The Return of Clemency
A couple of years ago a media investigation revealed that the US Office of the Pardon Attorney was broken. The Office of the Pardon Attorney (OPA) is housed within the Department of Justice (DOJ) and …
Category: Featured Story
The Gangster Report by Scott M. Burnstein – The Chronicles of Nick the Blade
Last week, Pittsburgh mobster Eugene (Nick the Blade) Gesuale rang in the New Year at home for the first time in almost three decades. Gesuale, 71, is one of Pennsylvania’s all-time most-feared gangsters and was …
Joe Valgica’s Last Plate of Fries
In the early morning hours of December 5, 1928, patrolman Frank Osowski, was walking his beat in downtown Cleveland, when he noticed a car pulling up in front of the Statler Hotel on Euclid Avenue. …
Voting Rights for Ex-Cons
In most states, convicted felons are not able to vote, even after they have served their time. While it’s a statistical fact that many felons recidivate, there are many who return to the world and …
Attorney General Eric Holder Announces New Rules for Federal Halfway Houses
*Writer’s note- I wrote this shortly before I was released. In an upcoming feature I will discuss what I experienced and what the reality is for prisoners coming home like myself. I am about to …
Seth Ferranti, Drug Kingpin to Best-Selling Author
Over the last 21 years, 43-year-old Seth Ferranti earned a master’s degree, got married, launched a writing career and founded a publishing house. And he did it all from behind bars […] http://www.ozy.com/rising-stars-and-provocateurs/seth-ferranti-drug-kingpin-to-best-selling-author/35307
Prison Gang Management
In the netherworld of corruption and violence, which exists perpetually inside the belly of the beast, prison administrators struggle to manage the violent proclivities of prison gangs. Unfortunately, for the powers that be, it’s not …
Is Prison Scary by K.L. Blakinger
“Is prison scary?” That’s a question people ask me all the time. And no, it’s really not. Or at least, in women’s prison it’s not scary in the ways you’d expect. For the most part, …
The Cost
Crack was the atomic bomb of the ghetto. And the scariest part was, any fool could build that bomb. —Marcus Jackson At forty-five years old and counting, the nationwide Bloods–Crips conflict has gone on longer …
Penitentiary Justice by Judge Broman
“Yo Hipster, that knew guy is a fuckin cho-mo!” Stanley, a 60-year-old bank robber from Boston says to me as soon as I came inside from rec. “Who?” I ask, scanning the unit for the …