Strong Community Ties Can Motivate Prisoners to Adjust Positively

Strong Community Ties Can Motivate Prisoners to Adjust Positively LaRita left a comment asking some questions about another prisoner with whom I served time. His name was Jeff, and the article I wrote about him described the obstacles prison administrators erected in obstructing Jeff’s efforts to marry the mother of his children. LaRita wanted to […]

My Review of Picking Cotton

Title: Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption Date Read: February 14, 2009 Authors: Jennifer Thompson-Cannino and Ronald Cotton, with Erin Torneo Publisher: St. Martin’s Press (2009) Nonfiction/298 pages Why I read Picking Cotton: A publicist for Picking Cotton requested through an e-mail that I write a review for this book. Carole responded to […]

Watch For Prison Visiting Rules

Visiting in any federal prison requires discipline. That lesson sometimes eludes newer prisoners. The rules in every prison where I’ve been confined for the past 21-plus years specifically stated that prisoners were allowed to hug and kiss their visitors briefly at the beginning of each visit and again at the end of each visit. Most […]

Can Prisoners Furlough for Childbirth?

Kylee wrote me with questions pertaining to her husband’s confinement. He serves a 46-month sentence at the prison camp in Morgantown, Virginia. Kylee wanted to know whether a furlough for childbirth was possible, and she also had questions about opportunities for her husband to earn an MBA during his imprisonment. My experiences are that a […]

Prison Lobbyists Enable Prisoners to Live Better than Some in Society

Carlos was a fellow prisoner who served with me inside Taft’s minimum-security camp. He was assigned to one of the cubicles adjacent to mine and we formed a friendship. Since he knew I spent a lot of time writing about the prison experience, he asked whether I ever wrote about what we as prisoners had […]

The Inspiration Behind Walt Jones’ Prison Adjustment

Kara wrote a comment in response to an article I wrote about my friend Walt Jones. She was inspired by the positive choices Walt had made as a long-term prisoner and hoped that her brother, who also was serving a lengthy prison term, could follow Walt’s example. Truthfully, the story I wrote about Walt did […]

My Strategy for Staying Focused Through Prison

Kyla commented on my entry about the value administrators could create for society by offering incentives that would encourage more prisoners to work toward earning freedom. In light of administrators’ reluctance to offer incentives for productive adjustments, Kyla asked how I stayed focused and avoided the negative influences of confinement. As I have written elsewhere, […]

Prisoners Who Focus on Success Reject Labels of Convicts or Inmates

Paul wrote a comment asking me to elaborate on my perceptions with regard to the differences between those prisoners who identified themselves as either convicts or inmates. Specifically, Paul wanted to know whether I thought convicts had committed more violent crimes than inmates, and whether I thought convicts were more likely to re-offend upon release. […]

The Dilemmas of Prison Guards Who Want to Correct

Andrew commented on an earlier article I wrote about the perceptions I had about euphemistic job titles. I did not strive to disparage the trade of prison guards, though my 21-plus years experience of living in prison did not expose me to any emphasis on corrections. Quite the opposite, in fact, Rather than providing for […]

Prison Administrators Can Enhance Security by Offering E-mail to Prisoners

In a previous post, I wrote about the benefits prison administrators could realize by offering inmates access to modern technology like e-mail. Mel Lopez commented that he agreed it was important for prisoners to maintain support networks, though he had questions as to whether I thought administrators should grant e-mail access to those offenders who […]

Do Prison Staff Members Encourage and Promote a Postive Lifestyle For Prisoners?

Lauren is a university student studying criminal justice who asked a question about the challenges I faced when I was pursuing my university degrees. I want to respond to Lauren’s questions by describing an interaction I recently had in a group meeting at the Taft Prison Camp. A prison counselor was present, overseeing our group […]

My 7,861st Day In Prison

Monday, 16 February 2009 I left my cubicle at 3:05 this morning. The extraordinary visit I enjoyed with my wife yesterday took a lot of energy out of me, so I slept in a little longer than usual. The payment for those extra 30 minutes of sleep would mean that I had to sacrifice my […]

Blogging for Dummies Book Report

Date Read: February 7, 2009 Book Title: Blogging for Dummies Book Author: Suzanna Gardner and Shane Birley Book Publisher: Wiley Publishing (2008) Nonfiction/368 pages Blogging for Dummies was the third book I read in 2009.   Reason I read Blogging for Dummies:  A friend of mine sent me this book through the mail when I […]

Beware of Roman Frabrizi in Prison

I’ve met scores of con artists during the more than 21 years I’ve served in prison. New prisoners should avoid interacting with them. I say con artist, I’m not talking about the men who led Ponzi schemes or who were convicted of the various fraud statutes. Those types of white collar offenders filled federal prison […]

Celebrating Another Valentine’s Day in Prison

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. This year marks the seventh February 14th that Carole and I have celebrated together. I know that I’m blessed to have a loving wife who commits herself wholly to our marriage in spite of the long prison sentence that I serve. Others I’ve met in prison have asked how Carole and […]