JSTOR Access in Prison for Departments of Correction (DOC)

In “From jailhouse lawyer to fellow,” Joseph Sanchez reflects on how learning the law to navigate his own case became a way to support others and ultimately led to his work with the Legal Literacy at Work fellowship.

In recognition of Fair Opportunity Month, “Education is My Contraband” traces Taveuan Williams’s journey from survival to self-discovery through reading and learning. Inside a system designed to reduce him, education becomes both resistance and refuge, offering a way to rebuild identity, confront the past, and imagine a future beyond confinement.

In recognition of Fair Opportunity Month, “Restorative Justice: The Casuistic Approach” brings together lived experience, philosophy, and theology to reexamine how we define justice. Drawing from their own lives inside the Colorado Department of Corrections, Robert Ray and Clarke T. Clayton explore restorative justice as a human-centered practice.

In recognition of Fair Opportunity Month, “Clamoring to be Heard” shares Lisa Lesyshen’s experience navigating incarceration as a wheelchair user—and the assumptions that shaped it. After being denied meaningful work, she creates her own path by launching Inmate.com, a prison-run TV program that gives voice to incarcerated people and challenges misconceptions about disability, dignity, and life inside.

An acting workshop becomes a lesson in trust, responsibility, and shared experience. Reflecting on moments of leading and following, William Davenport considers what it means to guide others, to rely on them, and to recognize that both roles are essential to how we learn and grow.

This post introduces Star Dog by Jeremy Moss, the first published piece from an Unbound Authors student, a program supporting incarcerated writers across Colorado. Moss’s story follows a stray dog bearing witness to a man’s final moments, offering a quiet reflection on presence, dignity, and what it means not to be forgotten.

JSTOR Access in Prison introduces Fair Opportunity Month, a reimagining of Second Chance Month that centers the voices and intellectual work of people inside. This year’s theme, We Learn Together, highlights writing, research, and creative work that challenges assumptions about who gets to participate in knowledge-making.

The Tennessee Higher Education Initiative (THEI) rejects the idea that incarcerated students should accept “whatever is available.” Instead, their Navigating Forward project is built on the belief that learners inside deserve excellence—resources that are not only functional but dignifying.

In this deeply personal reflection, Ryan McCarthy of JSTOR Labs shares his experience visiting Oregon State Penitentiary (OSP) alongside Chemeketa Community College’s prison education team.