There was one inmate with some mental health issues who followed me around like a puppy whenever we happened to be in the same room or hallway.  He interrupted conversations I was having with others and wouldn’t leave me alone even after I asked him to do so.  My chapel supervisor called him to her office and told him to leave me alone.  She even made him repeat after her, “I will leave Mary alone.”  He didn’t, however.  At that point one of the gang leaders saw what was going on.

In the cell hall, he stuck his finger in the chest of my “puppy dog” and loudly told him he WOULD LEAVE ME alone, wouldn’t follow me around, and wouldn’t speak to me unless I called for him.  That conversation did the trick and I no longer am followed around.

Mary Montoya