Can Someone Who Commits Murder Reform?

September 10, 2019, 11:08 am On September 7, 2019 NBC aired a special with Lester Holt on Angola prison in Louisiana. Angola is the largest prison in the United States, and it used to be considered the most

Read More

How Do We Measure Remorse?

October 14, 2019, 12:40 am Everyone responds to shame and fear in different ways. Some responses are very visible and public. Others are private and unseen. This variety of responses is perhaps no more obvious than in how

Read More

Radical Act of Forgiveness Makes National News

October 8, 2019, 10:13 am I used to love watching the news to stay caught up on current events. As a teenager and younger man, I had an interest in politics, so the news fed my interest. But

Read More

Esymposium

Clicking on this will take you to the E-symposium conference web site where you can install the software and join the conference using your computer or smart phone.

Read More

Be the Change You Wish to See in the World

August 7, 2019, 11:57 am Two more communities, El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, were rocked this week by devastating acts of mass shooting violence. Dozens of people lost their lives, and many more were injured or deeply

Read More

Forgiveness is not a pardon. But it is a refuge.

August 24, 2019, 10:39 am “The last time I’d touched Conor, my daughter was alive. I wanted my hug to convey my forgiveness and my love for him. I was immensely sad for this young man whose previous

Read More

Ten Ways to Spend a Summer Afternoon in Prison

August 24, 2019, 10:43 am It’s true that there are no block parties, campouts, picnics, afternoons at the beach, or lazy evenings in the hammock sipping a cold beverage in prison. But beautiful weather and a relaxed attitude

Read More

Social Isolation Contributes to Reoffending

September 4, 2019, 3:48 pm No society that fails to protect its citizens from exploitation and harm can long survive. So, crime has a stigma to it, and right it should. Citizens should be protected against crime. When

Read More

Hurry Up and Matter!

September 17, 2019, 11:07 am The story is all-too familiar. The gavel slams as the sentence is handed down. Within days, the long and lonely trip to prison is punctuated by a razor wire topped gate slamming shut

Read More

Michigan Courts Drag Their Feet on Complying with Supreme Court Ruling

September 23, 2019, 11:28 am In 2012 the US Supreme Court ruled in Miller v. Alabama that mandatory life sentences for juvenile offenders were unconstitutional. In 2016 they ruled in Montgomery v. Louisiana that their prior decision should be applied

Read More

Shaped by Our Memories and by Those We’ve Loved

September 29, 2019, 11:40 pm For every prisoner certain dates hold great significance, and often great sadness and longing. These dates might be special holidays that the prisoner shared with family–the cherished memories and realization of lost opportunities

Read More

Rewarding Positive Behavior Promotes Reform in Prisoners

We have heard it from childhood: If you do the right thing, you are rewarded. If you do the wrong thing, you are punished. We are further socialized in this thinking when we earn college scholarships for good

Read More

The Tyranny of the Registry, the Trial Penalty, the Implementation of the First Step Act, and the Case for National and State Judicial Reform, October 2019

SPEAKER: Nina Ginsberg;A Founding Partner at the Law Firm of Dimuro Ginsberg PC in Alexandria VA and the current President of the National Association for Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) Nina spoke about various topics from the perspective of

Read More