I felt inspired to write that article after I received a message from a professor who used to work as a a warden. The professor endeavored to pay me a compliment, I think, by saying that release from prison should have come for me at the 20-year mark. That statement seemed so absurd to me. I didn’t understand why the concept of 20 years in prison had such significance.

Recidivism rate statistics in our country show some troubling trends. As Congress stated through its Second Chance Act, two out of every three prisoners who serve time return to confinement after release. These failure rates do not convince me that society is using its criminal justice system effectively. The costs to taxpayers for such a failing public policy of isolating and punishing approach $60 billion each year. Where is the justice?

Justice, to me, would advance if society were to operate a prison system that helped more people emerge as contributing citizens. Requiring people to live in cages for years or decades at a time does not condition them for the challenges they will face upon release.

Society could change the dismal statistics by incorporating the concept of earning freedom that former Chief Justice Warren Burger wrote about in Factories With Fences. By encouraging people to earn freedom, society would reap far more benefit than warehousing offenders for lengthy sentences.

The post Prison Reform For Justice appeared first on Prison News Blog.

Throughout my prison adjustment I’ve thought about the steps I could take to earn a living after my release. I began serving my prison term when I was 23 and my lengthy sentence suggested that I would remain incarcerated until my late 40s. By working to educate myself I hoped to create opportunities that would lead to a meaningful life. The one thing I knew was that I would not want to return to prison once I was released. I made all decisions pertaining to my prison adjustment with hopes of preparing for the challenges that awaited me.

I had never been confined before, so I didn’t know what type of obstacles I would face. The responsibility would be mine to overcome them. My prosecution and imprisonment had resulted in the loss of all my belongings. I knew that meant I would leave prison without financial resources, clothing, or shelter. Now I am advancing to within three or four years of my release, and the economic crisis suggests many challenges await me.

I heard a commentator on CNBC announce that more than 24 million people were out of work in our country. Although economists predict the recovery is beginning, and we should resume growth in 2010, I still see reports of tent cities in Sacramento, Phoenix, Seattle, and other metropolitan areas. The unemployment rate for California is even higher than the national average, at more than 10 percent.

As a newly released long-term prisoner who does not have a work history, I may not find a job upon release. In fact, I’m preparing for that likelihood. Instead of searching for work, I’m trying to position myself for a career as a writer/speaker/consultant and teacher. My loving wife, Carole, helps me work toward this vision. We visit each week and together we plan for such a career.

Through my writing, Carole and I have earned an income that was sufficient to support her through nursing school. That was a plan and investment we made as a team to ensure our family would have stability. Carole works as a nurse now, and she will maintain the earning capacity to sustain our family as I work to establish my career.

Between now and my release date, I will work every day to enhance my chances for success. Soon I may submit another book proposal to my literary agent, as I want to have a new book ready for release when I walk out from prison boundaries. I must continue this prison adjustment of preparation, as I know the responsibility is mine to triumph over the challenges that await me. Carole is my inspiration, and through the work we do together, I feel confident that we will build our happiness to enjoy through the fall and winter seasons of our life. Our loving marriage is not an accident, but a deliberate choice we make each day.

The post Preparing for Happiness Through Adversity appeared first on Prison News Blog.

I’ve now served nearly 22 years in prison. This ought to bring me an air of credibility and authority when I write that a positive attitude can lead to a positive prison adjustment. This year, I’ve begun more significant efforts to document the steps I take to thrive through prison.

As I have done for the past several years, I began 2009 with an announcement of the values and goals that would drive my adjustment. Those guides help me stay on focus, though when conditions require me to modify the goals I set, I do not hesitate. My objective is to emerge from confinement with the skills and resources necessary to succeed. All of my decisions flow to that end. As a consequence of my having clear direction, I still wake each morning with a high degree of energy and an eagerness to make progress toward the goals I set.

Rather than limiting readers to quarterly reports, in 2009 I began recording my daily activities. Through my prison journal entries, I invite readers to follow the steps I take each day to triumph over the adversity of imprisonment. Although I do not have access to computers or typewriters, through the discipline of waking early, I succeed in writing considerable amounts of content to help others learn more about prisons, the people they hold, and strategies for growing through confinement.

With the inauguration of President Obama, and the more liberal Congress, I deem this effort of writing about the prison experience more crucial than at any time during my imprisonment. I hope to advance the call for prison reform. My sentence is nearly complete, so I may not receive any relief from the prison reform that I feel confident our new leadership will bring. As an American citizen, however, I feel a responsibility to share what I have learned with hopes of contributing to a more enlightened society.

Carole and I continue to make investments in our Internet strategy. Through our newly updated blog at prisonnewsblog.com, we’re striving to connect with thousands of citizens each day. As my daily journal shows, I began writing each day of 2009 well before 4:00 AM. In January I posted 92 blog articles. In February I posted 110 blog articles. In March I posted 144 blog articles. My total blog posts in the first quarter was 346.

Besides publishing for my own blog, I’ve begun writing for change.org. During the second quarter of 2009 I hope to create additional opportunities that will expand my reach. The more I publish about the prison experience, the more I can help others grasp the urgency of prison reform. Further, by working to expand my network of support, the more I can enhance my preparations to conquer the challenges that will follow a quarter century in confinement.

These efforts to reach beyond prison boundaries has led to more interest in my work. Producers from Good Morning Americacontacted Carole for assistance with a story they were putting together on the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme. And the distinguished research professor Joan Petersilia invited me to contribute a full chapter for her new book Oxford Handbook on Sentencing and Corrections; I’ll be writing about living in prison. These opportunities opened because I continuously reach out.

Prison policies have become more restrictive during the first quarter. I cannot use typewriters anymore to type my manuscript pages. This restriction has exacerbated Carole’s challenge of publishing all the content I write. We’re fortunate to have the support of Josh who has been a saint to assist us with typing and web support. During the first quarter we also began working with a new web design team. They are working diligently to build us a professional platform and to educate Carole and me on effective blogging strategies.

During the first quarter I opened a new mentor relationship with Professor Jana Schrenkler. She coordinated a visit with me here at Taft Camp in February and gave me an opportunity to contribute to the literature on ethics. Each month I expect to write at least one article on ethical lessons I’ve learned from white collar offenders who serve time with me.

Besides making contributions to Professor Schrenkler’s work, I concluded another semester of working with the students in Dr. Sam Torres’ class at California State University, Long Beach. They used my writing as a resource and I responded to questions they asked through the blog.

Since I turned 45-years-old during the first quarter, I scheduled a physical with health services. The end result revealed that I’m in great health, and I attribute that to my exercise routine. In January I ran 284 miles; in February I ran 256 miles; and in March I ran 248 miles. I’ve run every day of 2009 so far, and accumulated 788 miles to date. This puts me ahead of schedule for my goal to surpass the 2,600 miles I ran in 2008.

As a consequence of the heavier writing schedule, I have fallen behind with my reading schedule. Thus far I’ve only completed reading six books, and I should have read more. I’ll need to catch up in order to reach my goal of 25.

My marriage to Carole continues to thrive through our eighth year together. I may have served nearly 22 years in prison, but I feel more blessed than most.

I appreciate the support of all.

Sincerely,

Michael G. Santos

The post First Quarter Report, 2009 appeared first on Prison News Blog.

Those in society may live under the impression that prisoners engage in meaningful work programs. That has not been my experience. Although some prisoners may have the privilege of working in an industries program through which they provide goods and services for society, the vast majority work in makeshift jobs that fail to motivate. Those who work in industries programs, I think, have more successful adjustments. Yet crowded prisons limit thsoe positions to 25 percent of the population. Some prisons, like the one where I am confined, do not offer a prison industries program. Where industries exist, waiting lists can take years before a prisoner becomes eligible.

Since most prisoners do not have access to industries, it’s important to understand how other jobs are assigned. Many are makeshift, like raking dirt pathways to remove footprints. Others are low-level, non-skilled janitorial services. Certainly, prisoners should perform the services to maintain an institution. My contention, however, is if society intends to confine people for years or decades, prisoners ought to have mechanisms through which they can earn access to develop higher skill sets. Those who achieve those higher skills ought to earn access to more fulfilling and meaningful opportunities that reflect their trust and competence. If such mechanisms existed, more prisoners would pursue such routes. My experience has not exposed me to such opportunities, and I believe that flow in the system contributes to high recidivism rates.

Rather than providing meaningful incentives that would encourage positive prison adjustments, administrators eschew policies that would allow prisoners to distinguish themselves from others. Despite efforts a prisoner makes to earn degrees or publish books, administrators do not categorize him any differently from a prisoner who plays dominoes and watches TV. This dehumanizes men, disincentivizes them, and discourages positive growth. High recidivism rates, high operating budgets, and negative prison adjustments result from this fundamentally flawed policy of treating all prisoners alike. It is un-American.

In my case, it has not been prison that encourage positive growth. Rather, a profound sense of remorse for having humiliated my family and community was the impetus for my change. I prayed for guidance and I felt God guiding my prison adjustment. My goal has always been to reconcile with society and inspire my fellow prisoners to join me in making contributions to society. Yet I have felt the prison system resist my prison adjustment rather than encourage my growth. This is not bitterness, but an honest assessment. Despite more than 21 years inside, I live full of optimism and energy. Though I feel prison policies stifling me every day. I do not have any more privileges or opportunities than other prisoners. I simply work harder, as readers may see by reading my prison journal entries. My focus is on preparing for a law-abiding release, though neither prison policies nor prison administrators show encouragement for such an adjustment. All that matters is the turning of calendar pages.

I appreciate the insightful questions Sean Katz asked that inspired this response.

The post Hard Working Prisoners appeared first on Prison News Blog.

Jessica is a criminal justice student who asked several questions about my prison adjustment. I’ll respond through separate posts, but I begin with her questions about my marriage to Carole. I began preparing for my marriage to Carole many years before she came into my life. In some ways, it feels as if my entire prison adjustment was about preparing myself for love.

I entered prison when I was 23, and the sentence I received made it abundantly clear that I would serve many years inside. I didn’t know how long I would serve, but I knew that I wanted to adjust in a way that would make me a viable candidate to attract the love of a woman. I did not want to live alone. Knowing that, I thought about what I would have to achieve in order to overcome the stigma of my confinement. Those musings led me to commit to education, to fitness, to character development. Although I was locked in a community of men, I thought about the marriage I wanted and the kind of husband I wanted to become to the woman who eventually would come into my life. After 15 years of imprisonment, God blessed me with Carole.

She was my inspiration even before our romance began. Together we have created a story that empowers me to endure the challenges that complicate the lives of so many other prisoners. As the Second Chance Act shows, most prisoners lack the family and community support that Carole and I work so hard to build. We are a team, true partners, married in every way.

Because I have always been preparing for Carole, I’ve never considered a negative adjustment. She was always my pursuit, to live as a great husband to her. The complications of confinement of our life separate us physically, though our marriage brings us closer in other ways. Carole is an extraordinary wife, my inspiration to live as a better man. I strive to emulate her strength every day, as her commitment is a virtue I admire. I don’t know anyone who could walk in her shoes.

Prisons are dehumanizing not because of their physical conditions, but because of the emotional afflictions they induce. They cause unnecessary harm on families by erecting barriers that obstruct communications. Carole and I are prohibited from visiting more than once each week and rules limit us to fewer than 10 minutes of telephone time on average per day. Prisons have required that Carole and I overcome many obstacles, including several transfers. We persevere because of a commitment we make to nurture our marriage each day. Prisons do not facilitate family ties, we know, so we must work harder. We love with enthusiasm, each with a readiness to give more. That commitment is why our marriage thrives.

The post Maintaining A Thriving Marriage From Prison appeared first on Prison News Blog.

When I think of correcting, I think of making something right. To me, when discussing the context of the prison environment, an emphasis on corrections would imply an emphasis on preparing offenders to emerge as law-abiding, contributing citizens. The irony is that statistics show that the longer society exposes an individual to corrections, the less likely that individual is to function successfully upon release.

Since statistics show that 70 percent of the people who serve time in prison return to confinement after their release, and independent researchers like those who produced The Pew Report show that prison expenditures divert tens of billions each year from social programs like education and health care, it would seem to me that the “institutionalized lifestyle” does not function so well as a tool for correcting. On the other hand, prisons perform brilliantly as a system for warehousing human beings. They are extremely effective at facilitating cultures where gangs and antisocial values proliferate. They encourage us-versus-them attitudes. Perhaps one of the greatest successes of the prison system is that, thanks to prison lobbyists, they have generated billions in profits for the businesses and organizations that provide the goods and services to keep the industry growing. Those accomplishments have come at the cost of losses in funding for programs that actually reduce crime, especially educational funding, but prisons have been booming for longer than two decades.

As a long-term prisoner, I have considered it my responsibility to overcome the challenges that confinement presents. I began serving my term at 23, and I felt a deep sense of remorse for the shame and disappointment my criminal convictions had brought to my family. That remorse motivated my prison adjustment. I wanted to adjust in a way that would help me redeem the bad decisions I had made as a younger man. By educating myself, I hoped to prepare for release and for reconciliations with society.

I’ve served more than 21 years in prisons across the United States, and I’ve lived through the pernicious influences of the penitentiary system. I feel as if I have a duty to help Americans understand more about the failure this system breeds. It is not because I expect changes will advance my release date. I’ve served my time and expect to continue until my sentence expires. Yet as a citizen of this country that I love, I feel as if I must debunk the myths that prison propaganda perpetuates.

Our country incarcerates far too many people and prisoners serve sentences that are far too long, as Justice Anthony Kennedy of the U.S. Supreme Court expressed. We need prison reforms that will serve the interests of American citizens, not the interests of those who profit from warehousing humanity.

The post Institutionalized Failure Does Not Lead to Corrections appeared first on Prison News Blog.

Danielle Rios asked whether I encountered any mentors whom I learned from as a federal prisoner. I feel thankful to have learned from many. Some of my mentors were men I had met in prison, some were leaders in society who became friends of mine while I served time, and many mentors were men whom I read about, but never met.

Although I did not follow the adjustment patterns that were normal within the prison culture, by observing the men around me I was able to commit to a strategy for growth that worked for me. It required that I spend a lot of time alone. I developed a habit of sleeping very early and waking very early. The focus, for me, has always been on preparations I could make that would help me emerge from prison successfully.

Because I concentrated on the world outside, and the contributions I wanted to make to it, my most influential mentors were either men whom I read about, or academics who worked tirelessly to educate me. One of the first mentors to me was Socrates. I was in the county jail when I read the story of his attitude toward the sanction of death that judges imposed upon him. The Autobiography of Malcom X was a book I read early in my confinement, and it helped me realize that I could grow through adversity. I read the work of Viktor Frankl and other accounts of prisoners who endured the harsh conditions of Nazi concentration camps. Those people’s adjustment patterns inspired me, and they too were like mentors to me. Nelson Mandela, of course, was a long-term prisoner who made great contributions to the advancement of civilization despite the decades he served in prison. The same went for Aleksander Solzhenitsyn. Those leaders have been my mentors, even though I never met them.

As a prisoner, I frequently lead classes through which I share what I have learned. In many cases, I work with individuals to help them understand options they may pursue. I feel convinced that a successful prison adjustment requires a deliberate plan and a personal commitment. I recently finished reading a wonderful book by Tony Dungy that advises individuals on steps they may take to lead lives of significance. succeeding in prison requires an individual to lead an uncommon adjustment; I do my best to mentor others around me and to lead by example.

Upon my release I expect to build a career that will allow me to share what I’ve learned through my long journey of imprisonment. There have been many lessons that I believe may contribute to the lives of others. The strategies to which I committed may be of value to people who struggle through adversity in their own lives.

The post Mentors Guided Me Through Prison appeared first on Prison News Blog.

Thomas and his family during a visit at Taft Prison Camp

Thomas Ross is a fellow prisoner who serves time with me here at Taft Camp. Like millions of American families, his wife and children struggle through these challenging economic times. As a federal prisoner, however, Thomas does not perceive any mechanisms through which he can contribute. The helplessness that comes with confinement really complicates his adjustment.

Thomas began serving a 20-year sentence in 1998. He had grown up in East Palo Alto, a city on the outskirts of Oakland. While growing up, he had been the star athlete of his community. Like many young American males, he hoped for a professional career in baseball or football. During his first semester of college, an injury put an end to those dreams.

With an eagerness to begin a new life, Thomas volunteered for the army. He felt that he needed to get away, and the best opportunity available to him was to serve in the U.S. military. Had he been able, Thomas would have become a career military man. While stationed in Germany, he was trained as a mechanic and also earned certification as a hazardous materials technician. The military issued Thomas an honorable discharge after only three years, however, when he sustained a severe case of frostbite.

Upon his return to the Bay area, Thomas accepted a job as a hazardous material technician with a large pharmaceutical company. Throughout the 1990s, Thomas was responsible for coordinating the removal of the company’s hazardous waste materials. After more than a decade of service, Thomas felt as if he were living the American dream. As a supervisor, he was earning a high five-figure income, he had full insurance and retirement benefits, and he had purchased a brand new home in an upscale subdivision. Then disaster struck.

One of Thomas’ subordinates was arrested in a sting operation by the DEA. The subordinate had been caught stealing chemicals from the pharmaceutical company. Those chemicals were being used criminally to manufacture methamphetamine. As the supervisor, Thomas was charged with knowledge of  the conspiracy and for authorizing it to proceed.

Not knowing anything about criminal law, Thomas put his fate in the hands of an attorney who had impressed him. To retain the lawyer, his family scrambled to raise $50,000. That sum required his parents to take a mortgage on their home and devoured all of Thomas’ savings. He was willing to pay whatever costs were required to vindicate himself from the charges that he insisted were unjustified.

The lawyer that Thomas had retained, however, was a con man. The state of California had disbarred the lawyer before. Thomas was oblivious to the phony lawyer’s troubles, and he moved forward through a criminal trial. Before the trial proceedings had concluded, the trial attorney abandoned Thomas, absconding with the $50,000 retainer Thomas and his family had provided.

Despite Thomas’ having been tried without a licensed attorney, the judge allowed a guilty verdict to stand. He sanctioned Thomas to serve a 20-year sentence. Thomas’ family clung to hopes for a reversal of the criminal conviction on appeal, but as Thomas was hauled into custody, he began to lose his will to live.

Thomas felt as if forces of injustice were conspiring against him. He had been in a committed relationship with Angela. They had children together. As he languished in jail, awaiting his transfer to prison, he contemplated suicide. Angela’s love nursed him through. After administrators transferred Thomas to Lompoc, and locked him inside the fences, he wanted to give up. He could not shake the feeling of having lost so much. Despite the service he had rendered as a soldier, the career he had built, and the family he had nurtured, he felt as if he had been wrongfully charged and incarcerated. He did not even have representation from a bona fide attorney through trial. Thomas felt railroaded.

He tried to abandon his relationship with Angela, thinking that he could make her life easier by encouraging Angela to move on without him. Prison regulations were not family friendly, and Thomas did not want to expose Angela to the hardship through which he was struggling. She would not have any of Thomas’ excuses. Angela was determined to serve Thomas’ sentence alongside him, to persevere through whatever challenges came.

Without Thomas’ consent, Angela moved to the town of Lompoc in order to sustain their prison family. Visiting and phone privileges were limited, and Angela was determined to live as close to Thomas as possible in order to support him and spend all the time together that rules would allow. Together they hoped for relief on appeal. After five years of imprisonment, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals published its decision in volume 338 of the F.3d Federal Reporter on page 338. Despite Thomas’ having proceeded blindly through the justice system without an official attorney, the judges affirmed his conviction. He felt his spirits sinking.

Angela refused to give up. They married in the Lompoc visiting room. Some of the racist guards objected to the mixed marriage. They harassed Thomas, telling him that they couldn’t understand why a white woman would show such devotion to him. They did not see Thomas as a former military man, a family man, a man who had devoted himself to rising from the challenges of an inner-city youth to building an honorable career. To those guards, Thomas was a black prisoner, unworthy of the love and hope that binds our society together. They trumped up disciplinary charges against him and suspended his visiting privileges for a year; it was a transparent effort to break up his family.

In 2007, administrators transferred Thomas from Lompoc to the camp in Taft. We speak frequently. My wife and I met his family in the prison visiting room. As Carole has been doing for so many years, I knew that Angela was serving her own sentence along with her husband. When I spoke with Thomas in the spring of 2009, his spirits were especially low. He had been incarcerated for more than 11 years. A lawyer was making legal maneuvers that offered a glimmer of hope for justice, but Thomas was feeling the burdens that his confinement had brought to so many. His parents had lost their home to foreclosure. Recently, Angela’s job became a casualty of the economic crisis. He felt helpless to contribute, and thought the best option would be to request a transfer to a far-away prison. That way loved ones could move on with their lives and forget about obligations to support him.

As a long-term prisoner, I feel as if I have a duty, and a responsibility to bolster the spirits of my fellow prisoners. This system makes it tremendously difficult for men to keep hope alive, and we need to rely on each other. We must work to find activities that will add meaning to our lives. Even if we cannot find opportunities to make financial contributions to our family members from prison, we have a responsibility to muster the strength necessary to power through.

The Pew Report recently published findings that show 1 in 31 Americans is under criminal justice supervision. For racial and ethnic minorities, those numbers are much more troubling. The Dollars and Sense blog published that 7.3 million people live under the U.S. system of corrections. It is a dismal system under which Thomas and I serve time, and which punishes the women who love us. Prison is hard on prison families, especially during these difficult economic times.

The post Prison is Hard on Prison Families appeared first on Prison News Blog.