Letter from Prison by Dempsey Hawkins
Rehabilitation. Deterrence. Retribution. The words reverberate throughout every criminal courtroom in America the moment the judge strikes his or her gravel. Three words with which I have become quite familiar during my imprisonment. While the justice system once held fast to the faith in rehabilitation, tough on crime political agendas intersected with the wasting winds […]
Letters to Prison
Over the past year, Michael Wilson, the New York Times crime reporter, has been writing about my pen-itentiary pal, Dempsey Hawkins. We have been corresponding since ’06, when Herb Boyd’s article on Jumel Terrace Books appeared in The Amsterdam News and brought me several correspondances from inmates, Dempsey’s being the only to sustain. As family […]
Another Hopkins Guy. David Carr & The Night of the Gun.
Friday night at a party in the West Village I was introduced to Brett Anderson, who writes for the Times-Picayune. We started out talking about the newspaper’s tragic turn and restaurants – as he reviews them – until our host says, regards both of us, “He’s from Minnesota, too.” Where from turns out Hopkins. No […]
Jumel Terrace B&B
Life Turns Man Up & Down
The Private Library