Federal Medical Center

"Not everyone in the Federal Medical Center was so lucky. Close to 90 percent of the men I met—most were African Americans or Latinos—were serving time for nonviolent drug-related offenses. Thanks to mandatory sentencing guidelines, they were taken away from their families and communities for outrageous lengths of time—many for more than twenty years. In almost every case, their wives had divorced them, their children had lost touch, and their communities had forgotten them. They received no mail, welcomed no visitors, and had little hope."