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If you are working on an APWA-related project, please let us know how you plan to utilize the Archive. We hope to share information about your work with our readers and, whenever possible, with relevant APWA authors.

The APWA is an open access archive. We encourage use of the writings for research, course planning, and projects engaged in examination of the criminal legal system. Reproduction of essays in their entirety infringes on author copyright without their explicit consent from the writers. Please contact us if you plan to reproduce entire essays; we will do our best to put you in contact with the authors for consent, and their compensation for any project that is profit making.

*At this point in the Archive’s growth, it’s important to revisit actions taken to protect privacy when the APWA had fewer resources. For this reason, we are temporarily pulling all essays and poetry under pseudonyms and anonymity to quality check and ensure all identity protecting redactions have been thoroughly applied. The privacy of the writers in the APWA is a top priority, and so is displaying their writing as they wish it to be displayed. We will restore all pieces as soon as we can confirm the highest quality privacy protections.

Help using the APWA search.

Wildcard Operators

The * operator replaces zero or more characters, so searching for w*ess would match “wilderness”, “witness”, “WordPress” and also “wess”.

The ? operator matches exactly one character, so searching for gr?y would match “grey” or “gray”, but not “gravy” or “groovy”.

Boolean Searches

Relevanssi uses + and – for the operators: cats -dogs and cats +kittens.

If you prefer instead to use the verbal AND and NOT operators, those can be used too.

Phrase Searches

Put phrase in quotation marks, e.g., “just as complicit”.

Help using the APWA search.
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Shaved
December 3, 2017

Shaved

 Shaved "SHAVED" My hair had grown longer than I am used to anymore and, being on a restrictive custody level where we cannot go to the prison barber shop, I opted to use my shaving...
Keith, Lincoln AllenTexas
Mama
December 3, 2017

Mama

 "MAMA" I went to the dayroom the other morning where I greeted an acquaintance with a "Good morning. How are ya?" "Been better," he replied, "found out my mama died yesterday." My heart broke for...
Keith, Lincoln AllenTexas
Time flies
December 3, 2017

Time flies

 "TIME FLIES " There are very few instances in prison in which I can say that time passes too quickly. The foremost one is at visitation. Texas is a ridiculously large state with prison units...
Keith, Lincoln AllenTexas
Heart check
July 18, 2017

Heart check

 "HEART CHECK" In 1996, I was sent to the Terrel unit in Livingston, Texas, 14 hours and worlds away from my home and family in the mountains of New Mexico. At that time, the Terrel...
Keith, Lincoln AllenTexas
Slavery in the U.S.
July 18, 2017

Slavery in the U.S.

 "Slavery In The U.S." 
 Should an enlightened nation, one which has fought long and hard to overcome the ugly stain that slavery left upon its history, have a literal exception to the abolition of...
Keith, Lincoln AllenTexas
Spoiled milk
July 18, 2017

Spoiled milk

 "SPOILED MILK" The average American might be quite shocked to learn that there is a potential expiration date placed upon his or her constitutional rights. I know I was. I learned about this expiration date...
Keith, Lincoln AllenTexas
Survival
April 28, 2017

Survival

 SURVIVAL I recently turned 40 while serving the 22nd year of the life sentence I was given at 18 years old. I maintain a regular and rigorous exercise routine and am often complimented on the...
Keith, Lincoln AllenTexas
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If you are working on an APWA-related project, please let us know how you plan to utilize the Archive. We hope to share information about your work with our readers and, whenever possible, with relevant APWA authors.

APWA is an open access archive. We encourage use of the writings for research, course planning, and projects engaged in examination of the criminal legal system. Reproduction of essays in their entirety infringes on author copyright without their explicit consent from the writers. Please contact us if you plan to reproduce entire essays; we will do our best to put you in contact with the authors for consent, and their compensation for any project that is profit making.

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