Earning Freedom: Conquering a 45-Year Prison Term

Spanning more than two and a half decades, Michael Santos has written the extraordinary story of his lengthy passage through the criminal justice system

Prison! My 8,344th Day

In this short, easy to read book, Michael Santos provides an inside look at his typical day. Readers of all ages can learn from his commitment to discipline and values-based, goal-centered decisions.

INSIDE: Life Behind Bars in America

Michael Santos describes what it’s like to live in America’s jails and prisons. Using the voice of the penitentiary, INSIDE brings readers as close as they’ll ever want to come to confinement.

Triumph! - Straight-A-Guide

In Triumph!, Michael Santos details his strategies for thriving through more than two decades in continuous confinement. Triumph! outlines Michael’s seven-point Straight-A program for offenders that – when followed – leads to successful reentry and positive, life-changing outcomes.

Success! The Straight-A-Guide

Michael's strategies for guiding at-risk youth toward better decisions using a clearly-defined path to success rather than imprisonment.

About Prison

In this unique and extraordinary text, Michael G. Santos helps others learn about the abnormal way of life behind the walls and fences of prisons from his own experiences and observations of living as a prisoner, as well as dialogues, vignettes, and profiles of other prisoners and workers within the prison environment.

Profiles From Prison: Adjusting to Life Behind Bars

An in-depth view of living behind bars from the perspective of prisoners themselves.

Welcome

Michael Santos has been confined in federal prison since 1987. His writing on America's prison system documents how deliberate choices can lead to meaningful growth despite adversity. Read his BOOKS.

Endorsements

Despite serving decades in federal prisons, Michael Santos' efforts to earn freedom have brought support from leading citizens across the spectrum of society.

Free Prison Tips

GOING IN? FREE PRISON TIPS: Michael Santos offers free guidance to prepare prisoners and family. Learn steps that lead to success upon release. Create meaning through struggle. Emerge stronger. Find balance.

The Oxford Handbook of Sentencing and Corrections

The Felon Class and Collateral Consequences

On April 26, 2012, in Prison Journal, The Oxford Handbook, by msAdmin

America’s “felon class” includes more than 16 million people. Those within the class currently serve a felony sentence or live with a record of a felony conviction. That narrow definition of the class represents 7.5 percent of the entire adult population, and one-third of all black adult males. If we were to include all citizens [...]

America’s Prisons, America’s Apartheid

On April 24, 2012, in Prison Journal, The Oxford Handbook, by msAdmin

Early this morning I read chapter two from The Oxford Handbook of Sentencing and Corrections. The chapter, titled “Race, Ethnicity, and Punishment,” by Michael Tonry, alarmed me. It provided extensive factual data that showed how black males were bludgeoned harder than anyone else by our nation’s wretched criminal justice system. Despite Lincoln’s efforts to free [...]

Mass Incarceration as a Public Policy

On April 24, 2012, in Prison Journal, The Oxford Handbook, by msAdmin

I’ve just finished reading the first chapter of The Oxford Handbook of Sentencing and Corrections. Read my review of this chapter titled Mass Incarceration: From Social Policy to Social Problem, by Professor Jonathan Simon, the Adrian A. Kragen Professor of Law at Berkley Law. Print PDF

The Oxford Handbook of Sentencing and Corrections

On April 19, 2012, in Book Reviews, Prison Journal, The Oxford Handbook, by msAdmin

Early this morning I began reading my copy of The Oxford Handbook of Sentencing and Corrections. The scholarly anthology includes 30 chapters that span 764 pages. Joan Petersilia, who is the Adelbert H. Sweet Professor of Law at Stanford Law School, together with Kevin R. Reitz, who is the James Annenberg La Vea Professor of [...]

New Privileges At Atwater Federal Prison Camp

On April 19, 2012, in Adjusting to Prison, Prison Journal, by msAdmin

The camp administrator at the Atwater Federal Prison Camp made an announcement on Tuesday, 19 April 2012. She was lifting the “curfew” that required all prisoners to return to the dormitory at 6:00 pm. Effective Tuesday evening, prisoners would have the privilege of using the library and recreational areas until 7:00 pm. If the prisoners [...]

Prosecutors Can Charge Anyone with a Crime

On April 18, 2012, in Injustice in America, Prison Journal, by msAdmin

The federal criminal code empowers prosecutors in ways that few citizens understand. The code has grown to such an extent that business people can become ensnared in problems with the criminal justice system despite having no criminal intent, or even knowledge that their actions broke criminal laws. As John R. Emshwiller and Gary Fields reported [...]

The Recurring Cycle of Imprisonment

On April 16, 2012, in Prison Journal, Return to society, by msAdmin

Tim, an acquaintance of mine in the Atwater Federal Prison Camp, is serving his second term. He told me about being released the first time, after serving five years during the early 1990s. Since I expect my release to come within the next few months, I asked Tim to enlighten me about what it was [...]

Book Review: The Facebook Effect

On April 9, 2012, in Book Reviews, Prison Journal, by msAdmin

I just finished reading The Facebook Effect by David Kirkpatrick. Read my review on Amazon Print PDF

Prison Consultants’ Competition

On April 9, 2012, in Prison Journal, Return to society, by msAdmin

Larry Levine may have built a business as a prison consultant, but if he were a stock, I would sell him short. Rather than being interested in how much time a so-called prison consultant has served, individuals looking for information about how best to endure a term in federal prison should look at what accomplishments [...]

Liberty and the Sword of Damocles

On April 9, 2012, in Prison Journal, Return to society, by msAdmin

I’ve had a lot of advice from people who know that I will soon return to society after 25 years in prison. They tell me that once I leave Atwater Federal Prison Camp, I won’t be able to follow the same disciplined routine that has characterized my journey. They tell me that the self-imposed, rigid [...]