I'm writing this as my father fights for his freedom. In 2010, my father took a plea deal to a federal charge for conspiracy to distribute marijuana; he was sentenced to 17 years. Today, he sits in a federal prison in California, the same state where marijuana has brought in $2.75 billion in legal sales. In January 2018, California made recreational marijuana legal. This new development brought good news for our family and a new opportunity to challenge my father's sentencing and, hopefully, to return my father home. The law that made marijuana legal for recreational use was retroactive, challenging many past state-level convictions. In my father's case, his past convictions were use
Jen Fitzgerald is a poet, essayist, photographer, and a native New Yorker who received her MFA in Poetry at Lesley University and her BA in Writing at The College of Staten Island (CUNY). She is a community activist, organizer, and freelance writer/editor/content creator. For 2018, Jen is the Managing Editor for the small, Los Angeles based press, Agape Editions. a member of New York Writers Workshop, She teaches creative writing workshops online and around New York City. Her first collection of poetry, “The Art of Work” was published by Noemi Press in September of 2016. Her essays, poetry, and photography have appeared in such outlets as PBS Newshour, Boston Review, Tin House, Salon, and Ne
