A Day in the Life of Lam Vo
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[Read more]
Tag Archives: Juvenile justice
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[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.[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[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[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[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,[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.[Read more]
‘He COULD Have Done It, But I Don’t Think He Did’
By Debora Gordon Lam offered me contact information for his attorney, David Kelvin, who agreed to speak with me in last October. I felt limited in my knowledge of the criminal justice system, even though[Read more]
Former Drug-Dealing ‘Street Star’ Becomes Youth Mentor
Like Sankofa - the mythical bird in West African culture that symbolizes going back to retrieve things lost in order to move forward - Michael Gibson also had to go back and reconnect, while he[Read more]
