Author, Expert & Speaker

Inside perspectives

Cell phones in prison inmates’ hands are a problem. During my term at Ironwood State Prison (2003–2005), inmates did not have cell phones, and I never imagined cell phones’ being used by inmates. Outgoing phone calls were allowed only on prison phones, after evening chow, and only after the inmate had signed up to make a call at a specific time.… Read the rest

I wonder what the big prison reform issue is going to be in 2018. As I see it, there are three categories of reform issues to watch: preincarceration (bail and sentencing), incarceration (overcrowding and rehabilitation), and postincarceration (reentry and employment). This post focuses on incarceration—more specifically, the retention of inmates in private prisons.… Read the rest

I’m often asked what prison is like. That broad question can be approached in many ways, and I rephrase it in my mind as: “What does prison feel like?”

When feelings are part of a conversation, solid connections are made. To communicate at this level, identifying a life experience equivalency with whom I’m talking helps.… Read the rest

Some laws are oppressive to low-income people facing criminal prosecution. An example is California Penal Code section 1203.016. This law, effective since January 1, 2015, enables California’s fifty-eight counties to deliver poor people to corporations that then profit from the human misery of these people, men and women who are charged with crimes and stuck in jail.… Read the rest

I recently took a road trip to Placer County in Northern California. The county offers myriad outdoor recreation opportunities in the High Sierra, including hiking, biking, and equestrian trails. Parts of the county resonate an untouched Wild West feeling—beautiful landscapes, gold rush artifacts, protected bird sanctuaries, free-roaming wildlife, and indigenous plant life.… Read the rest

I was fifty-four in 2003 when I entered the California prison system. I estimate that the mean age was about half my age. Other men about my age were there, a lot of them were doing time for aggravated drunk driving, domestic abuse, and drug manufacturing. There were many first-timers and a fair number of long-timers.… Read the rest

This is my fiftieth prison reform post. When I first posted last July, I knew I had embarked on a formidable journey into a personal and passionate undertaking. I knew the scope of prison reform issues transcended, intersected, and permeated nearly every aspect of life. Through the writing of blog posts, I drew upon much that I had written about firsthand in my prison journals during lock downs and lock ups and while under the influence of relentlessly harsh environments.… Read the rest

I ran across an article in the June 22, 2017, Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Entitled “Sheriff Reduces Jail Time for Georgia Inmates Who Saved Officer,” the content of the piece written by Ellen Eldridge rattled around in my head. My first impression was positive. Of course, there are good Samaritans in jails and prisons.… Read the rest

Being a prison reform blogger is frustrating. The frustration lies in not being able to take readers into a prison environment with mere words. Most people can visualize a baseball stadium, the inside of a movie theater, or a crowded airport; they’ve experienced those environments. Those exposures create a mental database of impressions retrievable by a written or verbal cue.… Read the rest

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