Tony Vick

A Prison Drug Recovery Unit Provides Refuge, If You’re Abstinent

At South Central Correctional Facility (SCCF), a Tennessee prison privately operated by CoreCivic, those of us in general population are…

March 6, 2024

As Prisons Shutter Classes and Mental Health Care, Drugs Fill the Gap

I first met David "Lucky" Kestner about 15 years ago, when we were both incarcerated at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution…

January 24, 2024

The Tightrope of Talking About Mental Health in Prison

Dan*, a 40-something prisoner in Tennessee’s South Central Correctional Facility (SCCF), wants to make it clear that he doesn't intend…

January 16, 2024

The Right to Consensual Sex—and Condoms—in Prison

Greg* has been incarcerated in Tennessee for about 18 months. He’s been on a waiting list for job placement for…

November 8, 2023

Selling Meth Sent Him to Prison. It Also Saved His Life.

Louis Bell was a type of person we typically didn’t encounter in our Tennessee prison. A middle-aged white man with…

October 18, 2023

Amid the Trauma of Prison, an Unexpected Oasis: Crochet Club

Travis learned to crochet from his grandmother. He was 10 when she showed him his first stitch, in 1986, and…

October 3, 2023

Sex Offender Registry Reform Is a Harm Reduction Issue

In the United States, anyone convicted of a sex offense is punished with two criminal sentences. The first is the…

September 7, 2023

The Only Openly LGBTQ Prisoner-Led Community in Tennessee

I thought I was too old to have to worry about being raped in prison. But as his sweat dripped…

July 26, 2023

COVID Left Our Private Prison With a New Normal: “Rolling Lockdowns”

Like with so many prisons across the country, the pandemic sent Tennessee's South Central Correctional Facility (SCCF) into a state…

June 21, 2023

Traumatized Veterans Who Use Drugs Left to Suffer in Prison

About seven years ago, the Tennessee private prison where I’ve been incarcerated for the past 26 years created a special…

May 24, 2022