The Visitor: A Probation Officer's Home Inspection
She stood beside my bed in a dark jacket despite the heat. I sat on the sofa holding a cup of coffee, intent on looking comfortable.
Stories from before, behind, and beyond the bars.
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COVID in Prison
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First Death: COVID Outbreak at Big Spring Federal Prison Reveals Pattern of Medical Neglect
Robert spent the weekend lying on a cot, gasping for breath. He was provided no oxygen or respirator. Come Monday when finally seen by a doctor, Rob was rushed to a hospital.
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Game Night: Pizza and Pandemic Pastimes
I've often marveled at the creative talent locked away in the nation's prisons, unwitnessed and wasted. The twins handmade the Monopoly game from cardboard, construction paper, and clear tape.
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Limbo: Freedom Posponed Due to COVID
What if freedom isn't everything I hope it will be? I'd been building it up in my mind for so long imagining it to be the answer to all my problems. But what if it isn't?
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Pandemic: Life Inside Prison During COVID
It's impossible for inmates to keep six feet apart when we're forced to eat, sleep, and shit within four feet of each other. The prison system itself has put us at highest risk.
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COVID: Pandemic Protocols in a Federal Prison
As the virus winds its way across the globe, people everywhere find their worlds shrinking. Prisoners' worlds, which had already seemed impossibly small, are shrinking too.
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Compassionate Release: COVID and the Pursuit of Freedom
We were dominoes, all poised to fall. Locked down and left to ourselves, watching infections ripple through the prison system from Leavenworth to Carswell.