Daniel Simms was a teenager the first time he was institutionalized in the correctional system.
As an abused foster child who later became homeless, he stole to survive, landing him in what some call the “foster care-to-prison pipeline.”
In his late teens, Simms was incarcerated again until he was about 23 or 24, he said. Shortly after his release, he returned again to prison where he has now served 19 of his 34-year sentence for armed robbery. He is 42 years old.
During his ongoing sentence, Simms has earned not only a GED but a paralegal certificate, which is why he said he became interested in policy to reform the prison system. That led him to litigating civil lawsuits in prison for other incarcerated people.
“Seeing the people that are coming into prison struck me, and I have a heart for the people here — for poor people, those that have mental health issues and substance abuse, minorities…,” Simms said. “You’re seeing the most traumatized, most vulnerable populations being the ones most likely to be piped into prison.”
Simms is a jailhouse lawyer member of the National Lawyers Guild and a member of Treehouse, a non-profit focused on equity and racial justice in the foster care and education system. And he has written three books about his life experiences, including one on harmful practices conducted within the Department of Corrections, according to his website.
Simms recently spoke to McClatchy regarding the Legislature’s latest attempts to reshape the prison...
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