Judah R. Lopez is a master’s student in social justice at Union Theological Seminary. She tutors individuals incarcerated in her community.
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I Was In Prison ... and You Flew Across the Country To Visit Me
How writing to a person who was incarcerated gave my entire family a “life-changing friend.”
AS MY FAMILY and I entered the pre-visit check-in area of Pelican Bay, a supermax prison in Crescent City, Calif., three guards stood stiffly behind a long counter at the other end of the room. The guards didn’t budge. We followed their gaze to a tiny TV on the wall above what was supposed to be a “kids’ corner” (just a dingy rug and a mini kid-size table). Their eyes were locked on the movie Frozen.
It was 8 a.m. I took a deep breath as I realized this was going to be a long day. We sat and waited as they watched their movie on the state’s dime. My husband, who often visits prisons as a forensic psychologist, assured our sons and me, who’d never been to a prison before, that this is just how it goes sometimes.