Life in Massachusetts Prisons

(October 2005)

Urszula Masny-Latos, issue editor, writes:

Every October, Mass Dissent presents a special issue devoted to examining the daily lives and struggles of the Massachusetts prison population, as described by prisoners themselves. This year, as every year, we have received a tremendous response to our call for submissions from incarcerated members of our society. Unfortunately, due to space limitations, we could only select a handful of the articles submitted.

First, we present 'Consider This', a short piece by Brian Polley, an inmate at MCI-Norfolk. Here, he outlines the stateís violent arithmetic, whereby, in the interest of public safety, the prison industryís expansion comes at the expense of needed social services.

In 'When Death Comes Knocking', Ed Bowser, also an inmate at Norfolk, writes about the experience of learning about the death of a loved one while behind bars, and describes the way the dehumanizing prison system makes the already difficult process of grieving even harder.

Timothy Muise, an inmate at Souza Baranowski and frequent contributor to Mass Dissent, writes about the punishment inherent in the loss of freedom in his short and thoughtful piece 'Where's the Punishment?'.

Next, Harry Seymour describes his experience as a jailhouse lawyer who successfully helps a grandmother navigate the legal system and save her home.

Arnie King writes about the importance of hope for prisoners, both while incarcerated, and particularly, as they make the difficult transition to life outside of the prison walls.
Finally, this month we are lucky to include a pair of poems by Omar Abdullah, incarcerated at MCI-Norfolk: 'Phantom with a Soul' and 'The Color of Innocence'. Again, we would like to thank the inmates who made this issue possible, as well as the many whose work could not be included.

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