in a sane and just society he'd be dead.
In this society, at MCI, he'll have every available opportunity known to man to improve his life. He'll be able to obtain a bachelor's degree through Boston University, Emerson, or many other colleges. He'll be able to learn any language he wants, become an auto body tech, barber, welder, carpenter, and a whole list of other trades along with tons of self improvement programs including Toastmasters and a list so long I'd be typing all night.
Gardner has more of a dorm set up rather than cells. They have twice the population that Souza Baranowski has. Either place he'll have 3 visits a week for up to 3 hours for each visit. The visitation rules are more lax at Gardner. For example, at Souza Baranowski, you can only kiss a visitor upon arrival with closed lips. You can hold hands but you can't touch anyone anywhere else. Both the inmate and visitor have to keep their back against the backrest on the chair, and feet flat on the ground. There's a rule for every move. In Gardner, you can kiss on arrival and kiss and play touch the entire visit as long as it's not too excessive.
Why is he there? I'm not sure but my guess is he was evaluated at Souza Baranowski first because every post convicted inmate in the state goes through the "reception" center at that facility.It may have been determined that he wasn't a high risk inmate for one reason or another. I'd be willing to bet he was a good little boy at Worcester House Of Correction pending his trial and was probably a scared rat. With Walpole closing down, perhaps they need more room at Souza Baranowski for higher risk inmates. Again, this is only my guess. There are inmates serving life sentences in Gardner.