A staff member from the camp oversees our group, which operates under the name TOAD, and acronym for Those Outspoken Against Drugs. The staff sponsors coordinate meetings for our group to travel to Bakersfield or other Kern County Communities so we can make our presentation. In addition to telling stories of what led each of us to prison, we also perform skits that dramatize the ways that peer pressure can lead to crimes and punishment.

Early this morning I wrote out a skit that our group will perform for an audience in late January. The skit involves a planned burglary that falls apart. It shows how conspiracy laws can lead to imprisonment, with stiff mandatory-minimum sentences, even though the burglary never took place.

We have other skits that dramatize gang problems, drug trafficking, grand theft auto, and other crimes that tempt at-risk youth. Following the performance of our skits and our personal presentations, we open the floor for questions and respond to the students candidly.

This outreach program allows those of us who participate in TOAD to contribute to society. Such activities bring a bit more meaning to our lives, and we hope that the message dissuades some from criminal decisions.

The post Helping At-risk Youth Avoid Criminal Decisions appeared first on Prison News Blog.

I do not know what lessons inmates should draw from an infrastructure that supports table games and television, yet obstructs inmate access to use typewriters as tools that will prepare them for release.

As a consequence of this rule change, the five typewriters in the library sit empty. My own workload has increased dramatically as I now must write all of my manuscript pages and correspondence in longhand. I send them home to my wife, and rely upon Carole to type them. In an effort to influence the Warden to repeal this rule, I wrote him the following letter:

MGS ltr to Warden re typewriters0001.pdf

Whether I’m allowed access to typewriters or not, I will continue writing to help readers understand prisons, the people they hold, and strategies for growing through confinement.

The post Taft Prison Administrators Block Inmates From Maintaining Community Ties appeared first on Prison News Blog.

Prison News Blog exists to let the world know how the prison system operates. I have been incarcerated since 1987, and I have written about what I have learned from others as well as my own experience. I welcome constructive articles, even the expression of opinions that differ from mine, in order to broaden the scope for readers of Prison News Blog.

Should you have comments to share that may advance the argument for Prison Reform, please offer an article for publication on the prisonnewsblog.com web site that my wife, Carole, moderates and maintains on my behalf. To become a guest blogger on Prison News Blog, please send us an e-mail. We welcome your help to build a larger audience.

With hopes that I hear from you, I send my gratitude for your interest in my work to advance prison reform legislation.

Sincerely,

Michael G. Santos

#16377-004

Taft Prison Camp

The post Please Share News About Your Prison Experience As Guest Bloggers appeared first on Prison News Blog.

For some prisoners, holidays and birthdays feel difficult. In my case, I no longer attach significance to specific days of the year. Since my arrest in 1987, I’ve spent every day in prison. I live with the rules administrators impose and I try to make the most of life.

Many policies restrict my ability to interact with family. My mother lives in Florida, as does my younger sister and her family. My older sister and her family live in Seattle. The distances mean that I rarely see them, and the telephone limitations I have mean that I must choose between communicating with my wife and connecting with extended family. Twenty one-plus years of imprisonment have torn my family relationships apart.

Despite my feelings of isolation from the world, I am happy to have marked my 45th birthday. I have a lot for which I am grateful. For one thing, my time in prison is coming closer to its conclusion. I don’t expect that I will have to pass more than three more birthdays in federal prison. Forgetting about the complications, I feel blessed in knowing that my family is safe and healthy.

The post Another Birthday in Prison appeared first on Prison News Blog.

We still do not have clarification on exactly how much more time I must serve. As an old-law prisoner, I have issues to resolve concerning good-time calculations and parole eligibility; besides those matters, it is too early to determine how much halfway house placement I will receive. Either way, Carole and I expect that we will enjoy the holidays of 2012 together as husband and wife. In light of the 2008 elections, however, we feel optimistic that my release will come much sooner.

The fourth quarter of 2008 has kept me busy with preparations for release. Those who follow my work know that I hope to build a career as an author, speaker, teacher, and consultant upon my release. The Internet and the Web sites that Carole maintains on my behalf serve as key components of my strategic plan. During the fourth quarter, I read several books that broadened my understanding of Web technologies Carole and I can use to build my brand.

I continued my work with Dr. Sam Torres of California State University. He is a professor of criminal justice and Dr. Torres uses my book Inside: Life Behind Bars in America as a teaching resource. The students he teaches are pursuing careers in law enforcement. As part of the course work, Dr. Torres requires the students in his class to write letters with individual questions about my book or my perspectives on prison. I wrote more than 90 responses to the university students, and to preserve the dialogue, Carole published those responses on prisonnewsblog.com. I appreciate these opportunities to contribute to the students’ understanding of America’s prison system. Although I give them a long-term prisoner’s perspective, I am confident that my work adds value.

During the fourth quarter I led a group of 30 other inmates in a 10-week class designed to help them prepare for success upon release. The class is part of a course called The Entrepreneurial Compass, designed by Scott Evans, a motivational speaker from Los Angeles. Through the class, I facilitate the participants in seeing steps they may take to overcome various challenges or obstacles in their lives.

During the latter portion of October, I joined several other inmates on two separate field trips to Bakersfield. We were under staff supervision as we drove to schools where at-risk adolescents were waiting for our presentations. Our group, which operates under the acronym of TOAD, discusses the bad decisions we made as young people and how those bad decisions led us into lengthy prison terms. We perform a few skits to help dramatize the ways that peer pressure can lead to the loss of freedom and devastation. These projects provide a real value to society, as we prisoners have a degree of credibility with the students. Together, we can help them make better decisions and avoid the tangled web of the criminal justice system.

In November, of course, Barack Obama won the Presidency of the United States. Carole and I followed his candidacy from the first primary election that happened in Iowa during the first days of 2008. I subscribed to several news magazines and I read the newspaper daily to watch his progress in the campaign. Although the President does not influence the lives for most Americans in the same way that he does for a prisoner, this year the entire country had an interest in politics. I felt a surge of hope with candidate Obama became President-elect Obama on November 4th.

Our country is in a financial crisis and we remain at war on two fronts. Clearly, President Obama will have issues to confront that are of far greater importance than prison reform. Yet his leadership brings the real possibility for reforms that could have an immediate influence on my family. Namely, he could sign legislation that would result in my release to Carole. That is a huge deal for us; even the possibility of freedom buoys our spirits.

Besides release, President Obama could appoint a new Director of the Bureau of Prisons that may ease some of the struggle in maintaining family relationships for prisoners. Prior to the election of George W. Bush, for example, we had a policy that did not limit telephone access for prisoners. At the very least, I am hopeful that President Obama will restore more telephone access so that Carole and I can speak for longer than 10 minutes per day, and so that I can resume phone calls to extended family members and friends.

In an effort to influence the possibility for prison reform, Carole has launched a new platform for me at prisonnewsblog.com. This new site launched on December 11, 2008, and I have made a commitment to write at least one blog post each day for the site. My hopes are to build an audience and persuade readers of the need for prison reforms that will lower recidivism rates. By allowing prisoners to work toward earning freedom, prison reforms would vastly improve the system of corrections in America. Through my work, I hope to influence that legislation.

In late November, I saw that President Bush commuted the sentences of two prisoners. Surprisingly, the news left me feeling somewhat sad and neglected. Perhaps I am biased, but I feel as if I have worked harder than any other prisoner toward earning freedom, and with more than 21 years of being locked inside prison boundaries, I feel that the greater crime is to continue my separation from Carole and my family. After a difficult evening, however, I woke early to resume my work, knowing that I had a duty to continue preparations for the challenges that await my release. Unemployment rates were reported at 6.5 percent in November, and I’m sure they are significantly higher for people with prison records. Perhaps it’s best that I wait out a few more months inside the comfort of a prison camp.

During the year of 2008 I ran more miles than I have run during any other year of my confinement. In October I ran 182 miles, in November I ran 230 miles, and in December I ran 282 miles. My total mileage for the quarter was 694 miles, and for the year 2008 I ran 2,600 miles precisely. That will be tough to beat, though I feel up to the challenge.

Besides all of my work with the blogging and writing updates for my Web sites, I am working as a ghost writer to help another prisoner with a biography that he is writing. This work has required that I wake well before four each morning, as I write best when the other prisoners are sleeping. All of this work, however, is helping me to hone my discipline and my skills. I feel confident the efforts condition me well for the challenges that await my release.

In 2009, since I feel that I am moving much closer to home, I have decided to publish weekly updates. Those updates will come in addition to the quarterly reports, which I will continue. The weekly updates will help readers understand how I spend each day in confinement, and they will memorialize the journey. I am sure the record will prove useful to me when I begin my speaking career upon release.

I appreciate the interest and support, and hope readers will continue to follow the progress Carole and I make as we continue these final preparations for my release.

The post Fourth Quarter Report, 2008 appeared first on Prison News Blog.

With a liberal Congress, we will see legislation that encourages prisoners to earn freedom. Instead of measuring prison terms with decades-long sentences marked by nothing more than the turning of calendar pages, Democratic lawmakers will usher in prison reform that includes parole, opportunities to earn more good time, and programs that help offenders emerge from prison as successful, contributing citizens.

I have been incarcerated since 1987. This November marks the sixth Presidential election I have witnessed as a prisoner. The right-wing Republicans that have alternatively controlled both the legislative and executive branches of government have enacted legislation that decimated opportunities for prisoners to earn freedom. They eliminated parole. They took away funding for educational programs. They reduced good time. They sought a more punitive system that has spawned 70% recidivism rates.

We need a more sensible prison system. Democrats will likely reinstate parole, increase opportunities to earn good time, and sponsor programs that encourage education rather than extinguishing hope. Instead of vengeance, liberal policies will encourage prisoners to earn freedom. I have been working toward freedom for more than 21 years. Under the current right-wing system, however, no mechanism exists for inmates to earn freedom. Such shortsighted policies are not good for America.

For more information on strategies to emerge from prison successfully, I recommend reading my articles on MichaelSantos.net.

The post Obama for Prison Reform appeared first on Prison News Blog.