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Anatomy of Wrongful Conviction – Day Six
By Thomas Bartlett WhitakerTo read Day Five, click hereIf, as I argued at the beginning of this series, the primary driver of wrongful convictions is the general public’s kneejerk and unreasoned desire...
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Death Watch Journal - Entry #1
Arnold Prieto Jr. has been a contributor to Minutes Before Six as both a writer and an artist since 2010. Arnold is an incredibly talented artist and an honest writer. His words and art come from the...
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Tearing Down the House of Gemini
By Steve BartholomewNight of needles, night of flux.The way he held it up by the plunger, that dainty stem of anti-future, wagging it like a clinical scepter. Made whatever qualms I'd had feel...
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Hello Darkness – My Old Friend*
By Michael Lambrix *This story received an honorable mention in the memoir category of the 2014 Annual PEN Prison Writing ContestIt is there in the dimly lit shadows of the darkness that I find my...
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Manufacturing Anomie*
By Thomas Bartlett Whitaker*This story won first prize in the fiction category of the 2014 Annual PEN Prison Writing ContestWhich one of you OJTs is Adams?That's me, Sarge.Adams, you with me for the...
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Thank You, Madiba!
By Santonio D. MurffFYI, Family: Prison hasn't been about rehabilitation since 1982 when then President Ronald Reagan declared a war on drugs farce and began the systematic rise of a profit-oriented...
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Elusive Butterfly of Love
By Michael LambrixShe told me that she had a birthday present for me and as she leaned over the table towards me, our hands reached out across that cold steel surface that separated us and I...
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Waste Warfare
By Mwandishi MitchellOn November 28, 2013, Thanksgiving Day, I was placed in administrative custody, or as it's commonly known here -AC status. I'm in the hole doing twenty-three and one. Except on...
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Death Watch Journals from Arnold Prieto and Miguel Angel Paredes
Many of you have come to know Arnold Prieto through his regular contributions of art and writing to Minutes Before Six. Miguel Angel Paredes'artwork has also been featured here for many years. They are...
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No Mercy For Dogs Part 15
By Thomas Bartlett WhitakerTo read Part 14, click hereMy quest for new accommodations started out very poorly indeed. On the morning after my little narco-field trip to Aldama, it seemed a simple...
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Eating Crow
By Timothy PauleyThe glass door swung open and a small group of men began shuffling down the sidewalk. They emerged from a massive corrugated steel structure that could have been a warehouse or an...
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The Chain
By Arthur LongworthFor this essay, Arthur Longworth was awarded second place in Memoir in the 2013 PEN Prison Writing Contest. The physical reality of a prison chain bus is simple really. It matches...
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When a Weeble Wobbles
By Michael LambrixWeebles wobble, but they don’t fall down... oh so innocently ignorant of what this thing called life could still bring, I can recall a particular child’s toy called a “Weeble,” and...
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A Death Before Dying
By Thomas Bartlett WhitakerThere's trouble in redneck paradise, y'all.No, wait - don't go. This isn't the normal sort of white vs. gray, left vs. right kerfuffle that I usually rant about. What we have...
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A Cold Hell
By Samuel HawkinsI was shoved into a cell, with no mattress, no bed, no clothes. The guards told me not to turn around, and I didn't. I heard the cell door close behind me. The handcuffs were my only...
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Fear Factor
By Jeremiah BourgeoisI am amazed how concerned DOC (Department of Corrections) officials are for the safety of prisoners nowadays. It's not lip service; they're serious in Washington State. Underneath...
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Just One of the Consequences of Writing (the Wrong Things)
By Mwandishi MitchellI'm jittery, and my nerves are on pins and needles. I´ve been locked down in solitary confinement for thirty-four days. It´s Tuesday December 31st, and I´m scheduled to see PRC...
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Death Watch Journal Entry #3
By Arnold Prieto To read Entry #2, click hereSeptember 10th, 2014 12:48amNormally I would be fast asleep during these wee hours of the morning, but instead I find myself typing out my following...
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The Other Half - Part One
By Steve BartholomewCharlie got out of the Grand Cherokee and with the back of his fist eased the door into its latch. He hustled around to Moira's side in time to open her door because he knew that...
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Miguel Angel Paredes - From Death Watch
To read Miguel's previous entry, click hereSeptember 30, 2014Dear Minutes Before Six Readers,I hope when you read this, you find yourselves in the best of health and the highest of spirits.Sorry I...
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