I read the news about a former prisoner who murdered four police officers in Seattle with tremendou sadness. The families of the four police officers suffer because of this horrid crime, and I expect many in the community will blame the criminal justice system, as the murderer had once been serving a sentence of more than 90 [...]
An acquaintance of mine, Tom, returned from his first furlough. I met Tom when I transferred from Fort Dix to Florence camp back in 2003, and about a year ago, I was reacquainted with Tom when he transferred here to Taft Camp. I’m glad he was able to spend the Thanksgiving holiday on furlough with [...]
With Thanksgiving behind us, we’ve moved directly into the Christmas holiday season. I know Christmas brings many people together for parties and celebrations, and it’s not easy to block the reminders of what I’m missing every year as December arrives and the holiday season commences with gusto. Here at Taft Camp, two local radio stations [...]
Today marks my 23rd consecutive Thanksgiving holiday as a federal prisoner. I’m spending the day writing new content for my web site. In the morning I ran 10 miles and followed with 300 pushups. Click on the link to read my Thanksgiving entry: http://prisonnewsblog.com/2009/11/twenty-three-thanksgivings-in-prison/ [consecutive running log: 3,110 miles in 348 days] Print PDF
I’m scheduled for a meeting with my unit team today. Unit team meetings are scheduled every six months for prisoners who have longer than one year to serve, and every three months for prisoners with release dates within one year. According to the Bureau of Prisons policy, several staff members attend the unit team meetings–the [...]
I ordered a new pair of running shoes on the second day of this month and today, only three weeks later, I received them. I was expecting to wait six weeks for delivery. I ran more than 800 miles on my previous pair, which have been the most comfortable running shoes I’ve had throughout my [...]
Today is my sister Julie’s birthday and I’m sad because my limitation of telephone minutes will not allow me to call her. Julie has been supportive of me from the first day my prison journey began back in 1987, and since then I’ve missed 23 of her birthdays because of my imprisonment. I’m looking forward to release, a [...]
Last September my friend and partner Brad Fullmer drove up from Los Angeles to visit me and I just received the picture we took during the visit. I met Brad through my friend and other partner, Justin Paperny, who spent about one year at Taft Camp. Both are partners because they’ve been supportive of my [...]
My new book, Earning Freedom, will not be coming to market until after my release, and when it does, it will not be with St. Martin’s Press. Carole and I intend to build my career around this new book, a story that describes my long journey and maturity through prison, but St. Martin’s Press has [...]
Before sleeping each night I read at least one passage from the Bible. I’m not deeply religious as most people would measure that term–I don’t attend worshipping services or participate in prayer groups. By reading passages of the Bible every night, and thanking God for the blessings bestowed upon my family, I strengthen my spirit. [...]
