Eliminate Prison Camps to Cut Domestic Spending

President Obama ought to call for the elimination of prison camps to cut unnecessary domestic spending. This type of expenditure should not continue, as prison camps do not contribute to making society safer. Indeed, prison administrators have classified all prisoners in prison camps as minimum-security offenders and require those men to serve time on their […]

Bad Leadership in the Bureau of Prisons

We have bad leadership in the Bureau of Prisons! The Second Chance Act of 2007 provided federal prison administrators with the authority to release prisoners to halfway houses one year before their sentences expired. That Act also urged administrators to expand programs that would help prisoners build stronger family and community ties while the prisoners […]

BOP Director’s Misrepresentation to Congress

Harley Lappin, Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, issued a prepared statement to a Congressional committee on March 10, 2009. In Director Lappin’s lengthy statement pertaining to the Second Chance Act, he expressed that an integral part of the BOP’s mission indicates that “the post-release success of offenders is as important to public safety […]

Prison Administrators Resist Change

Through the Second Chance Act, Congress found that those who spent lengthy terms in prison lost touch with society. When prisoners released, they lacked sufficient support to establish themselves. Such weakness led many prisoners to recidivate, lifting the costs for society. In passing the Second Chance Act, Congress hoped to help lower recidivism rates. Prison […]

Reform Prison Guards

In the 1970s, Professor Phillip Zimbardo conducted the famous Stanford Prison Guard experiment. Many academics have cited his findings. Matt Kelley quoted some of Professor Zimbardo’s findings in an article he recently wrote for change.org. The academic experiment at Stanford, together with my own experiences as a long-term prisoner, convince me that when guards enforce […]

Hope Leads to Positive Prison Adjustments

Daisy Gonzalez commented on my article entitled Motivating Prisoners to Make Positive Changes. She asked whether I thought the correctional system had an influence on the decisions prisoners made. She also asked about the influences family members had on prisoner decisions. I feel grateful for this opportunity to respond to both of Daisy’s questions. As […]

Top Ten Prison Reform Goals, Article 3: Prison Reforms Should Encourage Prisoners to Build Supportive Success Networks

Prison administrators like to hang signs and posters promoting success platitudes. Reach For The Stars! Be Persistent! Never Give Up! The motivational signs might fool those in groups that tour institutions into believing that administrators make authentic efforts to prepare offenders for successful re-entry into society. Those locked in prisons, on the other hand, recognize […]

Dan is Getting Out of Prison

After 14 years of imprisonment, Dan is going home. Dan has been incarcerated since the summer of 1994. At the time of his arrest he was a 25-year-old without much more of a formal education than the GED he earned in night school. He had been working in an Arizona gas station when friends who […]

We need President Obama to appoint a new Director in the Bureau of Prisons

The President appoints Director of the Bureau of Prisons. The  Director presides over an agency that employs more than 25,000 people and incarcerates more than 200,000 people. The Director sets the policy for the Bureau of Prisons. All employees of the BOP carry out the Director’s mission, and the prisoners must live within the rules […]

What Second Chance?

Two months after the passage of historic legislation, Second Chance Act, designed to reduce recidivism, administrators continue with obstacles that hinder successful transitions from prison to society In April of 2008, President Bush signed the Second Chance Act of 2007. According to an overwhelming majority from both houses of Congress, the legislation had several purposes. […]

Speech on Second Chance Act

I delivered this speech from memory to a large audience at a Toastmasters Group meeting at Taft Camp on March 31, 2008 to share my understanding of the Second Chance Act. Good morning Toastmasters and guests. Thank you for the honor of your attendance and attention. I want everyone in this room to know that I […]

First Quarter Report, Taft Prison Camp 2008

I began 2008, my 21st year of imprisonment, with a high degree of optimism. Now that we’ve moved beyond the first three months of this year, I feel better than ever. I keep track of my daily progress by recording my activities in a weekly planner. When this year began, I knew that we would […]

Suggestions for New Prisoners

Now is a much better time to begin serving a prison sentence. That may sound ridiculous to the casual reader, the normal person who doesn’t believe there is ever a good time to begin a prison term. I am speaking relatively. The time is much better than 1987, when I began serving my sentence. In […]

The Second Chance Act of 2007

The Second Chance Act of 2007 continues to bring hope to the lives of prisoners confined in Taft Camp. As of this writing, the possibility of this legislation passing remains alive. I’m hopeful that both Houses of Congress will approve the Bill and present it for signature to the President before the year ends. Although […]