How To Apply For Compassionate Release In Pennsylvania: An Interview With A Jailhouse Lawyer

By Dan Lockwood
From PHN Issue 50, Summer/Fall 2022

Bryant Arroyo is a longtime activist and jailhouse lawyer with expertise in environmentalism, advocacy, and the law. His recent success was helping Mr. Bradford “Bub” Gamble successfully obtain compassionate release. PHN is grateful that Mr. Arroyo has agreed to be interviewed to share his insights so that others can also be granted the same dignity that Mr. Gamble and his family received as a result of his compassionate release.
This information applies to Pennsylvania, but there are similar rules in other states and the federal system that can be found in the prison law library.

PHN: What is compassionate release?

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How to Keep Your Asthma Under Control

By Goundo Coulibaly

From PHN Issue 46, Spring/Summer 2021

Millions of people have asthma. It is important to know the steps you should take when trying to keep your asthma under control.

Try these four ways to help keep your asthma under control!

When There’s a Pandemic and Your Loved One Is in Prison

Ideas for support and advocacy during the COVID-19 crisis

By Evelyne Kane and Suzy Subways

It’s challenging enough for loved ones of people in prison: paying for expensive phone calls, trying to advocate for your loved one’s health, keeping your head up through it all. And now we have to deal with this new virus. Here are what we hope will be some helpful ideas and suggestions, which we’ve gathered from people in prison, their loved ones on the outside, and other activists:

Coronavirus Info to Share with Your Loved One in Prison:

COVID-19 is the name for the new disease spread by the coronavirus. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), COVID-19 is very easy to spread from person to person, and transmission can happen in a number of ways, including:

From close contact with another person who has the virus (being within 6 feet of them)
Through contaminated surfaces or objects (the virus can live on many surfaces for hours or even days)
Through contaminated particles in the air (for instance, when someone with the virus coughs or sneezes)

Continue reading “When There’s a Pandemic and Your Loved One Is in Prison” →

“My Heart Is Broken in Pieces”: Family Grieves Son Lost to Excessive Force from Corrections Officers

By Evelyne Kane

Online exclusive for Prison Health News

A few days before Christmas, Shaleda and Ervin Busbee sit together in their cozy and well-kept rowhouse in West Philadelphia. From the living room, a lighted Christmas tree ringed with gifts glows softly. Despite the festivity of the season, the Busbees’ spirits are heavy this year as they grieve the loss of their son, Tyrone Briggs, who was killed on November 11, 2019 while incarcerated at Pennsylvania State Correctional Institution-Mahanoy. His family and legal team allege that his death was caused by excessive use of pepper spray by Mahanoy staff.

Continue reading ““My Heart Is Broken in Pieces”: Family Grieves Son Lost to Excessive Force from Corrections Officers” →

Battling Asthma in Prison

By Gregory J. Marcinski, EMT-P (ret)

From PHN Issue 26, Fall 2015

If you’re suffering from asthma, you’re not alone. More than 18 million American adults have asthma, and thousands go to the emergency room every day because of it. In prison, it can be a bit more difficult to be seen by medical staff, so I’ll discuss a few things that we can do on our own to help preserve our own health. Continue reading “Battling Asthma in Prison” →