Lockdown on Rikers by Mary E. Buser tells the shocking stories of abuse and injustice at New York's notorious jail (available September 29, 2015). Mary Buser began her career at Rikers Island as a social work intern, brimming with ideas and eager to help incarcerated women find a better path. Her reassignment to a men's…
Mr. Smith Goes to Prison is a memoir by Jeff Smith about how a senator from Missouri ended up behind bars for one year, and what it taught him about America's prison crisis (available September 1, 2015). In 2009, Smith lied to the Feds about seemingly minor campaign malfeasance and earned himself a year and…
To some people, he was known as Ed Flowers, but others knew him as Teddy. Regardless of his moniker, he was a bad man. He robbed banks, escaped prison five times, and took place in shootouts with police. In 2005, after serving a 40-year sentence, he was released from prison, and he's now telling his…
The Winter Foundlings by Kate Rhodes is the third book starring forensic psychologist Alice Quentin who heads to a psychiatric prison to interview an inmate (available February 24, 2015). It’s hard not to draw comparisons to Silence of the Lambs when reading Kate Rhodes’ third novel, The Winter Foundlings, which continues the story of forensic…
Life inside prisons makes for interesting stories. I wouldn’t know where to begin in reeling off some of the more compelling books, movies, and TV shows that have explored this world. But having just read Malcolm Braly’s 1961 prison novel Felony Tank, I can add it to my personal list of favorite jail tales. It…
Wintertime fills the shelves and supermarkets with one of our favorite things since the repeal of the Volstead Ace—seasonal beer. Recently in a list of the 8 Breweries in Awesome Weird Places, one brewery in particular caught our attention: a jailhouse! Jailhouse Brewery seems like the perfect place for the next brewery tour any crime…
Most of the time at Criminal Element we discuss the criminally…inept. This time, however, we're discussing a woman who was innocent of her crimes and it was the police at fault. Granted, it's not the first time that an innocent party has been held for crimes they didn't commit, but we'd guess it's a relatively…
In tribute to the late Lauren Bacall, we’re looking at the four classic films she made with husband and screen partner Humphrey Bogart between 1944 and 1948: To Have and Have Not, The Big Sleep, Dark Passage, and Key Largo. Last week we looked at Hawks’ The Big Sleep. Today we’ll look at Delmer Daves’…
An accused murderer escaped from jail because he was allowed to watch fireworks in celebration of the 4th of July. According to the fine folks at KYTV-TV, accused “Kool-Aid” killer Jason McClurg was brought outside in the yard with about nine other inmates to watch a fireworks display that was taking place. During the show…
We can understand why someone might want a tattoo erased. Perhaps a presumed-permanent lover is no longer so everlasting. Or maybe a night out on the town left a more permanent mark on you than you planned. However, what we didn't see coming is the reason Jeffrey Chapman is using in order to erase his…
