Category Archives: Prison

The Women Who Walk Away

In her classic short story “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,” Ursula K. Le Guin writes of a happy place known for a joyous Festival. A cheerful sweetness hovers in the air of the magical Omelas, and it is reflected in the citizens. “They were not simple folk, you see, though they were happy…,” […]

Crime, Punishment and Fellowships

In his story, “The Curious Case of the Prisoners in the Wrong Cellblock,” Oregon State Penitentiary inmate Sterling Cunio reveals the fears that grip him as he tries to make a phone call from inside the prison, while keeping an eye on two suspicious inmates who show up. This is not their cellblock, and they […]

Oregon: A State Fit for Criminals

If it had been up to Oregon’s governor, Cal Coburn Brown would have awakened this morning to a brand new day. He could’ve had his morning coffee and looked forward to whatever simple pleasures were available to him. Maybe a yoga class. Listening to music. Reading a book. Watching TV. Or reliving his glory days […]

Shredding the Public Safety Net

Hell’s coming, but it isn’t coming for Oregon legislators. It’s coming for some unlucky, ordinary Oregonians who will encounter violence – courtesy of lawmakers who sided with criminals in the recently concluded legislative session. At least, we can still call them “criminals.” Among the laws passed this session in the Oregon legislature was one requiring […]

‘Please Do Something!’

How can a country that can’t handle a stupid tweet from Roseanne Barr possibly do anything about school shootings? We can hit the delete key on someone who has offended the wrong people, and make her disappear. We can’t do that with killers. We can’t even judge them too harshly. We offer them a seat […]

Where the Stealing is Easy

George Soros doesn’t have to worry about anyone swiping his name and $8 billion in wealth. It’s the ordinary people who have to fight to hang on to what they have. Nevertheless, Soros wants to help the thieves. As it is now in America, you’re lucky to find anybody who cares if your name and […]

Nurturing Our ‘Freddy Kruegers’

One of the best things that ever happened to Noah Schultz was being treated like an adult when he was 17 years old. He was dealing drugs – had been since he was 12 – when he pistol-whipped another drug dealer in Portland, Ore. It was April 2009, and Schultz wasn’t much concerned about the […]

Our Hateful Gun Debate

And the Oscar for best killer goes to … That’s how it’s starting to feel in America. Our real-life, mass shootings with the dramatic cell phone videos and gripping narratives by survivors resemble violent movies. American popular culture long ago made violence cool. The proliferation of high-capacity weapons, far beyond what is needed for hunting […]

The Politics of Progressive Justice

If you were once an incarcerated felon, you would have qualified for free admission to a recent event in Portland, Ore., featuring progressive Florida prosecutor Aramis Ayala. If you were the victim of a felon, you would have paid $10 to $40. How’s that for progressive? Put a smile on it. This is Portland. Liberal […]

The Truth About Africa and Haiti

What a shit-storm over a question that deserves to be explored. Why should the United States take in immigrants from “shit-hole countries” like Africa and Haiti rather than from places like Norway? It’s hard to know what’s worse – that President Donald Trump was so indiscriminate in front of people he should’ve known would use […]