The Marshall Project

No, Your Coronavirus Quarantine Is Not Just Like Being in Prison

“I'd give anything to trade places with you right now.”

For those of you reading this who feel trapped or are going stir-crazy due to your coronavirus-induced confinement, the best advice I can give you—as someone used to suffering in long-term confinement—is to take a pause, inhale a few deep breaths, then look around at all the things you have to be grateful for.

That's what I've done each and every day for the past 25 years. Every morning when I awaken in my 8-by-10 foot cell, I

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