Adjusting to Prison

Prison Consultant Advice

Prison Consultant Released from Federal Prison I’m Michael Santos and I help people prepare strategies that lead to their release from prison at the soonest possible time. I wrote the articles on this news blog during the final years of the 26 years that I served in federal prison camp. Now I’m a federal prison […]

Cameron Douglas’ Prison Sentence

Read Michael’s blog on the Huffington Post about Cameron Douglas’  five year sentence for drug trafficking: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-santos/what-happens-to-cameron-d_b_558229.html

Black Boy

Date read: December 31, 2009 Book Title: Black Boy Book Author: Richard Wright Book Publisher: Harper Collins/1944 Nonfiction/ 419 pages Black Boy was the 21st book I finished reading in 2009 Why I read Black Boy: My friend, Steve Urie, recommended that I read accomplished nonfiction writers.  Although Steve said that he was not a […]

Twenty-Three Thanksgivings in Prison

Today begins my 23rd consecutive Thanksgiving holiday as a federal prisoner. I’ve now passed as many Thanksgiving holidays in prison as I passed as a free citizen. Prison has numbed me–I no longer experience the excitement and joy of holiday celebrations, though I know the season represents a time of significance for citizens of the […]

President Obama… Answer This

This is fantastic! Check out: http://www.openmediaboston.org/node/990 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F34p0YiSp8g&feature=player_embedded What it’s about: 1. Alienation of people: We are creating refugees amongst our own people. Inmates come back not feeling like they are part of their own community; not knowing “we the people” means them too. 2. Break up of families: unreasonable prison policies and a culture 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 […]

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 […]

Physician Responds to Ethics Questions

 Derrick is a graduate of the University of Southern California and the USC Medical School.  As a physician, no one would expect Derrick to serve time in prison, but I met him in the library at Taft Camp.  I told Derrik about the questions Professor Schrenkler put together to help undergraduate business students understand ethics.  […]

David Muniz Graduates

Administrators at Taft Camp generously sponsored a graduation ceremony for a dozen studious prisoners and their families on June 4, 209.  My friend, David Muniz, invited me to attend as his guest, and I felt grateful for the privilege, as I know how hard David worked to earn his high school equivalency certificate.  I watched […]

How Seven Habits Change Lives

Today I enjoyed a magnificent visit with my wife, Carole. She came with a message that Dean, a representative of the group who promotes Stephen Covey’s work, contacted us through PrisonNewsBlog. Dean asked some questions about how the magnificent book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People influenced my adjustment through 22 years of imprisonment. […]

John Gets Released From Prison

John completed his sentence and walked out of the Taft Prison Camp early this morning. According to national reports, he was one of 2,000 who returned to society from American jails and prisons each day. Adjusting to the world outside would not be easy. During the 15-plus years that John served, he endured the family […]

Deliberate Adjustment Plans

The Pew Charitable Trust estimates that by 2011, American jails and prisons will be releasing 750,000 prisoners into society each year. Of all those people returning to their communities, the Pew Report tells us, two out of every three will return to prison. That high recidivism rate has been steady since the time I began […]

Puppies Behind Bars program

I was incredibly moved by the Puppies Behind Bars segment featured on Oprah last week. The PBB program trains inmates to raise puppies to become service dogs for the disabled, and for the military men and women who return from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan suffering from traumatic brain injury (TBI) and severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). […]

NFL Coach Tony Dungy Motivates Prisoners

Former NFL coach Tony Dungy has been an inspiration to me and other prisoners since he coached the Colts to a Super Bowl victory. My wife knew that I admired his leadership skills and ordered copies of his books. On April 19, I read Jarrett Bell’s article in USA Today describing the efforts Coach Dungy […]