This month we're bringing you another essay by a writer with lived experience of the criminal legal system. In an article titled "When My Son Was Arrested for Trying to Join ISIS, I Knew the Deeper Culprit," incarcerated journalist Raymond Williams describes the pain of being in prison while learning that his son, Hunter, had just been arrested. No parent wishes to hear that their child has been arrested. But such news is especially hard when you hear it from a prison cell.

Raymond takes the reader along the course of his life, giving an analysis of how incarceration reduces the life chances of children living with incarcerated parents. He describes the impact of labeling theory—a theory that notes how children adapt, often taking on the identities and behaviors presented by the adults around them—as a mechanism pushing some children towards prison.

This article challenges the notions and ideologies assuming people in prison cannot, or should not, have a relationship with their children. Raymond points out that the child and incarcerated parent are left without recourse when the free parent wishes to keep the child from the incarcerated parent. This article points out that a lack of process—or access—to legal recourse does not allow for the interests of the child to fairly be considered.

As Raymond describes, keeping a parent from a child due to incarceration can have devastating impacts. In this instance, it led to Hunter trying to join ISIS, and Raymond crying in his cell.

Raymond has also shared a bonus long-form piece with us. "In Washington State, Prison Closure Divides Abolitionist Community" describes the debate within the prison abolition community over the closing of the Washington state reformatory.

Raymond Williams, 44, is an incarcerated journalist sentenced to death by prison under the Washington 3-strikes law. He is a leader in the Concerned Lifers' Organization. Raymond is a Marvel Cooke fellow with writing featured in Slate, Jewish Currents, and the Seattle Times. Follow him @raywilliams80, or email him directly through securustech.net (Raymond Williams #767974, Washington Corrections Center).