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
Category: Essays
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
Higher and Higher
by Daniel A. Rosen I was talking on the phone 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 the front windows to … Continue reading Higher and Higher
Three Hots One Cot 