I Started Gang Banging in the 4th grade
I guess I never felt worthy of anything better, or I never even realized that I could be better. I had dreams and was always a smart kid
Paul on Death Row: I Was A Witness To Murder At Age 10
In the ghetto, there’s lots of improvisation. As young boys, we were very active and had loads of energy. We liked to play baseball, but lacked the equipment. No problem. For a bat, we used a broken broom handle. [...]
Dating An Inmate: It’s Not For Everyone
He tells her to leave when the D.A. offers fifteen years as the plea bargain. They're on a visit, at Riker's Island. You can’t take this, he tells her. It’ll hurt more when you leave later.
What Really Happens in Juvenile Detention
At the ripe young age of eleven, in the fifth grade of elementary school, I was arrested and transferred to Mount Sinai psych ward for assaulting my math teacher, Mr. Friedman. A counselor named Ms. Brown convinced the cops that I should be taken to a hospital instead of a jail cell.
What Prisoners Think Of Trump
First, what prisoners think of Trump is that he's done the impossible, which is to take prisoners who would otherwise vehemently despise each other and unite them (albeit into one of two groups). Prisoners either love or hate him, without [...]
American Beauty: The Kristin Rossum Story
I produced an hour documentary on Kristin Rossum when I was a producer for CBS's 48 Hours. Here is a summary. Did Kristin get what she deserved? Kristin Rossum and Greg de Villers were newlyweds who seemed to have a wonderful [...]
From Death Row to Writing
I committed a crime that I’m still paying for and for that I was given the ultimate penalty: a trip to death row. I eventually made it off after 20 years and I felt that that alone was something worth sharing. [...]
Prison Guards Gas Prisoners for Fun
In Texas Prisons, guards are notorious for beating, killing, and harassing prisoners. They also set up prisoners to be attacked by other prisoners while handcuffed from behind, and they're even known to assist prisoners in committing suicide, even when the prisoner has no intentions of doing such thing.
Prison Gangs in New York: This Explains Everything
I got out of the Bloods. I realized that it is virtually impossible to consider someone your "brother" without the visceral love that comes with such, which is to say the prevailing emotion one feels in a prison gang is fear.
Aleksandr Kolpakov on Suicide Watch
My name is Aleksandr Kolpakov. I spent two and a half years at Mesa County Jail fighting my case before I was sent to Buena Vista. One day while I was there, I was jumped in the chow hall and got [...]
Sheldon Johnson in Sing Sing: Letter to My Younger Self
Dear Younger Self, If you only knew where you were headed and the degree of suffering you will endure, you'd stop the hands of time. But you don't, you can't. Your young mind cannot create such imagery.
An Underground Economy In Prison with Stamps As Currency
There's a prison underground economy. Capitalism is mimicked. There’s upper-class, middle-class and lower-class. Yes. There are prisoners with and there are prisoners without.
Solitary Sucks
One thing is for sure—once you're locked in—you're at the mercy of those with the squeaky boots, the clanking keys, and the ratcheting handcuffs. Even knowing their mighty shields don't make them more human than me, I still worship them. I leap to my feet and rush to the door at the sound of another human.
Everything’s a Pain in Prison, Even a Haircut
I spoke to my 19 year-old nephew, Cordell, for the first time today. I found myself emotionally torn between realizing that not only have I not been a part of his life, but that I have roughly 20 nieces and [...]
An O.G. Explains “The New Convict Code”
Tex McClain had nothing but his word. Old and sick, having outlived anyone in society who might help him, he had to live by his wits to earn coffee and cigarettes. Old Tex’s word was good. If he told you [...]
Tip #5: I Miss The Crooked Prison Guards
I miss obeying human beings. Knowing the cop who is having sex with your best friend will give you a donut when you are hungry and wipe the tears from your eyes when a family member passes away.