Book Report: How to not die in prison

Well, our pal Karmelo Anthony was in the news this week. Turns out his new hotrod legal team got a new judge to decide whether or not there’ll be an appeal accepted. Apparently there were raycisms. I don’t get how they can say there were no black jurors. There were blacks in the pool. Why did his legal team not pick them?

IANAL, but I don’t see how an appeal flies. The judge ran a tight ship, by the book. He said the jurors did a good job. So what?

He did it. He admitted doing it. A conga line of witnesses said not only did he do it, he did it without provocation. More than one told a tale of Austin Metcalf saying he didn’t want to fight. Apparently there was a gentleman’s agreement between the prosecution and defense that if they didn’t mention dumb kid racisms about Austin, they wouldn’t bring up the trailer load of evidence that our pal Karmelo was a budding psychopath that was stalking his ex girlfriend, and texting her saying he felt like getting all stabbity and whatnot.

Too late now, they let that particular cat out of the bag. Wonder if the new team knew of that deal.

Wonder if our pal got a guide to prison, or if he’s learning on the job.

Speaking of which, I got a copy of How Not to Die in Prison, by Taylor Sheridan and Tom Nelson. I heard Sheridan on Joe Rogan and learnt about this book. It’s really a way for Sheridan to help his pal Tom get back on his feet. Still, it’s a pretty decent book, pretty readable.

Most of it describes how the field is striped if you get sent up the river. Things that many of us wouldn’t know. He delves a good deal into how if you get sent to prison, you need to understand how things work. It’s survival of the fittest and strongest, or smartest. Here he describes how to avoid inadvertently blundering into even more misery. How you should behave. You need to understand the types of animals and characters that will surround you. He has a glossary of terms, as well has some decent advice on staying out of traps and understanding and identifying the power players.

You can see a lot of this material on YouTube. Like Larry Lawton’s channel:

The book is pretty comprehensive, going from intake, all the way to parole and getting used to life on the outside. There are some really good tips on how to stay fit, how the commissary works, and how to keep your sanity, especially if you get sent to the hole. Some of these can be used without getting locked up; exercise, reading, writing, meditation, that sort of thing.

Not a bad read. Not a bad price. I think the hardcover was only a buck more than the kindle edition. Having read it, I think it would be best to explore a library version. Worth reading, but not worth going out of your way to read.