Dear Friends, Top members of Congress are secretly meeting now to try to figure out how to jam through a dangerous bill before Christmas. Their main focus? Legislation authorizing this president and all future presidents to order the U.S. military to pick up and imprison people, including U.S. citizens — without charging them or putting [...]
My sister relayed news to me that President Obama commuted the sentence of one federal prisoner. I’m happy for the woman who soon will return to her family. As far as I know, the woman would have been the first prison sentence that the president has commuted since he took office. With regard to the [...]
For the first time in all the years that I’ve been incarcerated, I saw guards randomly interrupt visits in order to search the vehicles that visitors drove. It was a very strange sight. My wife told me that each time she visits she signs a form that gives consent to have her vehicle searched. Still, [...]
Original article at HuffingtonPost.com I was extremely disappointed to read that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction of my friend, Greg Reyes. We became friends while he served his sentence inside the federal prison camp in Taft, California. For 11 months, we spent a portion of every day talking and I learned a great [...]
The article below is from: http://www.atlassociety.org/brc/greg-reyes-justice-denied Greg Reyes: Justice Denied By Roger Donway [2] 10/21/20110 — On October 13, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to throw out the fraud conviction of Greg Reyes that had emerged from the media-generated backdated-options frenzy of 2005–2007. At issue was the fact that, during part of the [...]
This article originally appeared on Michael’s Huffington Post page: A new memorial celebrating the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King is scheduled to open in Washington D.C.. The memorial features numerous quotes from Dr. King under four headings that include Justice, Love, Democracy, and Hope. Since Dr. King believed such concepts were inalienable, [...]
This morning I spent time with a friend who is struggling with the indignities of imprisonment. I empathize with him because I’ve gone through so much during the past quarter century I’ve served in federal prisons of every security level. I can identify with the difficulties he and his family endure. Like many people across [...]
I heard that Standard and Poors lowered America’s credit rating from AAA to AA+. The news report that came across my radio headset early this morning provided further evidence of how the world has changed. We are a weaker country because of mismanagement by government leaders. Misguided government leadership has hindered my life in numerous [...]
Tom, a prisoner who serves time with me at the Taft Federal Prison Camp, is a gun enthusiast. He enjoys hunting and collecting all types of firearms, but Tom is upset that one of the ancillary consequences of his felony conviction means that he can no longer own or be in possession of any type [...]
After exercising today, I heard a news report indicating that the former governor Rod Blagojevich was convicted on 17 counts of political corruption. Reporters speculated that he would face up to 10 years in federal prison. A sentence of 10 years may strike many people as being excessive. From my perspective, a 10-year sentence would [...]
