One might put playing cards right up there with baseball on the list of America’s favorite pastimes. With over two million Americans incarcerated, playing cards is one way inmates while away their time. The sound of cards slapping down on tables as inmates engage in friendly games is as common as clanking cell doors.
The Connecticut DOC has implemented a new program which has been successful in other states. According to Brian Garnett, the state’s DOC spokesperson, inmates in Connecticut prisons will be issued a free deck of cards. The cards are very different than the usual Bicycle brand playing cards that inmates can buy on commissary. The free cards will have a photo of a Connecticut murder victim, along with some background information on the victim and the crime.
The DOC is hoping that an inmate, upon seeing a photo on the playing card, might have his memory jogged, or her conscience awakened. The DOC knows that some inmates have knowledge of murders and they are hoping that these playing cards will prod an inmate to step forward with information.
Using playing cards to capture wanted persons is not new. The U.S. military handed out decks of cards with the photos of Saddam Hussein and his accomplices to troops stationed in Iraq. The difference with the cold case cards is that the wanted person’s face does not appear on the card, but rather the face of the victim.
The question begs to be asked, why would inmates try to help the police capture and imprison someone they know, intimately or slightly? One could answer, for a sense of civic duty, or more likely, revenge. But, as the cold case cards are shuffled, many prisoners will have their eye on another type of card, the highly coveted “Get out of Jail Free” card.
The DOC is hinting that helping to solve a cold case might lead to a “reward.” The reward was not identified, but an offer of a sentence reduction could possibly lead to the cold case squad being disbanded for lack of work as inmates tell what they know.
One group who hopes this will happen are the families of the murder victims. Members of this group who have their loved ones’ faces on the cards will hold a press conference on November 22 in Hartford. These family members will not care what motivates an inmate to give information that will help bring their loved ones’ killers to justice. They are just seeking a bit of solace after years of living in a special hell reserved for those who know that the killer of their loved one is still out there. It won’t bring their loved one back, but it will keep another family from going through what they did.
All prisoners are not hard core thugs. A prisoner might have information about an unsolved murder which was not disclosed for whatever reason. Staring at the new cold case cards while locked up may prompt an inmate to give the police the keys to solve an, as yet, unsolvable case. In the prison system, that takes an inordinate amount of courage. It is hoped that an unburdened heart, not the free deck of cards, will be the real gift the DOC is offering.
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