Tony has served almost three decades of a life 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 also 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). His Filter story about CoreCivic medical care won “Best News” at the 2025 Stillwater Prison Journalism Awards. You can reach him by USPS.
Tony Vick #276187
South Central Correctional Facility
PO Box 279
Clifton, TN 38425-0279
In three decades of incarceration I’ve seen many things that are a far cry from what the system presents to…
South Central Correctional Facility is one of six Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) prisons with a supportive living unit (SLU)…
Any moment now, an unknown number of Tennessee National Guard troops are expected to arrive in Memphis to fight so-called…
In 2022, Tennessee amended its state constitution to prohibit slavery and involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime. Before this,…
About 20 years ago, a man I was incarcerated with asked me to help him learn to read. Crane* had…
In 2006, the prison where I was being housed routinely served a breakfast that included worms in the oatmeal, and…
Earlier in July, a Tennessee county library board came close to banning all books with transgender themes. After a board…
Fourteen years ago, Mateo* was in a Tennessee county jail waiting to be processed into the prison system when he…
In November 2007, 24-year-old Adam Braseel was convicted of multiple charges including first-degree murder, and sentenced to life with the…
Tennessee, where I’ve been incarcerated for the past three decades, is notorious for felony disenfranchisement. Nearly half a million people…