by Daniel A. Rosen | Migrants in ICE custody in New Mexico were attacked with pepper spray in May to end a days-long hunger strike. The detainees, housed at a private facility run by CoreCivic in Torrance County, were protesting the food quality and lack of protection from COVID-19. "Suddenly they just started gassing us. … Continue reading ICE Detainees Pepper Sprayed Over Hunger Strike
Author: Three Hots One Cot
Pepper Spraying Mentally Ill Jail Inmates Conformed to Rules, Says Maine DOC
by Daniel A. Rosen | Two pepper spray incidents in early 2019 at Maine's Cumberland County Jail raised questions of propriety and led to a review by the State Department of Corrections. In each case, the Maine DOC concluded that jail staff followed "expected practices" when subduing the inmates with chemical irritants. Both inmates were … Continue reading Pepper Spraying Mentally Ill Jail Inmates Conformed to Rules, Says Maine DOC
Virginia’s Special Legislative Session Must Address Real Justice Reform
by Daniel A. Rosen | On August 18, Virginia's State Assembly will hold a special legislative session that's likely to be historic. Originally scheduled to take up budget issues related to the coronavirus pandemic, it now will focus on a range of other public safety issues, given the recent social unrest following George Floyd's murder. … Continue reading Virginia’s Special Legislative Session Must Address Real Justice Reform
Public Safety Can’t Be Purchased With Police and Prisons
by Daniel A. Rosen | When I watched the video of George Floyd's murder from my prison cell, my first instinct was sheer outrage, like people of conscience everywhere. My second thought: If cameras were as prevalent in prison as on the street, the public might see many more men of color who can't breathe, … Continue reading Public Safety Can’t Be Purchased With Police and Prisons
Former Inmates Are Running for Office in 2020
by Daniel A. Rosen When those who have been incarcerated run for elected office, they can speak with authority about prison reform. They bring credibility that others simply can't. In 2020, more ex-inmates than ever are coming out of the shadows and running for office, viewing their time behind bars as an asset. They're bringing … Continue reading Former Inmates Are Running for Office in 2020
Knuckles the Barber
by Daniel A. Rosen | Rumor had it that Knuckles was born in jail. I took that as metaphorical, apocryphal maybe, but then again sometimes I wasn't sure. He was the head barber for the jail, and he lived in my cellblock. He was about sixty, rotund, and his fade and mustache were always perfect. … Continue reading Knuckles the Barber
What the People Want
by Daniel A. Rosen | The people "want law and order. They need law and order. They may not say it, but they want it." That's not a quote from Mussolini or Putin. It's from Donald Trump's June press conference on police reform. Apparently, Trump knows what people want better than they do. This is … Continue reading What the People Want
Defund the Police Shows: “Cops” Is Gone and “Law and Order” Should Be Next
by Daniel A. Rosen | The theme song is catchy and instantly recognizable - and it’s part of the problem. The criminals are the "bad boys," and the hero cops are coming for them. After 33 seasons, "Cops" was temporarily pulled off the air in late May when protests about George Floyd's death gained momentum. … Continue reading Defund the Police Shows: “Cops” Is Gone and “Law and Order” Should Be Next
The ‘Blue Normal’: Doing the Math on Policing and Justice in America
by Daniel A. Rosen | I'm sitting here in my prison cell, watching the protests on TV and doing some quick math. Every year in this country, according to the Washington Post, roughly a thousand men and women die at the hands of police. About half of them - 500 people - are unarmed. And … Continue reading The ‘Blue Normal’: Doing the Math on Policing and Justice in America
Do Any Lives Still Matter?
by Daniel A. Rosen | The fictional LA homicide detective Harry Bosch, penned by Michael Connelly, had a simple credo - as all good heroes do: "Either everyone matters, or no one does." And the gut-wrenching events of late keep bringing to mind that hard-boiled noirish wisdom. This isn't claiming "everyone matters" in the usual … Continue reading Do Any Lives Still Matter?
COVID Status: Code Red – Report from a Prison Cell
by Daniel A. Rosen | I'm an inmate at the Greensville Correctional Center in southern Virginia, the state's largest prison with over 3,000 inmates. Until now, we'd been spared much of the chaos engulfing other prisons - no inmates were reported positive for COVID-19 and only a handful of guards had been confirmed cases. All … Continue reading COVID Status: Code Red – Report from a Prison Cell
The Murder of Mercy
by Daniel A. Rosen | A young man named Vincent Lamont Martin killed a police officer named Michael Patrick Connors in November of 1979. He's served 37 years in prison as a result. He was supposed to walk out of the Nottoway Correctional Center on May 11th, 2020, after being granted parole on Good Friday. … Continue reading The Murder of Mercy
Barr to Governors: You Answer to Me Now
by Daniel A. Rosen | According to a recent Associated Press article (Barr to Prosecutors: Look for Unconstitutional Virus Rules, Michael Balsamo, April 27, 2020) Attorney General William Barr "ordered federal prosecutors across the U.S. to identify coronavirus-related restrictions from state and local governments 'that could be violating the constitutional rights and civil liberties of … Continue reading Barr to Governors: You Answer to Me Now
Let My People Go, Too
by Daniel A. Rosen | I am a registered sex offender serving five years in prison for soliciting a detective posing as a teen online. Let's get that out of the way up front. If you're still reading: The Virginia Department of Corrections is working to effect the early release of up to 2,000 state … Continue reading Let My People Go, Too
A Nation of Coronavirus Inmates
by Daniel A. Rosen | It seems people locked down at home due to the Coronavirus outbreak have taken to comparing themselves to prison inmates on social media. That's not really amusing to those of us actually locked down in prisons and worried about what happens when (not if) the virus gets in here. But … Continue reading A Nation of Coronavirus Inmates
The Realities of Recidivism in Virginia
by Daniel A. Rosen | In early February this year, the Virginia Department of Corrections sent out a self-congratulatory press release claiming that the Commonwealth has the lowest three-year recidivism rate in the country, at just over 23 percent. My fellow inmates and I find that figure not at all credible; we know they've massaged … Continue reading The Realities of Recidivism in Virginia
The ‘Perfect Storm’ of Dysfunction in American Prisons
by Daniel A. Rosen | Last year, Attorney General William Barr attributed Jeffrey Epstein's suicide in prison to a "perfect storm of screw-ups" that resulted in his ability to take his own life. By this we understood him to mean that guards were derelict in making their rounds, and a cellmate who might have raised … Continue reading The ‘Perfect Storm’ of Dysfunction in American Prisons
Virginia’s Justice System is Not ‘Working’
by Daniel A. Rosen | In early January, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam proposed three modest changes to the state's criminal laws in advance of the Assembly's 2020 legislative session. All three common-sense reforms were passed and signed into law, though not without significant friction and controversy. The more serious justice reforms proposed during this Assembly … Continue reading Virginia’s Justice System is Not ‘Working’
Rape, Overdose, and Suicide: A Week of Dysfunction in Prison
by Daniel A. Rosen | Attorney General William Barr recently characterized Jeffrey Epstein's death in prison as the product of a "perfect storm of screw-ups" and "serious irregularities." As if only some unforeseeable and unpredictable machinations could have produced such a result. But at the prison where I reside, in one week alone in early … Continue reading Rape, Overdose, and Suicide: A Week of Dysfunction in Prison
Dropping the Soap
by Daniel A. Rosen | It's the one thing that even well-intentioned, non-homophobic people will advise you, when they know you're headed to prison. It's the joke they'll all predictably make, perhaps to ease the tension of the moment, or because they don't know what else to say: Whatever you do, do not, under any … Continue reading Dropping the Soap
Higher and Higher
by Daniel A. Rosen I was on the phone with my wife as usual on a Saturday evening last month when the PA system crackled and a stressed voice announced: "The boulevard and all rec yards are closed; offenders will report back to their dorms immediately." Something serious was clearly afoot, and everyone rushed to … Continue reading Higher and Higher
Prison2Work.org
A recruiting agency for returning citizens, building a prison to work pipeline. by Daniel A. Rosen | MissionTo create a "prison to work pipeline" for returning citizens through tailored job search, recruiting and hiring, community partnerships, and the power of social media.The Why America and the world are recovering from the pandemic, but our economy is … Continue reading Prison2Work.org
HoTrEd DC Academy
Slide Deck - Proposal for a Hospitality Training and Education Academy at the DC Jail by Daniel A. Rosen | "He who opens a school door, closes a prison." -Victor Hugo I. THE WHY: An Idea Born in a Jail Cell In 1994, David J. Rothman wrote that “The least controversial observation one can make … Continue reading HoTrEd DC Academy