News FeedTaft Prison Administrators Block Inmates From Maintaining Community Ties
Prison officials at Taft camp issued a memorandum on 8 January 2009 that prohibits inmates from using typewriters for anything besides correspondence with the courts. As a consequence of this memorandum, any inmate who uses typewriters to communicate with family, to complete academic coursework, to solicit support from community leaders, or to type manuscripts, subjects […]
Please Share News About Your Prison Experience As Guest Bloggers
If you would like to share your prison experiences concerning the prison system, please consider contributing to this Blog as a guest. 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 […]
Another Birthday in Prison
I’m very happy to have celebrated my 45th birthday today, January 15, 2009. I shouldn’t say “celebrate.” I am still confined in the Taft Federal Prison Camp, and one day in prison is hardly distinguishable from another. Tomorrow, on the other hand, will be wonderful. I am scheduled for a visit with my wife, Carole. […]
Why I Don’t Watch 24 From Prison
Millions of Americans tuned in to watch Jack Bauer defeat terrorism on the popular television series, 24. As a prisoner at Taft Federal Prison Camp, I was not among them. Many of my fellow prisoners watched the fast-paced show. They rely upon television to escape the loneliness of confinement. Even in a minimum-security camp, longings […]
Obamanomics Book Report
Date Read: January 11, 2009 Book title: Obamanomics. How Bottom-Up Economic Prosperity Will Replace Trickle-Down Economics Book author: John R. Talbott Book publisher: Seven Stories Press (2008) Nonfiction/218 pages Obamanomics was the second book I read in 2009. Why I read Obamanomics: My wife Carole and I have been huge fans of Barack Obama since […]
How Does Michael Santos Help Other Inmates?
I received an email message from Marlene, at Kirkland and Ellis of Chicago, asking how I help other inmates. That’s a question that would require a book-length response. Since 1987 I’ve been serving a 45-year prison sentence. I’ve tried to live as an example for my fellow prisoners, showing and guiding them to adjust in […]
Let Prisoners Contribute to Prison Reform Panel
Sandhya Somashekhar, a Washington Post staff writer, published an article reporting that Senator Jim Webb plans to introduce prison reform legislation this coming spring. That legislation will strive to create a national panel to recommend ways to overhaul the criminal justice system. As a long-term prisoner, I make a public audition for an opportunity to […]
Prison Reform Requires Leaders Who Listen
As a long-term prisoner, I read extensively in an effort to prepare for the challenges that will follow my release. Primarily, I read nonfiction literature to advance my education. Besides books, I read news magazines to understand how our society has been evolving during the 21-plus years that I’ve been locked in various prisons. One […]
Prison Reforms Ought to Include Checklists
I enjoyed reading an article editors from Time magazine wrote in the issue that celebrated Barack Obama as Person of the Year for 2008. When asked how future voters could judge his performance in years to come, the President-elect offered a simple checklist that voters might consider. When leaders consider prison reforms that will lower […]
Fourth Quarter Report, 2008
The fourth quarter of 2008 has come to an end, and I feel pleased with the progress my wife Carole and I have made. I now have more than 21 years of imprisonment behind me. Regardless of what happens legislatively or administratively, I do not expect that I will pass more than three additional holiday […]
My Values and Goals for 2009
I write my goals for 2009 early on this first day of the New Year. It is just after 4:00 a.m., and I sit alone at a table in a quiet room of Taft’s federal prison camp. I may be well into my 21st year of imprisonment, but I have much for which I can […]
Legislators Should Make Changes to a Biased System of So-Called Justice that Favors the Super-Wealthy Elite.
On Tuesday, 6 January 2009, Pallavi Gogoi reported on the Bernard Madoff scandal for USA Today. The reporter identified Alan Goldstein, a 76-year-old investor whom Madoff had swindled for $4.2 million. Those funds represented all of Mr. Goldstein’s retirement savings. “He had to cash in his life insurance to make his mortgage,” the article reported. […]
Enron Chief’s Resentencing Further Illustrates Injustices Between the Rich and the Ordinary
It is just after 5 a.m. on 7 January 2009, and I just heard NPR broadcast the news. Although a jury convicted Jeff Skilling of presiding over a massive fraud that bilked billions in losses from ordinary Americans, and the appeals court affirmed Skilling’s conviction, NPR reported that the swindler will receive a new sentence. […]
The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging Book Report
Date read: January 6, 2009 Book title: The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging Book author: Arianna Huffington Book publisher: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks (2008) Nonfiction/230 pages The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging was the first book I read in 2009. Why I read The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging: As a long-term […]
Presidential Pardon Brought Justice to Kemba Smith
On Wednesday, 17 December 2008, the USA Today published an article in its forum section by Kemba Smith entitled The Wisdom of Pardons. Kemba Smith had been a federal prisoner who was serving a 24-year sentence for her role in a drug conspiracy. During the final days of Clinton’s Presidency, Kemba Smith walked out of […]
