Five DIY Tips for Preparing for Reentry
One day I finally said to myself – “you killed someone” – a young man’s life is gone. And I wondered how my mother would feel if it had been me who had been killed. I began thinking about my victim’s mother.
Hope & Change
A Jailhouse Lawyer Explains How it Works
“You've got a thousand men in the water and maybe three life preservers. You better be okay with watching men drown. ”
- Melvin Tunstall, when I took a job in the prison law library.
Why Prison Volunteers Change Lives
Throughout my 23 years of incarceration, many people have had a positive influence on my life, but none more so than the courageous volunteers who selflessly pour into American prisons each and every day, whether it be for religious purposes, substance [...]
Study: Police Treat Black Americans with Less Respect (Duh.)
I realize this is obvious as hell, but here's the data. Data confirms that police treat Black Americans with less respect. A Stanford University analysis of police bodycam footage from nearly 1,000 vehicle stops substantiates what Black Americans already know: police [...]
Incarcerated at 8: Growing Up Behind Bars
Growing up, I never had my mother or father in my life. I never met my father and because my mother was using drugs while she was pregnant with me, I was taken away from her as an infant, never to [...]
Writing in Solitary Saved Me From Suicide
As we know, I am currently in prison, which I have learned does one of two significant things to its occupants: brings the best out of them, or the worst...
Prisoners in College Inspire Their Kids To Work Harder
There aren't many positive prison programs available in the criminal justice system these days. But forty-years ago, college courses were offered with the possibility of achieving two and four year degrees. During the "Reagan Era," Pell Grants for prisoners was eliminated [...]
VIDEO: The Brutal Truth About A Brutal Crime
Agnes Fury is the mother and grandmother of author Leonard Scoven’s two victims. Years ago, she contacted Scovens in prison to find answers and closure. Amazingly, their relationship turned into a friendship after the two corresponded for years — before the two published a book together about restoration and forgiveness, called Wildflowers in the Median. (!)
I Spent 20 Years on Death Row
When I sat on death row for 20 years my favorite game to play was the “what if…?” This is an exercise that most people engage in, but none more so than prisoners. No inmate feels like they belong in prison. [...]
I’ve Been On Death Row Since I Was 21
My adolescence was marked by an inability to express my thoughts and emotions. I floundered with how to speak my mind and these unsaid things turned into hungry rats gnawing on my nerves. Communicating as a shy teenager is hard [...]
The Alternatives To Violence Project Changed My Life Forever
One day I looked into the activity room in the unit where I live and I saw inmates participating in some kind of class. First thing I thought was that it was just “another” prison program, won’t do me any good [...]
If Prisoners Could Vote…
Anyway, it was a close race and you only needed about 800 votes to win. All of us would have voted for you if we could have. We take that kind of thing seriously. The law, not so much — but the chance to bitch about something and then fix, definitely.
A 2-Year Old Boy Lights Up This Lifer’s Life
AN AMAZING SIDE NOTE about Leonard: Agnes Fury is the mother and grandmother of author Leonard Scoven's two victims. Years ago, she contacted Scovens in prison to find answers and closure. Amazingly, their relationship turned into a friendship after the two [...]
A Prisoner’s Prediction: If Trump Is President
President Trump fulfilled his vow to relieve prison overcrowding, implementing his top secret Executive Order 62254 yesterday. Specially trained Federal Militia entered 486 state and federal prisons shortly after midnight, and by day's end 206,926 prisoners had been executed.
GED Classes In Prison Are a Joke — The Fault of Prisoners or Teachers?
In some ways GED instruction in prison is a big charade. The program looks good on paper (lots of prisoners in class) for those that analyze such things. But are they learning? The reality is many of these students are [...]
Her Name was Mo
By: Jermaine Archer, Some people knew her as Arlene Mohammed, but her name was Mo and she brought people together. Mo was a strong black woman from another era, the one that followed Jim Crow but preceded Civil Rights, the one [...]