September, 2009

Third Quarter Report, 2009

The third quarter of 2009 has been one of my most productive. On August 11th of this year, I completed my 22nd consecutive year as a federal prisoner, and I completed a solid draft of my new manuscript, Earning Freedom. This new manuscript describes my entire journey through the prison system, from the day of […]

Writing With Style

Book Title: Writing With Style: Conversations on the Art of Writing Book Author: John R. Trimble Book Publisher: Prentice-Hall (1975) Date Read: June 19, 2009 Nonfiction / 143 pages Writing With Style was the 9th book I read in 2009. Why I read Writing With Style: This was the second of two books on writing […]

Teaching the Entrepreneurial Compass Class at Taft Camp

Since the summer of 2008, I’ve been leading a class at Taft Camp. The 10-week class is called The Entrepreneurial Compass. Scott Evans is a motivational speaker who designed the course, and with the sponsorship of the Chaplain at Taft Camp, Scott began offering the course to inmates. I sat as an observer and participant […]

Prison Reform

Earlier this year, Senator Jim Webb introduced a bill in the senate to establish a committee that would study the need for reform of the entire criminal justice system. His announcement came with a considerable amount of media attention. Parade magazine featured a front-page spread, and numerous other national publications publicized the proposed legislation. Over […]

Nurturing My Marriage Through Prison

Nurturing relationships while struggling through the complications of a prison term requires a daily commitment. Carole and I understood the challenges we would have to overcome long before we agreed to marry in a prison visiting room. I wrote about our courtship and marriage in several previous articles. I meet many prisoners, however, whose wives […]

Michael’s Daily Prison Journal

Michael’s daily prison journal now appears on MichaelSantos.net.

Prisoners Must Learn to Thrive Despite Administrative Obstacles

My lovely wife, Carole, sent me a copy of a legal decision recently published by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. The case of Bonner v. Outlaw illustrates the position I have known many prison wardens to take. Although the inmate prevailed in this case, the warden’s attempted defense evidenced a dereliction of his duty […]

Corporate Treasurer Responds to Ethics Questions

In 1997, Jeff graduated from UCLA with a degree in accounting. He built his career in finance, and while in his early 30s, Jeff held the position of treasurer with a publicly traded corporation in Northern California. With hopes of earning the company a higher short-term return on its money, and in the process advancing […]