Jonathan Kirkpatrick

Jonathan is serving a 60-year sentence at Washington Corrections Center, where he trains peer educators in HIV and hepatitis C harm reduction. He’s one of the original contributors to the Redemption Project. Early in the pandemic, he organized the provision of thousands of masks to prisoners and other vulnerable communities. In his free time, he crafts quilts to donate to nonprofits for fundraising.

Harm Reduction Overlooks Hep A and B. They Matter Here in Prison.

On May 7, UNAIDS called for prisoner access to harm reduction—medication for opioid use disorder, sterile syringes and condoms—to reduce…

May 10, 2023

With No Meds for Meth Use, He Prepares to Leave Prison—and Return

[Read Part 1 of this story here] Larry Vessey Jr. is less than four months out from his release from…

May 4, 2023

WA Drug Penalties Uncertain as Legislature Adjourns in Stalemate

On April 23, Washington state lawmakers ended the current legislative session still in limbo over whether to increase penalties for…

April 24, 2023

How Drug Courts Keep You in Prison, Even Without Drug-Related Charges

In 2016, Larry Vessey Jr. was sentenced to 58 months in the custody of Washington State Department of Corrections (WDOC).…

April 18, 2023

Our Prison Says We Have Suboxone Access. Prisoners Say Otherwise.

Washington Corrections Center (WCC) is one of the Substance Abuse Treatment Facilities in the Washington State Department of Corrections (WDOC)…

April 11, 2023

As Fentanyl Spreads in Our Prison, Guards Learn How Not to Use Narcan

At Washington Corrections Center (WCC), in Shelton, WA, opioids are an increasingly large part of the drug supply. But though…

April 7, 2023

The Lonely Work of HIV Harm Reduction in Prison

Many people living with HIV who pass through Washington Corrections Center (WCC) tell me their status, because I'm known as…

April 4, 2023

Harm Reduction for the Syringes We Make in Prison

Harm reduction supplies are hard to come by in prison. In some facilities, people who inject drugs might use needles…

March 27, 2023

Recollections of Solitary Confinement During the HIV Epidemic

I was diagnosed with HIV in 1992, just after I’d turned 18. I’d been having unprotected sex, and sharing needles…

January 9, 2023