Thursday, August 03, 2006

More Prison Insantity.

Last month The New York Times had a front page story on Donny Johnson, an artist incarcerated at Pelican Bay State Prison. Now, as a result of the publicity this man received, the prison administration has disciplined him for "unauthorized business dealings."

It continues to amaze me at how little we do to work to be sure men and women who are incarcerated can succeed when they are released. And, to stop one man's initiative seems so counter productive. We have to stop this kind of madness.

He has been in solitary confinement in a small concrete cell for almost two decades. He paints with a brush he created with plastic wrap, foil and his own hair. He makes paint by leaching the colors from M&M's in little plastic containers that once held packets of grape jelly. His canvases are postcards.

It is not clear whether the prison will stop Mr. Johnson from creating paintings. In a recent postcard to his mother, Mr. Johnson wrote that prison officials have stopped him from mailing his art to his family, friends and supporters.

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