By Debora Gordon Lam ended a recent letter with “Write me when you find the time. I certainly have all the time in the world to wait.” This prompted me to ask him what it is really like to be living in prison and what typical days are like. He sent me a detailed account. …Read more…
Looking at Lam & What Needs to Be Done
By Debora Gordon Lam was, and perhaps still is, a young man with a lot of potential. He could have gone on to lead a life of commonplace trials and triumphs; having a family, a job or a career, exploring his personal interests in art and body-building. Maybe he would have been one of the exceptional …Read more…
A Call to Lam’s Mother
By Debora Gordon Many, perhaps most, parts of this story have been hard to tell. I often imagine someone who might be personally affected by a particular part of the story looking over my shoulder. As I write this section, I feel the phantom presence of Qui Lam, Lam Vo’s mother, although I had only …Read more…
School-to-Prison Pipeline
By Debora Gordon Every time a student does poorly in school, or drops out, there is likely a great increase in the chances he will wind up in prison. I recall in my discussion with Lt. Jeff Smith at Kern Valley State Prison that 70% of inmates are high school dropouts. While correlation is not causation, …Read more…
Going to Prison, Part III: Lam Tells His Story
By Debora Gordon On Sunday, December 9th, I headed back to prison. When I arrived, I learned the previous day’s lock down had been lifted. Many of the same visitors were there again. The woman who had worn the six-inch heels on Saturday was now wearing sneakers. One young woman in her 20’s was visiting her …Read more…
Cut Gun Clip Sizes for Fewer Shooting Victims
By Howard Dyckoff After a year with 131 murders in Oakland – not the city’s highest ever, but the most since 2005 – and after the massacre in Sandy Hook took 26 lives, mostly children, we started 2013 off with another teen killed in a crossfire in East Oakland. What I want to highlight here …Read more…
Going to Prison, Part II: Getting In, the Visiting Room, and Lockdown
By Debora Gordon After my visit with Lt. Smith, I had some time to kill that Friday evening in Delano, California. While there may be more than meets the tourist eye, what the casual passer-through will see is mile after mile of strip malls and giant shopping complexes. The prison appears to the main industry there, …Read more…
Going to Prison, Part I
By Debora Gordon I drove down to visit Lam in the Kern Valley State Prison (KVSP) the weekend of December 7ththrough December 10th. I checked in by phone and email with the Public Information Officer, Lt. Jeff Smith, to help plan my visit. I learned what I could bring into the prison with me during …Read more…
Prison Phone Calls and Prison Visits
By Debora Gordon I decided I would visit Lam in prison. But prison is not a place where you drop in spontaneously. First, you must be approved for visitation, which requires the inmate to snail mail you the Visiting Questionnaire. The California Department of Corrections (CDC) would like to know if you have visited other …Read more…
Alicia’s Story
I asked her what she would say directly to Lam if she could speak to him. At first, she was silent. And after a moment, tears flowed from her eyes, and her mother followed suit. Soon, all three of us were crying. What can someone say to someone else who caused such grievous injury? Finally, she just said that she would ask, “Why did you do this?” She said there was nothing Lam could say to her.