Jimmy Iakovos

Harm Reduction for Prison Tattoos

The stakes for tattoo aftercare are higher in prison than in the free world. If your ink fades, the artist…

July 28, 2025

If Prisons Are Meant for Rehabilitation, Stop Transferring Us All the Time

Decades ago when he first entered Georgia Department of Corrections custody, D* used to look forward to transfers. Prisoners with…

July 21, 2025

“Alligator Alcatraz” ICE Detention Opens, Floods, and Begins Filling Beds

On July 1, President Donald Trump visited the Florida immigrant detention compound dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.” On July 2, water began…

July 3, 2025

Prisons Need Their Own Post Offices, Not That We’ll Ever Get Them

Back before the COVID-19 pandemic when the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) still had corrections officers, the first shift would…

June 23, 2025

Nebraska’s Fix for Double-Bunking in Solitary Confinement May Need Work

In Nebraska, where state prisons are often at 140-percent capacity, the legislature is considering a bill pertaining to “double-bunking,” AKA…

June 12, 2025

It Shouldn’t Be Quite This Hard to Get Into Our Prison’s Library

Recently one of our prison’s library clerks, Polo*, remarked in passing that the Georgia Department of Corrections prison system was…

June 10, 2025

Prisons Want to Hire More Officers. It’s Easier Than Retaining Them.

One of the most important things to understand about the rampant understaffing in United States prisons is that it is…

June 3, 2025

Georgia Prisoners Took Risks for DOJ’s Investigation. Why Did We Bother?

Nine years ago when the Department of Justice opened an investigation into violence inside Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) prisons,…

May 22, 2025

As Years in Prison Become Decades, Lifers’ Thoughts on Suicide Evolve

[This article describes deaths by suicide, including reference to a method of suicide.]   Asked if they ever think about…

May 14, 2025

New York’s Solution to Prison Staffing Shortage Is to Hire Teenagers

I thought we learned from the Stanford Prison Experiment that college-age corrections officers are not a good idea. But it…

May 12, 2025