A couple of days ago at the grocery store, I ran into my drug court defense attorney. He asked how I was and I told him great. He asked if I was still writing for the paper and I asked if he was still the drug court attorney, which he was.I could have left things at those pleasantries, but I ...

Last week, a man I knew from prison reached out to me and said he was looking for work. He told me he had “messed up a few times” (meaning he had used drugs.) He said, “It’s hard, you know?” He had made some assumptions about me and I had made some assumptions about him. We were both ...

Recently, I looked up and connected with a man named Michael Santos on LinkedIn. When I was in prison, I watched a video of Michael speaking at Stanford University. I also read a paper he wrote about education being the most effective tool in combating recidivism. Michael Santos served 26 years ...

Part of one’s acclimation from prison to the outside world is going from the constant interaction with other people, where it’s impossible to get time alone, to perhaps a situation where alone is the norm. And in my life before going to prison, there really hadn’t been another time where ...

Friday was International Overdose Awareness Day. Sadly, I can name a dozen people I have known that have lost their lives due to a drug overdose. In every one of those cases, opioids were involved. Half of those cases were with drugs that were legally prescribed to someone.Overdose is now the ...

I’ve been a mixed martial arts fan since the 90s, back when the only way for me to watch UFC fights was on VHS tapes and they only place we knew to buy them were at the once a month swap-meet a couple towns over. Now that MMA is mainstream and YouTube exists, it would be hard to keep up with ...

Hollywood is getting out of prison this week. That’s the name a friend of mine went by. Having a prison “handle” somewhat designates that you’ve embraced the whole prison experience, and couldn’t hold more true in this situation. Hollywood was my cellie in my first housing unit in ...

I’ve run across so many people who feel going to prison is just about the worst thing that can happen to someone. I personally don’t see it that way. Of course, I can only go off of my own experiences. In the case of drug addicts, which is a large portion of the prison population, if the ...

I just received some crappy news. A guy I would call a friend, for this we’ll call him “Tim,” just went back to prison. Tim’s wife called me quite distraught and wanted to know what she should do. I suggested she get advice from a lawyer. There was no way to sugar coat the situation. ...

Numerous people have said to me, “I couldn’t do prison.” For one, you usually don’t get a choice; and for two, yes you could. People adapt. Life goes on, even in prison. It’s a different life, not the most desirable life, but it isn’t all bad.Prisoners have hopes and desires, ...