Michael Santos

Journalists John R. Emshwiller and Gary Fields have published numerous articles in the Wall Street Journal that brought attention to the ease with which average citizens could find themselves tangled in the web of America's criminal justice system.

An article they coauthored on Monday, April 9, 2012, included...

As I advance through my 25th consecutive year in federal prison, I realize that my perspective of the prison bureaucracy differs from many of the people who are new to this environment. Whereas others expect "corrections," experience convinces me that the objectives of America's criminal justice system, in its entirety,...

Dr. Oscar Biscet is a Cuban physician who served 12 years in that country's prisons for "crimes against state security." In an op-ed article that the Wall Street Journal published on Wednesday, 21 March, Dr. Biscet wrote that his crimes amounted to asking the Cuban state to respect...

A jury in Houston returned a guilty verdict against R. Allen Stanford for a $7.1 billion Ponzi scheme on March 6, 2012. Some may want to know what follows for him.

After Stanford's conviction on 13 of 14 counts, federal marshals returned him to the federal detention center...

I was extremely disappointed to read that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction of my friend, Greg Reyes. We became friends while he served his sentence inside the federal prison camp in Taft, California. For 11 months, we spent a portion of every day talking...

We have become far too punitive as a society, mistakenly believing that prison is the answer for all transgressions of law. Rather than skinning every defendant, eradicating his hope and decimating his life, sanctions should include some mechanism through which offenders can work to redeem themselves.

The longer an...

The Wall Street Journal reported that Citi has agreed to pay $285 million to settle fraud charges. It's one of several settlements from banks like Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan, and others. Those financial penalties don't make up to a hill of beans when juxtaposed alongside...

A new memorial celebrating the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King is scheduled to open in Washington D.C.. The memorial features numerous quotes from Dr. King under four headings that include Justice, Love, Democracy, and Hope.

Since Dr. King believed such concepts were inalienable, applicable...

Standard and Poor's lowered America's credit rating from AAA to AA+, I heard. The news report that came across my radio headset early this morning provided further evidence of how the world has changed. We are a weaker country because of mismanagement by government leaders. Misguided government leadership has hindered...

Today I watched some television coverage on the Casey Anthony murder trial in Florida that resulted in a conclusion of the criminal justice process with a verdict of not guilty. Prosecutors don't like to hear that. Neither, it appears, do the media pundits who had convicted the young...

Attorney General Eric Holder chastised members of Congress with his admonition that politics should not play a role in justice: "Politics has no place, no place in the impartial and effective administration of justice," Holder said. "Decisions about how, where and when to prosecute must be made by...

Former President Jimmy Carter published an op-ed article calling for an end to the drug war. He was not alone. In its June 2011 report, the Global Commission on Drug Policy, an international panel comprised of numerous heads of state, dignitaries, human rights leaders, and business...

Today I watched another federal legislator make a teary eyed apology to his family and constituents for inappropriate behavior. After spending a few days lying about sending lewd photographs of himself to women he met online, Congressman Weiner apologized during a press conference. I wonder why people charged...

Yesterday I heard a news report that the U.S. Supreme Court has ordered the California prison system to reduce its population by tens of thousands. That's a big deal for all residents in the state of California. Unfortunately, I'm not optimistic about its prospects for meaningful prison reform.

NPR reported on hundreds of alleged terrorists who were released from the notorious prison at Guantanamo Bay where they'd been held since 2002. Prisoners were not released by the U. S. for humanitarian reasons. Rather, both the Bush and Obama administrations felt pressure from other countries to release...

Sometimes news comes to me late. I read a New York Times article from February 24th indicating that John Ensign, the disgraced senator from Nevada, had introduced a bill in January to require all low-security prisoners to work 50 hours a week.

The article quoted the philandering senator...

I recently listened to a news report on NPR indicating that details of the $38 billion in congressional spending cuts were being discussed. Although $38 billion in spending cuts represents only pennies in relation to total expenditures, my ears perked up when I heard that law enforcement budgets would be...

News about the possibility of a government shutdown later this week strikes me as being a lot of hot air. As a federal prisoner, I live in a system that is the epitome of government waste. Legislators could easily cut a billion dollars from the federal prison budget with changes...

I heard some news today and I'm wondering whether it's an April Fool's Day joke. My wife, Carole, sent me a message saying that Harley Lappin, who has reigned as the Director of the Bureau of Prisons since the previous Bush administration, was arrested for driving drunk and...

Gregory Reyes was the CEO of Brocade Communications. His leadership steered that company from fledgling startup to its current dominance as the global market leader in providing fiber channel switches. Brocade's products form part of the Internet infrastructure, and under Mr. Reyes' watch the company created thousands of...