All Posts

Second-look sentencing, the science of redemption and the voices Kentucky has yet to hear. Who speaks for the people who have spent decades behind prison walls, long after the public stopped paying attention to their sentences? A 2025 study published in Criminology, Public Support for Universal Second Look Sentencing: A Research Note, examines an important question: Are Americans willing to reconsider lengthy prison sentences when individuals have demonstrated meaningful ch

What happens when a sentence that allowed the possibility of parole becomes a sentence to die in prison? My last article Trauma-Informed Care or the Death Chamber? delves into the irony of ‘trauma-informed’ steps while simultaneously preparing to walk with them the ‘last mile’….to the execution chamber. But that question does not end at the death chamber door. What about those never sentenced to execution, yet now face death by incarceration despite a sentence that allowed fo

Before Tennessee attempted to execute Christa Pike, I wanted to write about a cognitive dissonance I was just unable to shake or let go. Just the irony of the situation. As I continued to hear the news day in and day out, to see if this was going to happen given all the controversies surrounding not just the execution itself but the manner in which it would finally be carried out. After the botched execution…stunned, I needed to pause, process, then proceed… A system can lear

In a poignant commentary on fear, a lonely prison cell bathed in autumn light becomes a chilling death chamber backdrop, symbolized by the presence of an electric chair and a lone Bible. I love the Fall season even in prison. I can see some trees nearby even though there’s none right here in my yard or my dorm. I can see their splendor. It’s also a time when I don't have to worry about if the a/c or heat’s working properly. Yet this Fall, I’ve been finding myself thinking in

In the U.S. many prisons have "correctional" in their title. I am at the Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women. I came in at 21, now 40+ years later turned 62. As far back as 1986, when a parole officer put together a PSI (presentence Investigation) report, I was lied to believe that rehabilitation matters, rehabilitation counts, rehabilitation gets a second chance. Not true here in Kentucky so far. Doesn't rehabilitate mean to reestablish, repair, mend, revitalize, gro

Footprints lead away from the "Sin Wagon" towards a cross in the distance, capturing a country gospel message of repentance in action, inspired by Karen's sermon. I have been trying to grow and hold myself accountable to true confession, true repentance, and walking out salvation. Then I realized I needed to study the Word and makes changes! What is confession? Webster dictionary says it is acknowledgement of guilt. Bible dictionary = acknowledging sin Yet as Christians, we c

What Prison Leaves with Us Recently, prison felt especially heavy. A guy who had spent more than three decades incarcerated had recently learned that he might finally be going home. After all those years of watching the world change beyond the razor's wire, freedom was no longer just a dream. It was close enough to imagine. He didn't live to reach it. There are details not mine to share. His name and the circumstances belong to those of his family there remained. What I wit