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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.

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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”.

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Cooked frogs
December 14, 2018

Cooked frogs

 Cooked Frogs I came from a very abusive single parent home. I’d been beat with hair brushes, appliance cords and slapped. I only stayed as long as I did because I didn’t know what else...
Vanderford, Zhi Kai H.Not Available
Rabbit blood
December 14, 2018

Rabbit blood

 Rabbit Blood I had been taken to jail for a second degree murder charge. I was released on bail. So far as I knew I hadn't done anything to forfeit bail. I was home, in...
Vanderford, Zhi Kai H.Not Available
My crime: The very simplified version of my life
June 13, 2018

My crime: The very simplified version of my life

 My crime: The very simplified version of my life, I was 19 years old, in a whirlwind courtship. I had lied to my adoptive mom to get money supposedly for college but it was to...
Vanderford, Zhi Kai H.Not Available
Short
June 13, 2018

Short

 Short It's often said that prisoners get "short and shitty". I've never understood the term. How could I understand it; having been sentenced to life in prison. Until this morning... I'm 50 years old, I've...
Vanderford, Zhi Kai H.Not Available
Civil war
June 13, 2018

Civil war

 Civil War Did you know that we have been having a civil war for many years now, what was deemed as The War on Drugs. Not only was I on the wrong side of the...
Vanderford, Zhi Kai H.Not Available
A word to the fish
June 13, 2018

A word to the fish

 A Word to the Fish I don't know why they call new arrivals "fish", perhaps because you feel like a fish out of water, when you arrive in prison. My mom was an old Jewish...
Vanderford, Zhi Kai H.Not Available
The spectacle
June 13, 2018

The spectacle

 The Spectacle I remember being arrested in Minnesota. I was a lithe young woman, waist-length, dark brown hair, beautiful and ever so stupid. An officer coming on duty was trying to flirt with me. Little...
Vanderford, Zhi Kai H.Not Available
More than my share
June 13, 2018

More than my share

 More Than My Share Every night, I would awaken to an orgasm, as he gave me oral sex. Eventually he penetrated me with his tongue, then replaced it with a cold beer bottle then himself....
Vanderford, Zhi Kai H.Not Available
Gargle, rinse, repeat
June 13, 2018

Gargle, rinse, repeat

 Gargle, Rinse, Repeat You are an adult, you've broken the law, you are in prison, but there's nothing else short of killing you that anyone can do to you, now add, YOU ARE NOT GOING...
Vanderford, Zhi Kai H.Not Available
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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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