About the Authors and Afterword: More about the Authors, What the Lives and Deaths of People in Prison Tell Us Summary and Analysis

About the Authors

It was moving to read more background information in the "About the Authors" section in the back of the book. Some of the authors had successfully turned their lives around and gave back to their communities. Jimmy Santiago Baca was an example of this. "In 2004 he launched Cedar Tree, a nonprofit literary organization designed to provide writing workshops, training, and outreach programs for at-risk youth, prisoners and ex-prisoners, and disadvantaged communities." (329)

Victor Hassine was a lawyer that was charged with committing murder. He used his attorney skills to greatly improve the prisons where he served. "Along with other plaintiffs, he...