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A Tale of Two Prisons: Retribution Versus Rehabilitation & What America Can...
By Rosendo Rodriguez III“The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.” – Fyodor Dostoevsky, The House of the DeadThe difference between the prison system of Germany...
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Roots Between the Stones (Part One of Two)
By Steve BartholomewBig Chuck plucked with great deliberation his final wooden tile and, placing it alongside the six others he‘d laid on the board, tacked the word "eulogize" onto the E of his...
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Crossroads
By Isaac SweetAs a teenager, I envisioned graduating from high school, pursuing a career as an automotive mechanic, and getting married. I would have at least two kids, raise them in a rural...
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The Table
By Kenneth M. KeyRecently I watched a program on the Public Broadcast Station about how families from the 50’s and up until the mid-70’s would sit at the table in their homes, or parks or...
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Education
By Lauren O’DellIn 2009, I was awarded the Sunshine Scholarship, which would cover books and tuition for an Associate’s Degree in General Studies. I had no idea how transformative college would...
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Poetry by Bryant Isom
– Do Not – By Bryant IsomDo not define me by what you see, or perceive to be an uneducated thug, Just because I have tattoos of pictures and words that you don’t understand.Do not let my black skin and...
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The Magic Lantern Chapter Three
By Anthony EnglesTo read Chapter Two, click hereKimbaGround shaking heavy-metal, the smell of gasoline fumes and spilled beer mixed with the coppery taste of blood. Then, the nauseating stimuli swirled...
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You were only waiting for this moment to arrive
February 23, 2018 UPDATE: Many thanks to all of you for supporting Thomas and his family (and me) through this very stressful time. Last night was a good night and I love that so many of you were...
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Dialing 911
By Timothy Pauley“One´s scared and the other´s glad of it,” Johnny declared in disgust as we watched the latest spectacle of manliness unfold in front of us. When the recreation movement was...
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Two Different Men
By Vernon Robinson(This piece originally ran on Decarcerate PA and is being shared with the permission of the author)IntroductionI want to open up a discussion. This discussion will lead into different...
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I Somehow Swallowed the Night: Prison Picassos, Big-House Hemingways, and the...
By Chris DankovichIn a modest hall covered in snow on the main campus of the University of Michigan, a mostly-volunteer staff of professors, graduate and undergraduate students, and a Canadian hockey...
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Kolbe Retreat
By Jaime PrietoA Prison Ministry held an event in the Ellis Unit in Huntsville, Texas, called “Kolbe Retreat.” A friend of mine signed me up because last year when they came, I was turned down for an...
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Rosendo
Rosendo RodriguezExecuted by the State of TexasMarch 27, 2018He stood at the window of the empty cafe and watched the activities in the square and he said that it was good that God kept the truths of...
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Alcatraz of the South Part 9 “Fire in the Hole”
Today, March 29, is Mike's birthday and in his honor we are posting a previously unpublished essay he wrote in the summer of 2017.By Michael LambrixTo read Part 8 click hereAs I stood at the back of...
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Who Gives A Damn? I Do!
By Wesley I. PurkeyDeplorable and despicable individuals do not exclusively reside behind penitentiary walls. Some of these individuals do not reside behind penitentiary walls, but can be found in...
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Oklahoma Department of Corrections and Death Row
By Wendell GrissomAdmin Note: Via personal correspondence, I asked Wendell Grissom to educate me on Death Row in Oklahoma. I received a letter back in response and I'm sharing an edited version of it...
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Sparrow Feathers
By Burl N. CorbettAs I limped along the roofed walkway outside the commissary building, my recalcitrant left knee silently grumbling, a tiny feather spiraled to the ground. Before I could lean and...
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What’s New, Youngin’?
By Vernon Robinson“I don’t need that crap!”Damn oldheads! Sometimes it seems like they are so stubborn.*******They say that prison is a microcosm of the world. Well, if we’re a smaller version of the...
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Lovin' Life
By Eduardo RamirezFor Donald Hall. “I've been by myself so long I wouldn't know how to live with another person.” Dr. G took in this comment and without even looking at his notepad scribbled something....
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The Promised Land
By Steve BartholomewOne hundred seventy six months, one week and six days. A clunky clause describing a period impossible to reckon--not in any experiential sense, anyway. I try to envision it as the...
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