From the November-December 2019 issue of News & Letters

Twenty years ago, when I was 20, you could not have convinced me that my life up to then, everyday violence and gangs, was not “normal.”

Hearing shots during breakfast and hiding under the table were normal for us. Even just two years ago, when I was applying for a commutation of my sentence, I thought only of returning to my family, to the way life was 20 years ago.

Now I see that my family wants the “me” of 20 years ago, they want me back to return to the way we have lived.

But I have changed. I still value the principles my family taught me, like loyalty. But now I feel loyalty to humanity. Acts of human kindness move me.

If and when I get out of here I want to help others who have suffered. I want to help victims of natural disasters, or wars, or other tragedies. This is how I envision my future.

—Life Without Parole prisoner

Voices from within the Prison Walls
—by D. A. Sheldon

From the Preface: “This pamphlet is written by a prisoner who has experienced America’s hell-holes first hand. But it is not just a solitary voice. It is the product of an active back-and-forth with dozens, and indeed hundreds of others.”  To order click here. Add an extra $5 and we’ll send a subscription to a prisoner for free.