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.

“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

Good Thing No One Uses Drugs in Prison, or RSAT Might Not Work

Because his conviction involved alcohol, the case plan Alf* was assigned by the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) included a…

August 15, 2024

“Soups Will Cook There”: How Prisons Became Heat Traps by Design

Before the days of modern air-conditioning, homes and businesses in the Southeastern United States were built with 10- to 14-foot…

July 24, 2024

Wellpath, Fleeing GA Prisons Contract, Fails One Last Bid at Extortion

On July 1, three years into its nine-year contract, private health care provider Wellpath will leave behind its 50,000-plus patients…

June 6, 2024

GA Prisons to Get “Additional Meals,” a Bad Fix for the Wrong Problem

On May 7, Governor Brian Kemp (R) signed a $36.1 billion spending plan for the next fiscal year that will…

May 23, 2024