On April 18, 2007, the prison administrators at Lompoc Camp (where Michael is currently designated) put my husband in handcuffs and locked him in “the hole” – segregated housing, where he is locked down 23 hours each day. Not because Michael broke any rules, or violated any prison policies…but because Michael is an author who writes about the prison system. Michael is a man who inspires others around him to make better choices, to accept responsibility for their own bad decisions that led them to prison, and to prepare for a contributing life beyond prison. Everything Michael does is a manifestation of his positive attitude and his desire to inspire others to lead better lives both inside and outside of prison.

Prison is about punishment; there is no rehabilitation going on unless a prisoner is self-motivated to redirect his/her efforts toward growth, introspection, education, contribution, and preparation for a law-abiding life beyond prison – as my husband did twenty years ago when he entered USP Atlanta at age 23.

The Bureau of Prisons cannot stand the fact that Michael is going to emerge from 26 years in prison as an educated, contributing, successful individual. Michael is an extraordinary man who has done extraordinary things despite obstacle after obstacle. To date, prison administrators at all levels have been unable to find a way to celebrate his accomplishments from behind prison fences. That the prison would rather lock him in isolation and fabricate ways to punish him than utilize him as a resource to promote and encourage rehabilitation among the tens of thousands of inmates living without hope is ludicrous, and it is shameful.

We do not know how long this administration will keep Michael confined in isolation, we can only hope that whatever set them off is resolved quickly.

Keeping Michael locked up and isolated is not only wrong, it is a waste of what the prison system ought to realize is one of its greatest resources for promoting rehabilitation: Michael’s example.

In the meantime, our marriage is strong and we remain wholly committed to each other and the promises we made on our wedding day. We thank you, Siobhan, for writing an article that for the first time really captures our world; and thank you, GOOD Magazine, for publishing it.

Do you think he will share a cell with Al Gore III? That would suck

It is by Julie Uppendahl and discuses prison incarceration. Incarceration effects more than the prisoner and his or her relations. Imprisonment affects everyone. When prisoners are released back into society they haven’t learned any social skills while in prison. Citizens then have to take these abused people back into society. It’s hard to deal with. Often these released people return to jail because they don’t know any other behavior. Uppendahl’s article briefly discusses these issues. I wish the topic could be discusses more fully. What can we do to improve the criminal system? We need prisons, we need laws and we need justice. But how can we handle it in a better way?