Parole
  There is a fundamental difference between incarcerated youth and adults. The Department of Juvenile Justice focuses on rehabilitation, release, and relapse prevention. When a minor get committed, the courts give him an Actual Confinement Time (ACT), and the DJJ decides on a Parole Board Date (PBD). No juvenile gets locked up for lif

Einstein, Interrupted.
  When we received our security briefing, the lieutenant warned us about bringing contraband into the facility. Contraband, in prison parlance, refers to objects and substances such as weapons, tools, drugs, or cigarettes, but also less obvious things such as cell phones, computers,

Bird on a Wire
  On my first visit to the correctional facility, one of the psychologists inquired about my initial impression. I remarked to him how different it felt to me to be surrounded by 15-foot high fences and barbed wire. To me, that was one sure sign that I wasn’t in an everyday environment, and summoned ima

Inside Job
  Did you ever find yourself in a place you thought you did not want to be? And did you realize afterward that in spite of yourself, a part of you felt an unsuspected level of fascination and excitement? Well, this is what happened to me, and I decided to write this blog in order to chronicle my impressions, feelings, and discov