Bert Burykill
How It Feels to Get Off Parole After Ten Years in the System
VICE's prison correspondent is, at last, a normal member of society.
Rap Was My Lifeline in Prison
I spent hundreds and hundreds of hours rapping, talking about rap, and listening to cassette tapes when I was an inmate. Without Ol' Dirty Bastard, Kool Keith, and Bootsy Collins, I really would have gone insane.
Drug Court Addiction 12-Step Blues
I went to rehab ten years ago in an effort to avoid going to prison (it didn't work). I met some of the craziest people I've ever encountered, but I sure as hell didn't get any cleaner.
I Spent the Past Ten Years Going in and out of Prison and It's Ruined My Life
When I went to jail ten years ago I knew it’d be tough. Many people told me that I’d ruined my life, but how could I accept that when I was only 23? Today it’s become much more of a reality, but I refuse to throw in the towel just yet.
Guilty Until Proven Innocent
The most ridiculous notion civilians have about the legal system is that the accused are “innocent until proven guilty.” Actually, thanks to high bails and other absurdities, you can spend a long time in jail before anyone convicts you of any...
Prison Sentences and Solitary Confinement Can Ruin Kids' Lives
I’ve met too many dudes in jail who’ve been locked up their entire lives. Once you get in trouble as a kid you get put in the system and end up in group homes and other tough places where you just learn how to do more bad shit—it's a tough cycle to...
How the US Census Gives Power to the Rural Counties Where Prisons Are Built
Inmates generally come from the city but get locked up in rural prisons—and that means in many states, they're counted as residents of these podunk towns and counties, giving those communities more political power.
A Reminder That Sheriff Joe Is the Worst Lawman in America
You probably know who Sheriff Joe is—he’s been the most “controversial” figure in American law enforcement for two decades, which is a nice way to say he’s a vicious, small-minded, publicity-hungry cocksucker.
Screwed by Anti-Gun Laws
Gun violence in a huge problem in a lot of bad neighborhoods, but sometimes, aggressive antigun laws just end up putting people who never had any intention of committing a violent crime in prison for long-ass periods of time. At least, that's what...
Sexx Money's Open Letter to Miley Cyrus
Everyone's writing open letters to Miley Cyrus, even prison inmates like Sexx Money—he might get his pop culture news way later than everyone else, but he wants everyone to know how much he loves Miley.
My Search Engine Results Are Wrecking My Life
Thanks to an article about my arrest for drugs in 2004, when employers google my real name they think I'm some kinda kingpin and don't hire me, which is making it much, much harder to join the world as a legitimate citizen.
Curtis Snow Is Trying to Go Legit
Curtis Snow is a former stickup kid and D-boy who got famous for his pseudo-docudrama Snow on tha Bluff, an extremely raw look at one of America's roughest neighborhoods.