Tony Vick

Tony has served almost three decades of a life with parole sentence in Tennessee. He is the author of two books, Secrets From a Prison Cell (Cascade Books, 2018) and Locked In and Locked Out (Resource Publications, 2023). His writing has been published at Solitary Watch, the Progressive, Truthout, Shado and in multiple books and anthologies, the most recent of which is Storms of the Inland Sea (Shanti Arts, 2022). You can reach him by USPS.

Tony Vick #276187
South Central Correctional Facility
PO Box 279
Clifton, TN 38425-0279

“A Shared Dread”: Immigrant Prisoners Near Release, Knowing ICE Is Waiting

Fourteen years ago, Mateo* was in a Tennessee county jail waiting to be processed into the prison system when he…

July 11, 2025

For Wrongful Convictions, Tennessee Slowly Builds a Pathway Out of Prison

In November 2007, 24-year-old Adam Braseel was convicted of multiple charges including first-degree murder, and sentenced to life with the…

July 7, 2025

In Tennessee, a Dwindling Group of People Can Vote While Still in Prison

Tennessee, where I’ve been incarcerated for the past three decades, is notorious for felony disenfranchisement. Nearly half a million people…

June 9, 2025

“No Real Security”: TN Prison Tablet Rollout Cut Short as ViaPath Flees

The Tennessee Department of Correction began rolling out tablets in late 2024. South Central Correctional Facility, where I'm currently incarcerated,…

May 28, 2025

The Case for the Prison Miniyard

Whenever auditors come to South Central Correctional Facility, the Tennessee private prison where I’m currently incarcerated, they almost always remark…

May 19, 2025

At CoreCivic Prisons, Re-Entry Staff Are Told to Do Less

South Central Correctional Facility recently hosted a job fair, and didn’t invite anyone to attend it. There were no flyers,…

May 7, 2025

CoreCivic Crisis in Uncharted Waters at the Four Private Prisons in Tennessee

Private prison contractors have been around for a long time, but the concept of handing over management of an entire…

April 3, 2025

Gang-Run Prisons Compound Trauma. We Know How to Reduce It.

In many United States prisons, corrections officers aren't the ones calling the shots. Gang-affiliated prisoners are, and essentially have free…

March 19, 2025

Learning to Be Openly Gay in Prison, to Anyone Who Asks (Except PREA)

The experience of being gay in prison has changed a lot since I was first incarcerated almost 30 years ago.…

February 10, 2025

Waiting for Tennessee to Reform Its Felony Murder Rule

The trajectory of most proposed changes to Tennessee’s criminal-legal system is for all of us to stay in prison as…

January 21, 2025