Jimmy Iakovos

Jimmy Iakovos is a pseudonym for a writer who is incarcerated in Georgia. It is illegal in some Southern states to earn a living while under a sentence of penal servitude. Writing has enabled Jimmy to endure over 30 years of continuous imprisonment.

Prison Social Circles Will Run on Smoking Until Vaping Isn’t Banned

Years ago, in that other life before prison, a friend once announced, I am going to quit smoking pot. I…

January 29, 2025

Parole Violations Didn’t Always Mean Prison. They Sent Us Somewhere Else.

Ben* is about to parole out of Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) custody. His approved release address is with his…

January 6, 2025

In Final Meeting, GA Prisons Senate Committee Votes for the Status Quo

Brought into existence to tell us whether Georgia's notoriously unsafe prison system is unsafe, a state Senate study committee has…

December 16, 2024

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the “Choice” of Court-Ordered Drug Treatment

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the famed anti-vaxxer poised to take over the United States Department of Health and Human Services,…

December 4, 2024

“Ethical Porn” Probably Doesn’t Mean the Porn We’re Producing in Prison

P, serving life in Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) custody, looks at the men gathered in the cell. Three potential…

November 5, 2024

GA Parole-Eligible Lifers Are Headed to the Private Prison Aftercare Industry

Of the 51,284 people currently incarcerated in Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) prisons, 7,937 people are serving life with parole.…

October 18, 2024

Georgia Won’t Fix Its Prisons Crisis. There’s Money in Letting It Get Worse.

When I began my sentence in Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) prisons over 30 years ago, bunk beds shoved into…

September 27, 2024

GA Lawmakers Welcome Increasingly Wild Testimony in Vape Registry Push

On September 17, the Georgia House committee studying the “youth vaping epidemic” holds its third and final meeting as it…

September 17, 2024

GDC Senate Study Committee: What If Prisoners Were Allowed Cigarettes?

In February, Georgia lawmakers created a study committee to think about whether people in the state's prison system, at least…

September 5, 2024

A New Gaza Strip Tobacco Market, and One in US Prisons That’s Getting Old

In early August, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) air-dropped cigarettes over the Gaza Strip. Attached were leaflets bearing messages like:…

August 22, 2024