their bare hands," said Cotton. "They come down and get a good workout. It relieves them."
Stacked on top of the recent banning of tobacco products in prison, removing weights would be like "putting gas on fire," according to Cotton.
"The cigatettes are gone and they're wired," He said of ex-smokers.
"It's only the elite of the elite inmates," said Drake, supervisor of the program at the Terrell Unit in Livingston. "The ones that behave themselves, the best. The ones that go to work on time, do their job and take care of all their business."
Porter, on hand to judge as Eastham lifters posted numbers for other units to try to beat, said weighlifting is a "management tool" like other priviliges granted well-behaved inmates. Porter is in charge of recreation at all state prisons.
"You've got to have a carrot dangling," explained Sharp, who said inmates with a will to bulk up can find a way to do it. "They order law books from the library. The books are thick and they'll order five or six of them so they probably have 100 pounds. They do 100-pound curls. That's a lot of weight."
Not everyone at Eastham is thrilled with weightlifting.
"It does cause me concern for my officers that may have to be in a confrontational situation with them," said Assistant Warden Heuzel, who'd like to see it banned.
But Collins, director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, says it's no big deal. Relatively few inmates are involved, he said.
"It's their free time. Everybody has a job they go to every day and there is a certain amount of time that's carved out of that daily activity that is free time. Most inmates choose to spend their free time in activities not associated with an exercise regimen," he said.
Wentworth said his bill was sparked by comments from constituents who responded to a questionnaire he sent out. Though he asked no questions about inmate weighlifting, he got several responses about it.
"We should eliminate the nice jails, cable TV, college courses, gyms, weight rooms, etc." one constituent wrote.
Wentworth, surprised by the volume of comments about weightlifting said, "I dare say that a lot of taxpaying citizens wish they had a little spare time so they could work out in a weight room."
Under his bill, the state would dispose of the equipment and use the proceeds for other recreational equipment such as basketballs. Prison officials say there is little taxpayuer expense involved in weightlifting. Much of the equipment is donated or purchased through inmate accounts.
Ramsay is motivated by a desire to cut out inmate fun. His bill also would ban TV's in prison.
"There is enjoyment involved by prisoners both in the exercise of weightlifting and also in exhibiting themselves after they build their bodies into whatever they want them built into," he said. "They may be building themselves into a dangerous weapon, so to speak, after they acquire the strength and mindset - this feeling they are bulletproof and can whip anybody."
Again, the lawbreakers, disagree with the lawmakers.
"Weights teach you discipline," said Peters a k a Big Foot, 6-foot-5, 240 pounds and 15-years into a life sentence for aggravated rape in Dallas.
"Everybody carries guns now, man," he said. "Ain't nobody using his hands no more."
The article also encludes 3 large photos of the meet.
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