Writer: Dorothy Maraglino

ON SENTENCING: Although I’ve been here 940 days, I have not had a trial yet. For two years, the D.A and the defense attorneys have…

Dorothy Maraglino, serving a life sentence in California, shares a long list of lessons learned in prison. The people in the position to help the…

Lately, the news has talked about the lavish living conditions of inmates in a women's prison and made comments about so-called “luxuries,” like canteen stores…

I try to sleep all day during the loud hours, so I can find peaceful silence alone overnight while others sleep. Here’s how my reverse…

  There are days when passing time in prison becomes nearly unbearable. Each second passes with excruciating slowness. As time ticks by, it almost can…

This year the CCWF has grown to include men transitioning to women who haven't had gender reassignment surgery so we now have trans females in…

It is strange to look back on your life and try to understand how a devout Christian child could voluntarily become a slave to a…

They made a journalist out of me. And that, my friends, is something of extreme significance. I came to prison with an eight grade education.…

Dear _______,  You don’t know me. Not really. We each had a major part to play in each other’s lives. In fact, you took mine.…

33 lessons I learned in a women’s prison: The people in the position to help the most have the power to hurt the most. People…

Dear Drugs, I have been free of you only a few weeks and my mind is just clear enough to know I miss you. Every…

I was seven months pregnant when I was picked up for suspicion and noncooperation. Having never been arrested in my 36 years, my faith in…

Our doctors look like Doogie Howser and approach patients like a short order cook does breakfast. It’s easy to believe we’re part of some unknown…

Yesterday I was moved to a cell with an observation camera in it. There was a good reason for the move, although the staff was…