Life in Massachusetts Prisons

As has been our tradition for over a decade, the October issue of Mass Dissent is produced by prisoners and is dedicated to all incarcerated in Massachusetts. Every year our call for written materials is enthusiastically answered and this year was no exception – we received an overwhelming number of essays, articles, and poems. From a large pool, we’ve selected five essays and four poems which represent a range of issues that today’s prisoners encounter.

In our first piece, Sam Conti questions the system of imprisonment and its underling purpose. He also wonders if American society understands the workings of the American prison system and how it effects prisoners and our society.

Donna Milisci calls for reconsideration of our approach to drug addiction – rather than seeing it as a crime punishable by incarceration, it should be seen as a disease. Ms. Milisci argues that mandatory minimum and punitive laws are not only compromising the rehabilitative value of the incarceration but that they are also costing the Commonwealth more then alternative approaches.

The Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996 is the topic of an article by Eric Bargoot. Drawing from personal experience, Mr. Bargoot analyzes the Act and its very severe and negative effects on prisoners.

As an Islamic believer and practitioner, James Riva has experienced ongoing discrimination, ridicule, and harassment. He argues that such treatment contributes to a growing radicalization of Islamists in prisons and is extremely counterproductive.

On her arrival at the prison facility, Susan King learned first hand what dignity is and how the penitentiary system is designed to take it away from everyone who enters it. Women particularly feel stripped of any sense of dignity when male guards are on duty.

The four poems that we present were written by Kevin Costa, Charlotte Boehm, Ralph Hamm, and George Whitman. These are wonderful and astonishingly moving testimonies of nostalgia, regret, despair, but also of undefeatable desire to dream and hope.

We thank all for submitting materials for this special issue of Mass Dissent, and we apologize for not being able to include all interesting pieces.

- Editors -