can you get a phd in prison

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Pursuing a Ph.D. from prison

Two years ago Brandon Brown became the first person to earn a graduate degree while incarcerated in the state of Maine. Now Brown — who was arrested in 2010 for attempted murder when he was 21 — is pursuing a Ph.D. in restorative justice from George Mason University, in Virginia.

Brown was the first person to take advantage of a department of corrections policy that allowed supervised virtual learning when he enrolled in an online masters program. Now, halfway through the second semester of his doctoral program, he’s been released on a community confinement program thanks to legislation that he helped author . 

I talked with Brown about navigating higher education in prison and how his efforts have helped pave the way for at least six other prisoners in Maine to pursue online graduate programs.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

Q. How did you get involved in prison education?

A. I got really lucky. When I arrived at Maine State Prison from the county jail, I immediately started putting in requests to get involved in something positive. Because I had my high school diploma, the education department reached out and said there was an opportunity if I wanted to work towards a college degree.

Q. When did you decide that you wanted to pursue a graduate degree?

A. In 2014, I was two classes away from my bachelor’s degree. And then I was transferred to a medium security prison from the maximum security prison. I thought for sure that there were going to be more opportunities for me.  And the opposite was true, there was nothing to do at that facility. 

The [administration at] the facility didn’t care that I still had funding and the university was willing to assist me with independent studies. And so I was there for two years, without education, and without other positive aspects of contributing to my community. I just got in a really dark place. I was eventually able to secure my transfer back to the prison that I came from. And so when I got back to that prison, I was able to get right back into the college program.

One of the last courses I took was in restorative justice with my favorite professor, and it was during that class that I had the realization that my bachelor’s degree is ending, there was no other avenue for me to continue my education. And that was really scary for me, because I saw what it meant not to have the opportunity to continue to educate myself before. 

We had a really progressive warden at that moment. And so I just approached him a couple times and asked him if he would support me if I could find a master’s degree program that was correspondence or online learning. The Maine Department of Corrections (DOC) had a policy for a long time that allows you to do supervised online learning , they just never used it. When I was talking to the admin, they’re like, ‘This guy’s out of his mind, nobody’s going to accept him into a program.’ So they just said, ‘Yes, if you can get accepted, we’ll facilitate it.’ And then I got accepted and they had to keep their word. 

Q. How were you able to secure funding for your education?

A. My associate’s and bachelor’s at University of Maine at Augusta were paid for by Doris Buffett’s non-profit, The Sunshine Lady Foundation . When I was applying to graduate programs, and specifically in conversation with George Mason University, they wanted to know how I was going to pay for it. I told them that I would figure that afterwards. If you accept me, maybe I’ll defer for a year, and secure funding over the next year, reach out to my family and friends. Luckily, while I was going through the application process, I had simultaneously applied for a couple of scholarships. My first semester was completely covered by a tuition discount that the university gave me for having an excellent application. And then I secured a $9,000 scholarship that covered what was left of my first year. And then the second year of my master’s degree, I was able to secure internal scholarships from George Mason.

Q. How did this lead into the Ph.D. program? 

A. When I wrote to schools about applying for master’s programs, I made it very clear that my long term goal was to get a Ph.D. before I got out of prison. The last semester of my master’s degree, I went through the application process for the Ph.D. I got really lucky because of the research that I was able to get approved by the prison. I’ve looked and I’ve never found any other instances of a prisoner getting approval by an institutional research board to do human subject research in the prison that they’re in. 

I got accepted by George Mason, but they told me I could only really inch forward while I was in prison because it’s an in-person program. And that’s why I filed for commutation, which was denied by Governor Janet Mills in July 2020 . But then, oddly enough, the pandemic really saved my academic life, because the university went completely online because they had to. My whole first year plus half of a semester into my second year, I did from the facility. 

Q. What is the subject of your doctoral dissertation?

A. I think what I’m going to end up doing my dissertation on is the idea of inclusive policy and law. So what happens when we include marginalized voices in the creation of policy and law that will govern their daily lives? And a specific kind of case study that I’ll use is the Maine Department of Corrections, and this new supervised community confinement law, because there’s a small group of [prisoners] that in collaboration with the administration, lawmakers, and other stakeholders, we actually wrote the law and the law passed, and then we helped write the policy that was implemented. Are people [skeptical] of it because there was some involvement from prisoners? Is it better law and better policy because we were involved in the process? 

It’s one thing to engage with a marginalized population in discussion. But it’s another thing to empower them to actually write and create law. I know what happens in the prison more than some person in Augusta who’s never actually been to the prison. I know what policies and practices are shaping the culture and all these other aspects of the institution. A lot of times, it’s sexy to invite the inmate and the formerly incarcerated voices to the table. But a lot of times, those conversations don’t necessarily bear fruit. And what I’m interested in talking about is what is the fruit that’s born if we actually empower those people to write the policy and write the law.

Q. What do you want people to know about your story?

A. When people find out that I’m getting my Ph.D., I always get comments like, ‘Oh, my God, you’re so articulate, and it’s so surprising.’ And I’m like, ‘Why is it surprising? Why is it surprising to you that a prisoner can rise to the same academic and educational level as you when given a chance to do so?’ Because before I committed my crime, I was a kid, I was a student, I was a son. If you give people the chance to believe that they can achieve something, chances are that they’ll achieve it. So for me, it was sad that I was the first person in the state of Maine to get an advanced degree while I was incarcerated. And at the same time, it was beautiful, and I was really proud of that. I don’t believe I’m exceptional, only that I had exceptional opportunities. It gets under my skin when all people want to talk about is how I did this; it doesn’t matter how I did it unless we can make it possible for other people. 

Q. What advice do you offer other incarcerated people who want to pursue higher education? A. Understand the power of your narrative even if it’s a really shitty fucking story you have to tell. I apologize for cursing, but there’s power in vulnerability and honesty, especially when you’re looking to convince an institution to take a shot on you. 

When I was applying, I wrote to my 10 dream schools that had what I wanted to study. And in every letter I wrote, I was just very honest about my situation. I was honest about the mistakes I made, honest about the stigma that’s associated with those mistakes, but also honest about the fact that as a student, as somebody who knows this oppressive structure that I’m a part of, I am most situated to change it. 

If you believe your story, and if you can tell it in a compelling way, then you can convince people to give you chances and opportunities. Because if you want to get an education, but you’re apprehensive about telling parts of your story, or you’re scared to be honest about what it is that brought you to prison and what your experience in prison has been, then how are you not going to expect that apprehension from the people that make the decisions about your education? Explore within yourself what’s powerful about your story and why it uniquely situates you to do something meaningful within the framework of what you want to study.

Charlotte West

Open Campus national reporter covering the future of postsecondary education in prison. More by Charlotte West

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• CAREER FEATURE
• 31 October 2019
• Correction 12 November 2019

Moving from prison to a PhD

• Virginia Gewin 0

Virginia Gewin is a science journalist based in Portland, Oregon.

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Most applications to academic institutions around the world include a box to check if a student has a criminal history, but a ‘ban the box’ movement is now under way. Last year, the UK Universities and Colleges Admissions Services (UCAS) — which manages application to all British universities — dropped its criminal-history question . And in August, the US Common Application, used by 800 colleges and universities, removed the question — although individual institutions can still ask it.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-03370-1

Updates & Corrections

Correction 12 November 2019 : An earlier version of this feature mixed up the Formerly-Incarcerated College Graduate Network and the Tacoma Post-Prison Higher Education Coalition.

Davis, L. M. et al. Evaluating the Effectiveness of Correctional Education (Rand Corporation, 2013).

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From Prison to Ph.D.: The Redemption and Rejection of Michelle Jones

By Eli Hager

• Sept. 13, 2017

Michelle Jones was released last month after serving more than two decades in an Indiana prison for the murder of her 4-year-old son. The very next day, she arrived at New York University, a promising Ph.D. student in American studies.

In a breathtaking feat of rehabilitation, Ms. Jones, now 45, became a published scholar of American history while behind bars, and presented her work by videoconference to historians’ conclaves and the Indiana General Assembly. With no internet access and a prison library that hewed toward romance novels, she led a team of inmates that pored through reams of photocopied documents from the Indiana State Archives to produce the Indiana Historical Society’s best research project last year. As prisoner No. 970554, Ms. Jones also wrote several dance compositions and historical plays, one of which is slated to open at an Indianapolis theater in December.

N.Y.U. was one of several top schools that recruited her for their doctoral programs. She was also among 18 selected from more than 300 applicants to Harvard University’s history program. But in a rare override of a department’s authority to choose its graduate students, Harvard’s top brass overturned Ms. Jones’s admission after some professors raised concerns that she played down her crime in the application process.

Elizabeth Hinton, one of the Harvard historians who backed Ms. Jones, called her “one of the strongest candidates in the country last year, period.” The case “throws into relief,” she added, the question of “how much do we really believe in the possibility of human redemption?”

The Marshall Project , a nonprofit news organization that focuses on criminal justice and produced this article for The New York Times, obtained internal emails and memos related to Ms. Jones’s application, and interviewed eight professors and administrators involved in reviewing it.

While top Harvard officials typically rubber-stamp departmental admissions decisions, in this case the university’s leadership — including the president, provost, and deans of the graduate school — reversed one, according to the emails and interviews, out of concern that her background would cause a backlash among rejected applicants, conservative news outlets or parents of students.

The admissions dean of Harvard’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences declined to be interviewed, and a university spokeswoman did not respond to a set of eight questions about the case, saying that “as a policy, we do not comment on individual applicants.”

Instead, the spokeswoman offered a general statement saying the graduate school “is committed to recruiting and enrolling students from all backgrounds” and “strives to create an inclusive and supportive environment where all students can thrive.”

Harvard has, indeed, made room for a wider range of voices on its campus in recent years, including the formerly incarcerated. Drew Faust , a historian who is departing as Harvard’s president in June after a decade, has expanded global outreach and financial aid, and hired a host of minority faculty who have broadened perspectives about prison reform and black culture.

In that mode of outreach, staff members of both Harvard’s history and American studies departments took it upon themselves to type Ms. Jones’s application into Harvard’s online system since she could not.

But after the history department accepted her and the American studies program listed her as a top alternate, two American studies professors flagged Ms. Jones’s file for the admissions dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. In a memo to university administrators, these professors said the admissions dean had told them Ms. Jones’s selection would be reviewed by the president and provost, and questioned whether she had minimized her crime “to the point of misrepresentation.”

“We didn’t have some preconceived idea about crucifying Michelle,” said John Stauffer, one of the two American studies professors. “But frankly, we knew that anyone could just punch her crime into Google, and Fox News would probably say that P.C. liberal Harvard gave 200 grand of funding to a child murderer, who also happened to be a minority. I mean, c’mon.”

Ms. Jones got pregnant at 14 after what she called non-consensual sex with a high-school senior. Her mother responded by beating her in the stomach with a board, according to the prosecutor who later handled her case, and she was placed in a series of group homes and foster families.

In a personal statement accompanying her Harvard application, Ms. Jones said she had a psychological breakdown after years of abandonment and domestic violence, and inflicted similar treatment on her own son, Brandon Sims.

The boy died in 1992 in circumstances that remain unclear; the body was never found.

Two years later, during a stay at a mental-health crisis center, Ms. Jones admitted that she had buried him without notifying the police or Brandon’s father and his family. At her trial, a former friend testified that Ms. Jones confessed to having beaten the boy and then leaving him alone for days in their apartment, eventually returning to find him dead in his bedroom.

Ms. Jones was sentenced to 50 years in prison, but was released after 20 based on her good behavior and educational attainment.

In her statement to Harvard, Ms. Jones wrote of Brandon: “I have made a commitment to myself and him that with the time I have left, I will live a redeemed life, one of service and value to others.”

Brandon’s father and grandmother could not be reached for comment.

Where Were the Ladies?

Incarcerated in 1996, Ms. Jones worked for five years in the law library at Indiana Women’s Prison, and got certified as a paralegal. She received a bachelor’s degree from Ball State University in 2004, and audited graduate-level classes at Indiana University.

Her blossoming as a historian began in 2012, when Kelsey Kauffman, a former professor who volunteered at the prison, encouraged inmates to research the origins of their involuntary home, which opened in 1873 as the first adult female correctional facility in the United States. Soon, Ms. Jones was placing library requests for reference books and, when they arrived months later, scouring the footnotes for what to order next.

After meticulously logging demographic data from century-old registries from the Indiana Women’s Prison, Ms. Jones made a discovery: There were no prostitutes on the rolls. “Where,” she asked, “were all the ladies?” meaning so-called ladies of the night.

With the help of a state librarian, she and another inmate realized that a Catholic laundry house that opened around that time in Indianapolis was actually a reformatory for “fallen women” — those convicted of sex offenses. Then they found more than 30 similar institutions around the country, akin to the Magdalene Laundries recently unearthed in Ireland.

Under Ms. Kauffman’s tutelage, they wrote up their findings, published them in an Indiana academic journal, and won the state historical society award. Ms. Jones also presented the paper remotely at multiple academic conferences, and, at others, shared different work about the abuse of early inmates at Indiana Women’s Prison by its Quaker founders.

Ms. Jones was supposed to be released in October, but received a two-month reduction of her sentence so she could start a Ph.D. program on time this fall. She applied to eight, with Harvard her first choice because of historians there whose work on incarceration she admired.

While those historians embraced her application, others at Harvard questioned not only whether Ms. Jones had disclosed enough information about her past, but whether she could handle its pressure-cooker atmosphere.

“One of our considerations,” Professor Stauffer said in an interview, “was if this candidate is admitted to Harvard, where everyone is an elite among elites, that adjustment could be too much.”

Alison Frank Johnson, director of graduate studies for the history department, dismissed that argument as paternalistic.

“Michelle was sentenced in a courtroom to serve X years, but we decided — unilaterally — that it should be X years plus no Harvard,” she said. “Is it that she did not show the appropriate degree of horror in herself, by applying?

“We’re not her priests,” Professor Johnson added, using an expletive.

A Sentence Completed

Over the past decade, some universities, corporations, and state and local governments have begun to break down barriers that block formerly incarcerated people from education and employment. A “ban the box” campaign by civil-rights groups led scores of institutions, including Harvard’s graduate schools, to remove a question about criminal records from their initial applications.

But most of these efforts focus on giving a fresh start to nonviolent offenders, especially those caught up by tough sentencing laws for drug crimes.

“It’s like we only have enough imagination — and courage — to envision second chances for the people who shouldn’t have been in prison in the first place,” Professor Johnson said.

Ms. Jones’s many supporters include Heather Ann Thompson , who won the Pulitzer Prize in history this spring, and submitted a recommendation letter on her behalf. There is also Diane Marger Moore, the prosecutor who argued that Ms. Jones receive the maximum sentence two decades ago and is now writing a book about the case.

“Look, as a mother, I thought it was just an awful crime,” said Ms. Marger Moore, now a lawyer at a large firm in Los Angeles. “But what Harvard did is highly inappropriate: I’m the prosecutor, not them. Michelle Jones served her time, and she served a long time, exactly what she deserved. A sentence is a sentence.”

Her backers saw her background as an asset, given the growing academic interest in incarceration.

“It was a chance for us to do something that we’ve been saying we’re trying to do at Harvard, which is to set up conversations between academics and eyewitnesses,” said Walter Johnson, director of an American history study center at the university.

But the American studies professors said in their memo to administrators that “honest and full narration is an essential part of our enterprise,” and questioned whether Ms. Jones had met that standard in framing her past. In the personal statement, which was not required, she did not detail her involvement in the crime, but wrote that as a teenager she left Brandon at home alone, that he died, and that she has grieved for him deeply and daily since.

Professor Stauffer emphasized in interviews that he and his departmental colleague, Dan Carpenter, were simply trying to ensure that Harvard did its due diligence about the candidacy.

“We do not want to stand in the way of, advance a case against, or in any way hijack the career of Michelle Jones, who has served her time, who has clearly done amazing things while incarcerated, who shows passion for her craft, and whose full story the two of us can never really know,” they wrote in the memo.

“If officials who take a careful look at the case decide that Harvard should move forward, then we think that the university should do everything in its power and ability to welcome Ms. Jones here and support her, and we are indeed happy to play a part in that effort,” they continued. “We have stated our concerns as questions, and we hope they are treated as nothing more nor less than questions, not as an implicit or explicit judgment against a person and her candidacy.”

Ms. Jones, in an interview, said that if anyone at Harvard wanted her to elaborate on the criminal case or her preparedness for the Ph.D. program, they should have asked. “I just didn’t want my crime to be the lens through which everything I’d done, and hoped for, was seen,” she said.

“I knew that I had come from this very dark place — I was abhorrent to society,” she continued. “But for 20 years, I’ve tried to do right, because I was still interested in the world, and because I didn’t believe my past made me somehow cosmically un-educatable forever.”

The Toughest School

Yale University also rejected Ms. Jones, though it is unclear what role her crime may have played in its decision; officials would not discuss her application.

But she was courted by the University of California, Berkeley; the University of Michigan; the University of Kansas; and N.Y.U., which assigned graduate students to send Ms. Jones welcoming notes on JPay, a prison email app.

She arrived in Manhattan during the back-to-school season of fresh starts, having never used a smartphone. She wore prison-issue glasses and carried boxes full of jailhouse research notes.

If her new parole officer allows it, Ms. Jones hopes to teach in N.Y.U.’s prison education program , as a way to remember where she has been. She also hopes to take the train to Cambridge, Mass., every other week to sit in on a Harvard seminar on the history of crime and punishment in America.

“We’re having her come up here for that partly out of a sense of pique,” Mr. Johnson said.

At N.Y.U., Nikhil Singh, faculty director of the prison-education program, acknowledged that “Michelle will have a lot to prove.”

“Our hope is that she is actually far, far more resourceful and driven than most college students,” he added, “who take for granted they are supposed to be here.”

On the Friday before classes started, in a lounge on the N.Y.U. campus, Ms. Jones said any presumption that she is not ready for a Ph.D. underestimates her own moxie and “sells prison short.”

“People don’t survive 20 years of incarceration with any kind of grace unless they have the discipline to do their reading and writing in the chaos of that place,” Ms. Jones said. “Forget Harvard. I’ve already graduated from the toughest school there is.”

Eli Hager is a staff writer for The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization that focuses on criminal justice issues.

Statewide: A journey from prison to a PhD

Johnny Le’Dell Pippins spent 26 years in prison. After Gov. J.B. Pritzker commuted his sentence last spring, he decided to go to school. Now working on his PhD in Criminology at the University of Iowa, Pippins uses his experience to educate his fellow classmates. We'll hear from him on this episode.

* Collin Schoop finds out local book stores are doing better than you might think.

* Harvest Public Media's Lilley Halloran looks at why more women are going into veterinary medicine and why most rural practices are still mostly male-dominated.

* Peter Medlin heads to North Central College in Naperville to learn about their powerhouse women's wrestling team.

* Will Bauer examines how Metro East communities are faring financially after Missouri approved recreational marijuana sales.

* WBEZ's Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco has the latest on an effort to stop invasive carp from getting to the Great Lakes.

* Natalie Krebs looks at nitrate levels in water supplies and how they can be tied to serious health issues.

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From Prison to PhD: The Journey of Education and Redemption

He can be driving in his car, approaching a traffic light, when it goes from green to yellow. Suddenly, there is a tightness that grips him. The paranoia arrives in waves. Is there a police officer nearby? I can't take the risk and accelerate. Might get targeted for speeding. Can't run the light – what if it turns red while I'm going through the intersection?

In those moments, he is filled with anxiety. He has worked too hard and too long to become Professor Stanley Andrisse, a doctor of endocrinology teaching students at Howard University about cells, biology and the causes of hormonal diseases like diabetes. He has rooted himself far too deep into being a loving husband and father to a young daughter.

He has moved too far from being Inmate No. 1132834.

"It's a state of feeling that I could be sent back to prison for any one thing," Andrisse said.

Stanley Andrisse is the founder and executive director of the nonprofit From Prison Cells to PhD. Photo courtesy of Stanley Andrisse.

It's been more than a decade since Andrisse was serving time in a state prison for selling drugs. So much has changed in that time and yet, the past can come rushing back at a moment's notice. He still eats too fast sometimes – a habit picked up from prison. Sleep is sometimes disrupted by dreams.

"I witnessed stuff no one should ever have to witness," he said. "I got out and I thought I was unscathed mentally and psychologically. I could not have been more wrong."

Despite the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) he was diagnosed with, he still found his way to becoming a doctor and scientist. He is also a husband and father. Andrisse is now hoping to help others move beyond the stigma of once being incarcerated and having that be a barrier to re-entering society and rebuilding their identity with his nonprofit, From Prison Cells to PhD.

This year, with the help of a $100,000 grant from the Amgen Foundation, the nonprofit hopes to raise awareness about the power of education and its restorative role for the incarcerated. It was one of dozens of grants issued by the Amgen Foundation over the past year aimed at advancing racial and social justice across the United States, including in science education.

A portion of the grant money for Prisons Cells to PhD from the foundation went to create videos highlighting some of the success stories from the Prison Cells to PhD programs. It also ties to the Amgen Foundation's work with LabXchange to make STEM education accessible and to encourage and prepare everyone who has a desire to pursue a career in science.

"Highlighting Dr. Andrisse's powerful story can change people's mindset towards those who have served their time — from unending punishment to unlocking potential," said Scott Heimlich, vice president of the Amgen Foundation. "Through a commitment of more than $10 million to address racial and social inequities, the Amgen Foundation is proud to support organizations like this one across our communities."

Prison in America

According to the nonprofit Prison Policy Initiative , there are more than 2.3 million people being held in 6,000 correctional facilities run by thousands of agencies. The incarceration rate for the United States is 664 per 100,000 people, and 24 states alone have a higher rate of locking people up than the next country on the list – El Salvador, which locks people up at a rate of 562 per 100,000. 1

But the rate of incarceration doesn't reflect racial disparities in who is imprisoned, according to the Pew Research Center .

Pew noted this year that the rate of Blacks being imprisoned has fallen by a third since 2006, but there remains a wide gap between Blacks and whites when it comes to prison populations. 2

The data, culled from the Bureau of Justice Statistics , showed the rate of incarceration for Black adults was more than five times that of white adults – 1,510 per 100,000 compared to 268 per 100,000. Black adults were also incarcerated at a rate twice that of Hispanics. 3

Black Americans make up 12% of the U.S. adult population but represent 33% of the sentenced prison population, according to the Pew report released last year.

It's not much better for Black women, either.

The rate of imprisonment for Black women in 2019 was 83 per 100,000, according to the nonprofit group The Sentencing Project . That rate is almost twice that of white women, who were incarcerated at a rate of 48 per 100,000. 4

Systemic racism in the justice system has been documented for years but has taken on a heightened awareness in the wake of the George Floyd murder and the Black Lives Matter movement that has sought to expose racial disparities when it comes to contacts with law enforcement and the court system.

Those disparities start young. Research shows a thread of racial bias that runs from school-aged Blacks who are often more frequently targeted for childhood suspensions, expulsions and subsequent arrests than whites are for similar offenses. Studies also show Blacks are more likely be denied bail and diversion, face harsher charging decisions and poor legal representation that lead to increased risks of wrongful convictions and longer sentences. 5

Andrisse said about a quarter of formerly incarcerated people don't have a high school diploma or a GED. He said this was where he saw his chance to make an impact.

"We are literally trying to change the game," he said.

Andrisse was the youngest of five children growing up in the Ferguson-Florissant area of Missouri. The son of Haitian immigrants, he wrote in his new book "From Prison Cells to PhD" that identity was a struggle from an early age.

"Life as an immigrant family was different. We are different. We even looked different than most Black kids – slightly in our physical features being mixed with Taino natives of the Caribbean and Africans," he wrote. "But mostly in our dress as my Haitian parents didn't know, understand or live by hip-hop, R&B, Black culture."

He said that he learned early on how poverty drove a desire to escape it by any means necessary. Dealing drugs appeared as the more accessible path for black youth in his area and, as a high schooler, he saw the dealers driving fancy cars and flashing wads of cash and he figured it was a way to get ahead. It was "the game."

Despite getting sucked into that world, Andrisse also kept a foot in school and got a diploma and secured a scholarship to play football at Lindenwood University. But he kept dealing drugs throughout college, making hundreds of thousands of dollars trafficking narcotics across state lines.

It all ended for him in 2006, when Andrisse was swept up in a U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency bust that ultimately landed him in prison – staring down a 10-year sentence.

He said nothing prepares a person for prison life. He said he didn't sleep for the first few weeks for fear of being assaulted. Prison time is hard time and requires living in survival mode.

"Constant fight or flight," he said.

Because he had gotten his bachelor's degree and had an education, he began to see that continuing that process was going to be his salvation. He always liked science and biology. Reading, learning and having a goal is what kept him going in prison.

Then he learned his father's diabetes was worsening. He made a commitment to begin studying that disease state and thought he'd like to get a doctorate in endocrinology. He began applying to colleges and that's when he learned how the odds were stacked against him – and others locked up in prison.

Removing Stigmas

The question on job and college applications asking applicants if they have been convicted of a crime fills those who have been convicted with dread—and knowing that this is on applications often causes many to simply not even apply.

Syrita Steib, executive director of the New Orleans-based nonprofit Operation Restoration, said it steals hope and can resign those seeking to get a job or go back to school to believe it's over before they even start.

"You know the places that don't discriminate for hiring based on that?" Steib asked. "Construction, fast food – the job selections are few." 

Syrita Steib is the executive director of the nonprofit Operation Restoration. Photo courtesy of Syrita Steib.

Andrisse has been pushing with his nonprofit to change the laws and remove the stigma of that box on both job and college applications. Steib has fought to change this as well and Operation Restoration was a sub-grant recipient of the foundation grant to Andrisse's nonprofit.

Currently, about a dozen states and several local municipalities have "banned the box" and don't require applicants to answer the conviction question initially. Fewer than a half-dozen states have barred colleges and universities from asking it. California, where Amgen is headquartered, saw a ban the box law take effect in 2018. It prohibits requiring potential hires to disclose criminal histories until they are deeper into the application and hiring process.

When Andrisse was in prison, he was denied entry into every university he applied to – except for St. Louis University. He got in with the help of a mentor and subsequently got his master's degree. He then got his doctorate from there. Graduating near the top of his class, he was offered a research position at Johns Hopkins University. Then came the professor position at Howard University. And the nonprofit he started. Now he's also on a mission to help others.

Never too Late

He has testified on behalf of a federal law that bans the box and has met with lawmakers at state and federal levels attempting to get it changed. He said he is trying to get people to reconsider what redemption looks like.

Andrisse said his nonprofit has helped people across the country, providing education scholarships, mentorships and the recidivism rate among the more than 150 participants that completed the peer to peer (P2P) program is at 1%.

One of the best redemption stories he recalled hearing was of a man imprisoned in Colorado in a prison where he was rarely allowed outside the cell. Andrisse said he was only 17 when he went away for carrying a weapon and for several burglaries.

Majid Mohammad was tried as an adult.

But Andrisse's nonprofit reached Mohammad and he has never forgotten him. Mohammad told of how one night, he could see a sliver of sky and the stars on a clear night and began to dream about what it might take to get into space. Mohammad is now in an astrophysics PhD program and one of the subjects in the video.

"Questions about the design of the universe and how and why it operates the way it does really sparked an interest in my turning to academia," Mohammad said in the video. "However, I didn't think it was possible to earn a PhD in astrophysics – or even earn a PhD in anything."

But Mohammad said he was inspired by other mentors in the P2P program and he now hopes to pay it forward by inspiring others to pursue higher education.

Andrisse said inspiration is a big part of the mission. He wants to provide hope to anyone who is looking for a way forward because any life at any time has the possibility for redemption. Andrisse himself said he is inspired by the words his own father told him before he died several years ago.

They are words that he feels can apply to his life and they are words that he sees in other's lives, too.

It's never too late to do good.

• "State of Incarceration: The Global Context" Emily Widra and Tiana Herring for Prison Policy Initiative. September 2021
• "Black Imprisonment Rate in the U.S. Has Fallen by a Third Since 2006" John Gramlich for Pew Research Center. May 2020
• "Prisoners in 2018" E. Ann Carson for U.S. Department of Justice, April 2020
• "Incarcerated Women and Girls" The Sentencing Project November 2020.
• “A History of Tolerance for Violence Has Laid the Groundwork for Injustice Today” Jennifer Rae Taylor for the American Bar Assocation, May 2019

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After prison, all I wanted was a second chance at higher education. The pushback I got due to my criminal record made it feel impossible.

• David BenMoshe is a writer and graduate student at New York University.
• After serving time, he says he faced some restrictions while applying to grad school.
• He adds that despite having done his time, some people still saw him as a criminal. 

I'd just served a 30-month sentence for selling drugs and guns and was hoping to receive a formal education after being released from prison. But when I arrived at Towson University orientation to register for my college classes in the summer of 2014, I discovered that people like me were not welcome.

When I tried to submit my schedule at the orientation, I received an error message. The staff called the registrar. I was informed suddenly that I wasn't allowed on campus, and security was called to escort me out. 

The registrar said once I finished my supervised release (the federal equivalent of probation), which was set to end in summer 2015, I could enroll in classes. It was frustrating to find this out so late after having already gone through orientation with the rest of my class, and I begged my supervised release officer for help. He asked the judge to end my supervised release early and the judge agreed, which happened just in time for me to attend classes in the fall of 2014. 

Finally enrolling, however, didn't undo the bureaucratic mistakes that had already embarrassed me in front of my peers. 

I thought being off supervised release meant my troubles were over, but I soon discovered that some people still saw me as a criminal

In the winter of 2017, I applied to grad school. I received two offers and chose to attend the University of Florida. But after confirming I would attend, I started getting strange requests for information. 

On a call with an administrator, I learned that I'd only been accepted to their graduate school and had to apply to the university as well. It would require a separate application, a special process that the admin told me was reserved only for people with criminal records. 

I protested and said nothing about this came up in my meeting with the director or in my acceptance letter, and I'd disclosed my status in my original application. They told me that I was responsible for knowing the "policy."

I met with lawyers to discuss my options and they all assured me not to worry. After all, I was released early from both prison and supervised release for good behavior, and now I was a straight-A student who owned a personal-training studio and helped the police department with their physical fitness training and testing. 

What else could I possibly do to prove that I deserved a second chance?

Prison is tough, but the three months waiting for a reply from the University of Florida was worse 

In prison, you know what you did and when it will end. As an ex-felon, you learn that your punishment will never end — you are, in fact, serving a life sentence.

Related stories

While I waited, the graduate program kept emailing me the action steps I needed to complete to matriculate in the fall, but I got an error message every time I tried to complete them. Depression set in, and I often thought of ending my life.

Rejecting me didn't stop the University of Florida from promoting the idea of diversity and equal opportunity. When I finally received a rejection letter stating that my past conduct did not clear its review board, I didn't cry until I read the footer: "The Foundation for The Gator Nation, An Equal Opportunity Institution."

Years later, I decided to try again 

I found a graduate program at NYU. It was a highly competitive program, but as a student with a 4.0 GPA, solid work experience, and many volunteer projects, I should have been reasonably confident that I had a chance.

But all I could feel was anxiety and fear. Before applying, I spoke to the program director at NYU, who personally cleared my ability to apply and told me that he believed that our criminal justice system is cruel and unusual and has to change. 

I was accepted. But when I logged on to register for my first class, I got an error message. My heart broke, and I berated myself. At this point, I thought, I should have known better. 

I sent an email and prepared for another setback. To my surprise, it was a misunderstanding. In October 2021, I began my first graduate course. 

Starting graduate school, I finally felt like I had a future to build 

I found people who believed that I mattered. I still worry about my ability to pay off my student debt, since a criminal record can be a barrier to scholarships and future work opportunities , but it gives me hope to find an institution that actually provides equal opportunity instead of merely printing a slogan on its letterhead.  

It should come as no surprise that so many ex-felons give up and end up right back in a prison cell. My strength to keep fighting came because I found people who believed in me and were willing to support me as I found my voice and a new career as a writer.  

If you've been through prison, you know what it's like to suffer. In America, if you want an education and a chance to make a new life for yourself, expect more suffering. But as Martin Luther King said , "We will match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering. We will meet your physical force with soul force."

In response to a request for comment, the University of Florida said in an email to Insider that if an applicant has "a criminal history," their application is sent to the Office of Conduct and Conflict Resolution for review per the university regulations . When asked specifically about the policy mentioned in this story that applicants with criminal records must submit two applications, UF said that " applying to UF's graduate programs is a multi-step process for all applicants. "

Towson University declined to provide or comment on the specific policies mentioned in this story and offered a link to the university policy page .

David Ben Moshe is a writer, speaker, and fitness coach. His work focuses on race relations, criminal justice reform, fitness, Judaism, and Israel.

• Main content

I went from prison to professor – here’s why criminal records should not be used to keep people out of college

Assistant Professor of Medicine, Howard University

Disclosure statement

Dr. Stanley Andrisse is the executive director of From Prison Cells to PhD, Inc. This organization helps formerly incarcerated people obtain higher education.

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Beginning this year, the Common Application – an online form that enables students to apply to the 800 or so colleges that use it – will no longer ask students about their criminal pasts .

As a formerly incarcerated person who now is now an endocrinologist and professor at two world-renowned medical institutions – Johns Hopkins Medicine and Howard University College of Medicine – I believe this move is a positive one. People’s prior convictions should not be held against them in their pursuit of higher learning.

While I am enthusiastic about the decision to remove the criminal history question from the Common Application, I also believe more must be done to remove the various barriers that exist between formerly incarcerated individuals such as myself and higher education.

I make this argument not only as a formerly incarcerated person who now teaches aspiring medical doctors, but also as an advocate for people with criminal convictions . The organization I lead - From Prison Cells to PhD – helped push for the change on the Common Application.

My own story stands as a testament to the fact that today’s incarcerated person could become tomorrow’s professor. A person who once sold illegal drugs on the street could become tomorrow’s medical doctor. But this can only happen if such a person, and the many others in similar situations, are given the chance.

There was a time not so long ago when some in the legal system believed I did not deserve a chance. With three felony convictions, I was sentenced to 10 years in prison for drug trafficking as a prior and persistent career criminal. My prosecuting attorney once stated that I had no hope for change .

Today, I am Dr. Stanley Andrisse. As a professor at Johns Hopkins and Howard University, I now help train students who want to be doctors. I’d say that I have changed. Education was transformative.

US incarceration rates the highest

The United States needs to have more of this transformative power of education. The country incarcerates more people and at a higher rate than any other nation in the world. The U.S. accounts for less than 5 percent of the world population but nearly 25 percent of the incarcerated population around the globe .

Roughly 2.2 million people in the United States are essentially locked away in cages. About 1 in 5 of those people are locked up for drug offenses.

I was one of those people in prison not so long ago.

Early life of crime

Growing up in the Ferguson, North St. Louis area, I started selling drugs and getting involved with other crimes at a very young age. I was arrested for the first time at age 14. By age 17, I was moving substantial amounts of drugs across the state of Missouri and the country. By my early 20s, I found myself sitting in front of a judge and facing 20 years to life for drug trafficking charges. The judge sentenced me to 10 years in state prison.

When I stood in front of that judge, school was not really my thing.

Although I was a successful student athlete and received a near full scholarship to play football for Lindenwood University, a Division II college football program, I found it difficult to get out of the drug business. Suffice it to say, there were people in the drug world who wanted me to keep moving drugs. And they made it clear that they would be extremely disappointed if I were to suddenly stop. So I continued. For this reason, I didn’t view my undergraduate college experience the way I view education now.

The transformative power of education

Education provides opportunities for people with criminal records to move beyond their experience with the penal system and reach their full potential. The more education a person has, the higher their income . Similarly, the more education a person has, the less likely they are to return to prison .

A 2013 analysis of several studies found that obtaining higher education reduced recidivism – the rate of returning to prison – by 43 percent and was four to five times less costly than re-incarcerating that person. The bottom line is education increases personal income and reduces crime.

Despite these facts, education is woefully lacking among those being held in America’s jails and prisons. Nearly 30 percent of America’s incarcerated – about 690,000 people – are released each year and only 60 percent of those individuals have a GED or high school diploma, compared to 90 percent of the overall of U.S. population over age 25. And less than 3 percent of the people released from incarceration each year have a college degree, compared to 40 percent of the U.S. population .

Rejected by colleges

I had a bachelor’s degree by the time I went to prison but never got the chance to put it to use. Then something tragic happened while I was serving time that prompted me to see the need to further my education. Due to complications of diabetes, my father had his legs amputated. He fell into a coma and lost his battle with Type 2 diabetes. I was devastated. This experience made me want to learn more about how to fight this disease.

While incarcerated, I applied to six biomedical graduate programs. I was rejected from all but one – Saint Louis University. Notably, I had a mentor from Saint Louis University who served on the admission committee. Without that personal connection, I’m not sure I would have ever gotten a second chance.

I finished near the top of my graduate school class, suggesting that I was likely qualified for the programs that rejected me.

Restore Pell grants to incarcerated people 

Based on the difficulty I experienced in going from prison to becoming a college professor, I believe there are things that should be done to remove barriers for incarcerated or formerly incarcerated people who wish to pursue higher education.

One of those barriers is cost. When the government removed Pell funding from prisons by issuing the "tough on crime” Law Enforcement Act of 1994 , the vast majority of colleges offering courses in prison stopped. Due to the federal ban on receiving Pell grants while incarcerated, most of those serving time are not able to afford to take college courses while in prison. The Obama administration took a step toward trying to restore Pell grants for those in prison with the Second Chance Pell pilot . The program has given over 12,000 incarcerated individuals across the nation the chance to use Pell grants toward college courses in prison.

Through the program, 67 colleges and universities are working with over 100 prisons to provide college courses to the incarcerated.

Under the Trump administration, this program is at-risk of being discontinued at the end of 2018. Historically, some have argued that allowing Pell dollars to be used by those in prison takes precious Pell dollars from people who did not violate the law. However, the current Second Chance Pell pilot funding being directed to prisons, $30 million, accounts for 0.1 percent of the total $28 billion of Pell funding. Even if the program were expanded, based on historical levels, it would still amount to one-half of 1 percent of all Pell funding. This is justified by the impact that Pell dollars would have in prison in terms of reducing recidivism .

Remove questions about drug crimes from federal aid forms

Federal policymakers could increase opportunities by removing Question 23 on the federal student aid form that asks if applicants have been convicted of drug crimes. A 2015 study found that nearly 66 percent of would-be undergraduates who disclosed a conviction on their college application did not finish their application.

Federal student aid applicants likely feel the same discouragement. I felt discouraged myself when I was applying to graduate programs when I came across the question about whether I had ever been convicted of a crime. It made me feel like I was nothing more than a criminal in the eyes of the college gatekeepers.

This question also disproportionately effects people of color, since people of color are disproportionately impacted by the criminal justice system . Furthermore, the question runs the risk of making formerly incarcerated people feel isolated and less valuable than those who’ve never gotten in trouble with the law.

When people who have been incarcerated begin to feel like they don’t belong and higher education is not for them, our nation will likely not be able to realize their potential and hidden talents.

It will be as if we have locked them up and thrown away the key.

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Guide to Prison Education

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Prison College Programs

Prison education is a proven strategy for reducing criminal recidivism and improving economic opportunities for individuals serving prison sentences as well as former inmates transitioning into civilian life. However, access to opportunities for education in prison remain limited. Prisoners seeking college degrees have very few options. Likewise, ex-offenders face a number of practical obstacles, including strict limitations on access to financial aid. In spite of these limitations and obstacles, inmates and ex-offenders who can find ways to receive an education and earn a degree may dramatically improve their future prospects. Read on for a look at educational opportunities for inmates and ex-offenders, the limitations placed on these opportunities, and tips for making the most of the programs that are available.

Education in prison is more than just a way to pass the hours while serving a criminal sentence. Prison education is a way to significantly reduce the likelihood that a temporary jail sentence will turn into a lifetime inside the prison system. Education is among the strongest remedies for the endemic problem of criminal recidivism. And there is persuasive evidence that the higher your level of education, the lower your likelihood of returning to criminal activity or incarceration. And yet, there are severe limits on educational access for both inmates and ex-offenders. For more than 2.3 million U.S. inmates —  the largest prison population in the world  — these limits include barriers to college-level courses, financial aid, and internet access.

To learn how inmates and ex-offenders can improve their chances of earning a college degree, read on:

What is Prison Education?

Prison Education can fit under a wide range of categories, from basic literacy and vocational training to rehabilitation, physical education, and the arts. Prison education also includes programs that allow, or even require, prisoners to pursue a GED or high school equivalency, as well as programs that create access to college courses, either onsite or through mailed correspondence. The vast majority of prison education programs are conducted onsite at both state and federal prison facilities.

Educational opportunities for inmates and ex-offenders produce clear and demonstrable value by creating access to practical training and academic degrees. This post-secondary education can translate into future employment opportunities, heightened earning potential, and reducing tendencies toward recidivism. Inmates who earn a GED ( high school diploma equivalency) are less likely to relapse into criminal behavior and incarceration. Even less likely to relapse are those who earn a college degree.

This is because education and degree attainment can help mitigate some of the sociological drivers of criminal behavior and incarceration, including economic disadvantage and racial inequality. The benefits of effective prison education also extend beyond individual inmates and ex-offenders. Lower levels of recidivism lead to safer neighborhoods, more vibrant communities, and a reduction of the burden that our enormous prison system imposes on U.S. taxpayers. Nonetheless, access to higher education remains inconsistent at best, and obstructed by severe limitations at worst.

Best Online Degree Programs

Prison education opportunities can vary from state to state, and from one type of facility to another. In most contexts though, inmates must work within strict parameters. To earn an academic degree while serving a prison sentence, one must manage education responsibilities while adhering to considerable limits on freedom, movement, and access. Most federal and state inmates lack regular internet access, which makes it difficult to attend online courses or earn a degree from an online college. These limitations are further compounded by the high cost of college, the declining rate of public moneys allotted for post-secondary education in prison, and the high hurdle that inmates and ex-offenders must clear to receive student aid.

In spite of these limitations, prisoners at both the federal and state levels do have access to a high school education. In fact, at both the federal level and in most state prison systems, participation in some form of GED education is mandatory.

Post-secondary opportunities are less pervasive, but can take the form of both vocational certifications and academic degrees. Vocational certification programs — geared toward practical and technical skills training—are far more commonplace than academic degrees. These programs are also far more likely to be subsidized through public funding than are associate degree or bachelor’s degree programs.

With that said, some states have shown leadership in producing academic opportunities for inmates. States with the highest concentration of inmate students — like California and Texas — have offered ample proof that inmates with post-secondary academic degrees are among the least likely demographics to return to prison.

Indeed, while access and affordability remain obstacles, those state prison systems that do create greater opportunities for educational attainment are seeing positive results. The resources below are designed to highlight the benefits of earning a college degree while in prison or after release, as well as identify some of the best ways that we can support both incarcerated persons and ex-offenders as they work toward a better future.

If you’d like to help shape the public policies impacting educational opportunities for inmates — especially as they relate to access to online courses and student aid —  consider working toward a degree in Public Policy .

Education in Prison vs. Recidivism

The best measure for the value of education in prison is criminal recidivism. Recidivism — an individual’s tendency to relapse into criminal behavior after release from a previous sentence — is among the most essential concepts in the field of criminal justice. According to the National Institute of Justice , recidivism is defined as criminal behavior that resulted in rearrest, reconviction or return to prison with or without a new sentence during a three-year period following the prisoner’s release.

Recidivism is a permeating problem in the criminal justice system. The various factors that make individuals more prone to criminal conviction — economic circumstances, racial inequalities, education gaps, mental illness, addiction — are often intensified or magnified by an initial criminal conviction. A recent study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics revealed that a staggering 67.8% of prisoners tracked were rearrested within three years of their release, more than half of those landing back in a jail cell in less than one year.

While there are few antidotes to the complex cross-section of factors that make individuals more susceptible to criminal behavior and incarceration, access to education has proven as powerful a remedy as any.

According to the Prison Studies Project , prison education tends to significantly outperform other methods of rehabilitation — boot camps, shock incarceration, and even vocational training — when measured by recidivism.

The Prison Studies Project points out that 95% of people living in the prison population will eventually return to society. However, according to the Institute for Higher Education Policy, seven out of 10 will commit a new crime, and half will be back in prison, within three years. These are alarmingly incongruous statistics that suggest prisons are not doing enough to facilitate meaningful rehabilitation nor to help prepare felons for reentry into society.

And yet, academic education continues to produce meaningful results in the contexts where it has been allowed to flourish. In 2005, IHEP reported that the rates of recidivism were 46 percent lower for participants in prison education programs versus those who had taken no college courses. The report noted that these findings were also reinforced by more than a dozen studies dating to the ‘90s, which consequently demonstrated even longer-term reductions in recidivism.

These rates of reduced recidivism are also closely linked to level of educational attainment. A study conducted by the American Correctional Association in the state of Indiana revealed that the rate of recidivism was 20 percent lower for those who had earned their GED (the equivalent of a high school diploma); and 44 percent lower for those who had earned a college degree.

This suggests that earning a higher degree may reduce one’s likelihood of returning to criminal activity or incarceration. Greater educational attainment certainly creates greater opportunities for employment, improved skill sets for economic mobility, and stronger decision-making skills, particularly as they relate to compliance with the law. For society at large, improved educational opportunities in prison and reduced recidivism can contribute to lower crime rates, savings to taxpayers, and to safer and more vibrant communities. In other words, recidivism rates offer a compelling argument in favor of expanded opportunities for higher education in prisons, especially through avenues like online college.

Getting Your GED in Prison

For inmates and ex-offenders alike, earning a GED or high school diploma is a necessary step on the way to earning either an associate degree or a bachelor’s degree. Evidence suggests that those who are in prison are far more likely to lack a high school diploma than the general U.S. population. Likewise, those who lack a high school diploma are more vulnerable to criminal behavior, incarceration, and recidivism.

According to the Center for American Progress , while more than 41% of the U.S population holds a high school diploma, only 18% of inmates hold a diploma. This means that for a great many inmates, earning a GED is a necessary starting point. For some inmates, this may also mean participating in some basic remedial courses including literacy training, or in the case of Non-English-speaking inmates, an equivalent English as a Second Language (ESL) program.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons notes that literacy or ESL programs are mandatory for most federal inmates who haven’t graduated from high school or earned their GED. The Bureau indicates that inmates must typically take a minimum of 240 hours in literacy training or until they obtain their GED.

The majority of these programs are facilitated through onsite courses and are a required part of most prison rehabilitation strategies. In some instances, mail-in correspondence courses may also help facilitate the receipt of an online high school diploma or GED, though research suggests that inmates are less likely to achieve degree-completion through the slow and tedious mail-in process.

Online Diplomas for Ex-Offenders

For ex-offenders who are just beginning a new chapter in their lives, online GED programs offer great flexibility and access. This can be especially valuable for those working through parole programs, those with limitations on travel, and those managing new responsibilities in transitional employment settings.

Check out The 50 Best Online High School Diplomas and start working toward a diploma today.

Getting a College Degree in Prison

A 2011 report from IHEP notes that we lack systematically-collected data across all 50 states, which makes it difficult to measure the exact prevalence of Post-Secondary College Education (PSCE) opportunities for inmates.

The IHEP report references findings from 2008, indicating that somewhere between 35 and 42 percent of correctional facilities offer some type of PSCE access. The Center for American Progress echoes these findings, noting that only 35 percent of state prisons provide college-level courses, and these programs only serve six percent of incarcerated individuals nationwide.

This low rate of penetration can be attributed to several factors, including the above-noted reality that many inmates may lack basic academic skills or may be working toward a GED. However, limitations on access and affordability are also major — sometimes insurmountable — obstacles to post-secondary educational access among inmates.

This limited access is only magnified by the issue of cost. Financing a college education is hard enough for the average student. Limits in opportunities for financial aid can make the uphill climb even steeper for inmates. As of 2018, prison inmates received less than 1% of all Pell program funding. (Even those recipients were largely part of the Second Chance Pell Program, an Obama-era initiative that, according to the Department of Education, awarded "578 Certificates, Associates, and Bachelors graduates in prison, 34 graduates post incarceration, and 954 credentials" between 2016 and 2019. Still, for inmates in many states, higher education in prison isn’t an option. For many others, it may be an option, but one that is financially out of reach.

This is generally true for federal inmates as well. The Federal Bureau of Prisons , does provide access to publicly-funded vocational and job training programs. These opportunities are also expected to grow and improve for federal inmates since the 2018 passage of the Prison Reform Bill . Some traditional college-level courses may be accessible, but federal inmates are largely responsible for financing this education independently.

For inmates in states and facilities that do not provide onsite college-level options, the best option for earning college credits or working toward a degree may be through distance correspondence courses. Some colleges offer correspondence courses that are open to all. Others offer correspondence courses that are geared specifically to students in the correctional system.

Prison Education System identifies the programs that it considers the most accessible and hospitable to the needs of incarcerated students. In most cases, these colleges and universities use mail correspondence courses to facilitate learning, proctor exams, award credits, and furnish associate and bachelor’s degrees. As such, these colleges and universities offer undergraduate correspondence programs uniquely suited to the higher education needs of prisoners:

• Adams State University
• Andrews University
• Ashworth College
• Athabasca University
• Brigham Young University
• California Coast University
• California Miramar University
• Colorado State University
• Colorado State University at Pueblo
• Huntington College of Health Sciences
• Louisiana State University
• Murray State University
• Ohio University
• Oklahoma State University
• Perelandra College
• Rio Salado College
• Sam Houston State University
• Seattle Central Community College
• Southwest University
• Texas State University
• Thomas Edison State
• Thompson Rivers University
• University of Central Arkansas
• University of Idaho
• University of Minnesota
• University of Mississippi
• University of North Carolina
• University of Northern Iowa
• University of Saskatchewan
• University of Wisconsin
• University of Wisconsin-Platteville
• University of Wyoming
• Upper Iowa University
• Wesleyan Center for Prison Education

Online Programs for You

Online college for inmates.

Unfortunately, severe limitations on internet access for inmates largely stand in the way of the full potential that could be revealed through online postsecondary opportunities. Many inmates do have opportunities for limited internet usage through a system called Trust Fund Limited Inmate Computer System (TRULINCS), a highly restricted form of web access that allows federal inmates, and inmates in some state facilities, to communicate with personal contacts in the outside world. The system does not make allowance for many other activities.

Sending and receiving emails through TRULINCS is a paid service, which additionally limits web access. In sum, this outlet does not provide access to educational services, including online courses and online college degree programs.

This is a missed opportunity, one that could change life and brighten the future for many individuals currently serving time in prison. The increased access and flexibility created by online courses and online degree programs is especially well-suited to the unique needs and obstacles facing inmates.

An IHEP reports that even within the relatively small population of inmates enrolled in post-secondary education — roughly 71,000 of more than two million incarcerated individuals — the number of inmates who are on track to earn an academic degree is even smaller and more concentrated.

According to the study’s findings, roughly three-quarters of incarcerated students are enrolled in vocational or certificate programs (as opposed to academic programs). Moreover, 86% of all incarcerated post-secondary students reside in these thirteen high-enrollment states:

• South Carolina

California in particular offers strong evidence that access to post-secondary academic degree programs yields demonstrably positive outcomes.

In 2014, San Quentin was the only prison in the state to offer onsite-instructed college classes. By 2017, 34 of the state’s 35 prisons offered some form of onsite college education. As of 2018, more than 4,500 of the state’s inmates had enrolled in courses for college credits.

According to a report from Corrections to College California  — part of a joint initiative from the Opportunity Institute and the Stanford Criminal Justice Center , most post-secondary instruction takes place onsite. There are some students engaged through mailed correspondence courses but, again, the results produced by onsite instruction are generally better. The report also points to the security protocols surrounding internet use for inmates as a primary obstacle to more widespread access.

The report also finds that budgetary constraints — which only continue to worsen for many state prison systems — stand in the way of expanded access. A more flexible approach to web access [PDF] could change this equation, paving the way for more cost-effective ways of distributing post-secondary academic education and online degrees.

Indeed, many online colleges are well-positioned to serve this student population and could dramatically scale up the capacity of state systems to offer access and clear pathways to academic degrees. Greater online access could also serve as the bridge between prison education and public university systems. Online college offers a clear path for formalizing the relationship between state educational systems, post-secondary opportunities for inmates, and job placement services for ex-offenders.

Online College Degrees for Ex-Offenders

For ex-offenders who are working toward reentry, one of the best options for earning a college degree may be through an online college or university. Depending on your release status, you may be working on a degree while managing limitations on your ability to travel as well as juggling work and personal responsibilities. Online college can offer flexibility, access and affordability as you navigate this new chapter in your life.

Take a look at this year’s Best Online Colleges and find out what steps you have to take to get started.

Financial Aid and Incarcerated Students

For many Americans, student aid is an important part of the college equation. Need-based grants and federal student loans exist to help students finance a higher education. While these grants and loans are meant to help all students who wish to seek a college education, criminal convictions can limit eligibility .

Every individual’s situation will differ, but in a great many cases, criminal convictions can limit your eligibility for federal student aid. Excluding the small population of inmates who have participated in various Pell Grant pilot programs, those who are currently incarcerated are generally not approved for the receipt of Pell Grants.

That said, every individual interested in pursuing an education should begin by filling out a FAFSA form . This worksheet helps you — and the federal government — determine your eligibility for student aid. If you are eligible for participation in a pilot program, the FAFSA may be your ticket in.

Likewise, you may have the option of filing an appeal for a rejected application . In some cases, there may be ways of demonstrating your qualifications. Try working with administrators at your prison facility, with personnel at your selected college, or with legal counsel and family members or advocates, to navigate the FAFSA process as best you can. But don’t be discouraged if this proves a dead-end.

It is also noteworthy that persons who are convicted for sexual offenses are not eligible for federal student aid, either as inmates or upon release.

For most other ex-offenders, the restrictions upon eligibility become less onerous upon release. The major exception to this eligibility impacts those ex-offenders with drug convictions. If you have been convicted of a drug offense, your eligibility is technically suspended, but may be restored upon successful completion of an approved drug rehabilitation program , or by passing two unannounced drug tests administered by an approved drug rehabilitation program.

Removing limitations on aid eligibility for non-violent offenders — both inmates and ex-offenders — may be one way to help improve access and confront patterns of recidivism. The aforementioned IHEP report recommends policy initiatives aimed at making need-based financial aid more widely available to specific categories of incarcerated persons  — a population that excludes violent offenders and those guilty of sex crimes, but which may more liberally include those convicted of non-violent drug offenses.

Policy changes in this area could help transform the array of rehabilitative opportunities available to incarcerated individuals.

Scholarships and Grants for inmates

Though access to federal financial aid is limited for those currently serving time in prison, there are several grant-funding groups — both public and private — who work to help prisoners and ex-offenders complete certifications, earn degrees, and start careers. Visit these organizations and scholarship funds to learn more:

• The Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration
• The Prison Scholar Fund
• Prison Education Foundation

Reducing the size of our nation’s enormous prison population means not only reducing recidivism but also supporting those who are most vulnerable to an eventual first offense. It is with this in mind that Rutgers University offers a list of scholarship groups specifically dedicated to the educational needs of children with incarcerated parents. The shared goal of the following grants and scholarships is to ensure that these at-risk students start down the correct path:

• ScholarCHIPS
• Ava’s Grace Scholarship Foundation
• Creative Corrections Education Foundation
• Willy the Plumber Scholarship Fund
• The Children of Inmates Scholarship Fund

The Best Degrees for Inmates

Reentry into society comes with a number of challenges, including employment obstacles and uncertainty about where your skills fit into today’s job market . One of the best strategies for improving your employment opportunities is to earn a degree that gives you flexibility, room for personal growth, and even the chance to start your own business. Some of the best degrees, both for inmates and for ex-offenders, are those that give you the chance to become a self-starter, either as a freelancer, contractor, or entrepreneur:

• The 20 Best Online Bachelor’s in Computer Science Degree Programs
• The 10 Best Online Bachelor’s in Computer Programming Programs
• The 5 Best Online Associate in Graphic Design Programs

Your time in prison, as well as your personal journey toward rehabilitation, may also make you uniquely qualified to help others facing their own struggles and journeys. If you’re working toward reentry and seeking a constructive way to apply your experiences, consider a degree in counseling, addiction recovery , or even in the healthcare field.

• The 7 Best Online Bachelor’s in Addiction Recovery Programs
• The 8 Best Online Bachelor’s in Counseling Programs

Whatever career path you take, be aware that there are employers who won’t hire you on the basis of your past conviction. Don’t let this discourage you. Continue to develop and apply your skills, be honest with prospective employers (i.e. never lie about your conviction on a job application), and somebody will give you the chance you need.

[For more job-hunting, resume, and interview tips, consult our Career Counselor .]

Advocacy Programs for Rehabilitation and Reentry

You should also be aware that there are those who wish to help and support you in your journey through reentry, toward a degree, and into gainful employment. Many of these advocacy organizations include individuals who have been down the same path of incarceration and reentry. In addition to providing meaningful perspective and emotional support, some of these groups can provide direct job placement, education guidance, and psychological counseling:

• National Hire Network
• CareerOneStop: Job Search Help for Ex-Offenders

If you’re interested in helping improve access to educational opportunities for inmates as a legal advocate, an attorney, or a lawmaker, consider a degree in legal studies or public administration:

• The 25 Best Bachelor’s in Legal Studies Degree Programs
• The 30 Best Online MPA Programs: Online Master in Public Administration
• 10 Top Affordable Recognized Law Schools in the U.S .

If you’re interested in supporting the fight against recidivism through public advocacy, intervention, or counseling, consider a degree in social work:

• The Best Online Associate in Social Work Degree Programs
• The 40 Best Bachelor’s in Social Work Degree Programs
• The 25 Best Master of Social Work (MSW) Online Degree Programs
• The Best Online Doctorate in Social Work Programs

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PhD in Criminal Justice

Transfer credits, next start date, protect and serve with a phd in criminal justice from liberty university.

If you are an experienced law enforcement professional, Liberty’s online PhD in Criminal Justice – General* can help prepare you for senior leadership roles in criminal justice organizations. Through advanced research and analysis of criminal justice practices, you will study how to assess and improve government and law enforcement organizations and master techniques in instruction.

In this program, you’ll be trained by seasoned criminal justice scholars with years of experience. Our professors teach from a Christian worldview, so you can receive biblically-based training that can help you lead effectively and with integrity in your chosen field.

*Please note that this is not a specialization. Any reference using the term “General” is the main degree and is only used to differentiate from other specializations.

Our PhD in counseling online degree is taught by professionals with real-world experience in clinical and leadership settings. The PhD in Counseling program curriculum builds on your knowledge and expertise to grow critical thinking, leadership, and clinical skills. Whether you are seeking to expand in your current role or explore other areas within the counseling field, our PhD in Counseling online program is designed to equip you with the knowledge and training you need.

Why Choose Liberty University’s Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Criminal Justice?

As a criminal justice professional studying at Liberty University, you can gain the knowledge and skills you need to seek promotion to a senior leadership position, enhance your credentials, or teach criminal justice at the undergraduate or graduate level. At Liberty, you’ll learn from a Christian perspective with classes grounded in integrity and taught by men and women who have real-life experience making the tough calls.

Our program’s blend of real-world application and criminal justice theory can help you stand out in your profession and give you an edge. Liberty’s instructors in the Helms School of Government have years of experience in criminal justice and understand the critical issues of the field. You can excel without compromising your principles with the advanced training you can gain through our online PhD in Criminal Justice degree program.

Military Tuition Discount We want to help you find the doctoral degree you want — at a price you’ve earned. As a thank-you for your military service, Liberty University offers eligible current and former service members like you or your spouse multiple pathways to earn a doctoral degree for only $300/credit hour . Find out how you can take advantage of this unique opportunity as you work towards your goal of reaching the pinnacle of your profession — for less.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a phd in criminal justice worth it.

A doctorate in criminal justice can help set you apart from the competition. Additionally, Liberty’s criminal justice program can assist you in moving into positions of added responsibility. The unique blend of praxis and scholarship that Liberty offers provides a dynamic experience that is rich and engaging.

Careers in police, detective, and investigative roles are projected to continue to increase over the next 10 years.* Additionally, if you decide to teach at the collegiate level, jobs in the post-secondary teaching sector have a higher-than-average growth rate.**

*Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, at Protective Service Occupations (viewed online April 27, 2021). Cited projections may not reflect local and/or short-term economic or job conditions and do not guarantee actual job growth.

**Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, at Postsecondary Teachers (viewed online April 27, 2021). Cited projections may not reflect local and/or short-term economic or job conditions and do not guarantee actual job growth.

What is the difference between criminology and criminal justice?

Criminology typically consists of the study of criminals and criminal behavior. In contrast, in Liberty’s criminal justice PhD, you can learn about the apprehension of criminals within society, the causation of criminality, and how to administer justice.

What can I do with a PhD in Criminal Justice?

You can greatly increase your career opportunities with a PhD in Criminal Justice. Potential careers range from emergency services management to postsecondary education. Whether working for a government agency or within a local department, our faculty are dedicated to providing a world-class education that will follow you wherever you go.  A PhD in Criminal Justice from Liberty can help you prepare to pursue many exciting job opportunities.

What will my diploma say?

Your diploma will say Doctor of Philosophy in Criminal Justice. Reference to this degree as “general” is only to differentiate the degree from other specializations.

What Will You Learn in the PhD in Criminal Justice Online Degree?

Your PhD in Criminal Justice courses provide advanced training in a wide range of critical issues such as crime causation, comparative criminal justice systems, juvenile justice policies, and advanced corrections policies. You will also study international crime and terrorism to increase your awareness of the global impact of organized crime. You will study under dedicated professors who are passionate about both theory and praxis, as well as the administration of criminal justice in communities and organizations alike.

With the general track option, you will have the flexibility allows you to take courses that pique your interest and align with your career goals. Some options include homeland security, criminal justice, and policy.

PhD in Criminal Justice Featured Courses

• CJUS 810 – Transnational Organized Crime
• CJUS 820 – Advanced Topics in Terrorism and Intelligence
• CJUS 830 – Criminal Justice Organizational Conflict
• CJUS 840 – Stress Management in Criminal Justice

Potential Career Opportunities with a PhD in Criminal Justice

With an online doctorate in criminal justice from Liberty, you can be prepared for several different opportunities. Whether you decide to pursue criminal justice administration or teaching at the collegiate level, Liberty’s criminal justice doctoral program is designed to help you succeed. The skills and knowledge gained from the online criminal justice PhD degree may open up opportunities in private or governmental agencies or increase your earning potential.

Some of the positions you could pursue include:

• Criminal justice writer
• Detective/investigator
• Forensics investigator
• Police chief
• Polygraph examiner/operator
• Prison warden
• Professor/instructor
• Public policy advisor

PhD in Criminal Justice Program Information

• This program falls under the  Helms School of Government .
• Download and review the  Degree Completion Plan .
• View the Graduate Government Course Guides (login required) .

  Apply Now     Request Info

Admission Requirements for the PhD in Criminal Justice

A regionally or nationally accredited master’s degree with a 3.0 or above GPA is required for admission in good standing. Please visit our admission requirements page for more detailed admissions-related information.

All applicants must submit the following:

• Admission application
• Application fee*
• Official college transcripts
• Proof of English proficiency (for applicants whose native language is other than English)

*There is no upfront application fee; however, a deferred $50 application fee will be assessed during Financial Check-In. This fee is waived for qualifying service members, veterans, and military spouses – documentation verifying military status is required.

Highlights of Our PhD in Criminal Justice Online

• We are  recognized by multiple institutions for our academic quality, affordability, and accessibility . Our commitment to excellence also helped us rank in the top 10% of Niche.com’s best online schools in America . Earning your online PhD in Criminal Justice degree from a nonprofit university with this kind of recognition can help set you apart from others in your field.

The majority of tuition for undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs has not increased in 9 years. While many other online colleges have raised tuition, Liberty has been able to keep costs low as a nonprofit university. 

You will have access to a wide variety of online resources through Liberty University’s library portal throughout your time in the PhD program.

Finish your PhD in Criminal Justice degree online in as little as 3 years!

Highlights of Our Ph.D. in Criminal Justice Online

• We are recognized by multiple institutions for our academic quality, affordability, and accessibility . Our commitment to excellence also helped us rank in the top 10% of Niche.com’s best online schools in America . Earning your online Ph.D. in Criminal Justice degree from a nonprofit university with this kind of recognition can help set you apart from others in your field.

You will have access to a wide variety of online resources through Liberty University’s library portal throughout your time in the Ph.D. program.

Finish your Ph.D. in Criminal Justice degree online in as little as 3 years!

*Some restrictions may occur for this promotion to apply. This promotion also excludes active faculty and staff, military, Non-Degree Seeking, DGIA, Continuing Education, WSB, and Certificates.

Apply FREE This Week*

Other programs you may be interested in

Doctor of Philosophy (PHD)

Criminal Justice: Homeland Security

Next Start Date: May 13, 2024

Criminal Justice: Leadership

Public policy: general, public policy: national security policy, public policy: social policy, looking for a different program.

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– Janae Fleming ’15, B.S. in Education

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Incarcerated students earn degrees in groundbreaking US university program

Participants in Northwestern University prison education program will graduate despite having to work through Covid-19 pandemic

Students of Northwestern University who have completed their coursework while serving time in prison are preparing to graduate on Wednesday and become the first such pupils to receive bachelor’s degrees from the highly regarded college, according to academic officials .

The class graduating from the Northwestern Prison Education Program (NPEP) is one of four cohorts with 20 incarcerated students. Four hundred incarcerated people applied for the program during the latest application cycle, with only 70 getting interviewed.

Northwestern asserted that the members of the outgoing class are the first students who are incarcerated to receive bachelor’s degree from a university ranked among the top 10 on the US News & World Report.

The pupils finished their degree requirements during the Covid-19 pandemic , when universities across the country transitioned to remote learning.

To continue classes during the pandemic, Northwestern staff brought printed class materials and scanned assignments, given limited access to technology in the correctional facilities.

“What this cohort lived through … it’s really nothing short of extraordinary,” Jennifer Lackey, the NPEP’s director, said to Axios .

Students also navigated health challenges associated with Covid-19 as they attempted to finish their year.

Broderick Hollins, a student of the program’s second cohort, has said he had to teach himself thermodynamics after missing class because of a serious bout of Covid-19.

He said that working towards a degree helped bolster his mental health, Axios reported.

“Your mind can get into a dark, deep depression. Your mind is what’s imprisoned,” Hollins said, according to Axios, adding that learning in the classroom was “the best exercise you could have in prison”.

In an interview published on Northwestern’s website , Hollins added that chemistry was the most impactful course for him. He said that “with Covid-19 fighting us, our leaders are going to our chemists and living through science”.

The lauded writer and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates will be the commencement speaker for Wednesday’s NPEP ceremony.

Rob Scott, executive director of the Cornell Prison Education Prep (CPEP), applauded Northwestern’s program and emphasized the difficulty of achieving a degree, especially for incarcerated people with limited resources.

“This is a very difficult thing to do, let alone while you are incarcerated,” said Scott, who is also an adjunct professor at Cornell University. “The men and women that get into college programs go even double duty on putting aside some of the few things that would give them relief in their daily lives in prison, to focus on school work.”

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Like Northwestern, CPEP facilitates classes in correctional facilities in upstate New York. Enrolled students can earn an associate degree through SUNY community colleges.

“[Like Northwestern], we’ve analyzed the situation and seen that we’re laying waste to a huge population here by making them permanently incapable of restoration into the society that we have,” Scott said.

As Pell grant eligibility was expanded this year for incarcerated people, more colleges and universities will probably create higher education programs to earn bachelor’s degrees in prisons, Scott said.

An estimated 760,000 people will be able to access federal aid for education programs in correctional facilities.

Scott noted that collegiate education programs in prison can help lower recidivism rates, but they also represent a broader cultural shift to move away from punitive methods that fail to address crime.

“Is our goal to simply imagine that they’re a piece of waste that we can throw away? Because that’s what we feel like the current system does,” Scott said.

“Or are we trying to find some path to restoration and to [a] functioning, civil society? To me, that’s all this is.”

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Stanley Andrisse: From Prison Cells to PhD

Welcome to Remarkable People. We’re on a mission to make you remarkable. Helping me in this episode is Stanley Andrisse.

Stanley’s journey is one of resilience and redemption, an awe-inspiring transformation from a past marked by felony convictions to becoming a renowned endocrinologist scientist and professor at Howard University College of Medicine. His remarkable story has now been encapsulated in his new book, From Prison Cells to PhD .

In this eisode, you’ll discover the true essence of hope and transformation. It’s a tale that will challenge your perceptions and remind you that, even in the face of adversity, one can achieve the extraordinary.

In his book, From Prison Cells to PhD , Stanley provides an even deeper insight into his experiences and the journey that led him to where he is today. It’s a story of resilience, second chances, and the power of education to change lives.

Join us in this illuminating conversation with Dr. Stanley Andrisse, a living example that change is possible, and second chances can lead to remarkable achievements. Get ready to be inspired and uplifted.

Tune in to the episode now and embark on this transformative journey with us, and don’t forget to check out Stanley’s book for an even more profound exploration of his story.

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE HERE

Please enjoy this remarkable episode, Stanley Andrisse: From Prison Cells to PhD.

If you enjoyed this episode of the Remarkable People podcast, please leave a rating, write a review, and subscribe . Thank you!

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Transcript of Guy Kawasaki’s Remarkable People podcast with Stanley Andrisse: From Prison Cells to PhD

Guy Kawasaki: I'm Guy Kawasaki, and this is Remarkable People. We are, as you've heard, on a mission to make you remarkable. Helping me today is Stanley Andrisse. He has one of the most powerful stories in our podcast. He overcame incredible odds to transform from an incarcerated teenager to a scientist and author. Stanley grew up in Ferguson, Missouri and got into trouble at a young age. By his early twenties, he had amassed multiple felony convictions and was sentenced to ten years for drug trafficking. The prosecutor claimed he was beyond reform. While in prison, Stanley discovered a passion for science. He studied diabetes through phone calls and letters with a mentor. After his release, Stanley earned a PhD and MBA and became an endocrinologist at Howard University College of Medicine and the Georgetown Medical Center. As a professor, his groundbreaking work is about insulin resistance pathways. As an author of a book called From Prison Cells to PhD, he shares his story to inspire systemic change. I'm Guy Kawasaki. This is Remarkable People, and now, here is the remarkable Stanley Andrisse. Being on the straight path of study and hard work, how is that ever going to compete with the seemingly easy, exciting life of dealing? How are kids supposed to pick the hard path, the slow path, the less lucrative path? Stanley Andrisse: You start out right with some heavy-hitter questions there. That's a tough one. I answer that with another question. Why do the dominant cast individuals see that path as an attractive, doable, achievable path? So I think the question is, why is there certain groups of people in our society that society creates this imagery that it is not an attractive path for them? I think science is quite exhilarating. I think the things that I do and the new ideas that I come up with in the field of science and endocrinology is quite exciting and exhilarating, actually, but how do I get a fourteen-year-old, fifteen-year-old to see that? Maybe actually, we are not that good at getting a fourteen, fifteen-year-old no matter what side of the tracks they come from to see science or accounting or writing books as something exciting. It's just something that happens over time. So I would challenge that question with maybe that's not the real thing that we need to be doing. Maybe at that age, it's okay for someone to not yet see a path like science as something that is fun or exciting. It's just part of being a fourteen, fifteen-year-old teenage mind. Guy Kawasaki: Yeah, but as your case has proven out, it takes an act of God to get off that path, right? You're lucky your sentence went from seventy to thirty, but how often does that happen? Stanley Andrisse: It often doesn't happen for people that look like me, but it does often happen for other people that don't look like me, and I explained that in my book in that there was a couple of individuals that were just as deep as me that got caught up but they didn't look like me and society, the judge said, "We're going to give you another shot at this because I think eventually you will see that there's a better path for you in this world," but they didn't see that for me. That wasn't the way that the judge saw it originally, and I should say, really, the prosecutor more than the judge even. Guy Kawasaki: Well, that prosecutor said to you, "You're never going to change," right? Stanley Andrisse: Yeah. I think the prosecutor essentially was pushing for twenty years to life in prison because she felt that I had no hope for changing or she stated that whether she felt that I argue that all the time, that I really don't think that she truly felt or believed that. She said it because the system encouraged her and incentivized her to give harsher sentences to people that look like me and to people that came from the places, North St. Louis. I was from a primarily Black area in North St. Louis and I got caught up in this predominantly White area and she was incentivized to sentence people like me for longer periods of time. When I say incentivized, she was a young prosecutor that eventually moved up the ladder into being a judge, and a judge is in elected position that, really, the system is set up where the judges that make the decisions on things like law and order and should be fair. It's a political position. They really make their decisions based on what their people want them to make their decisions. In order to stay in office, they have to please the community that they're in. In that particular community, there was a lot of White flight going on into this particular area out of St. Louis City. There was then a trail of more affluent Black people that were able to move into this particular area and the White individuals were not very happy about that. One way to keep Black people out is whenever a Black person got caught up in that area, let's make sure we let them know that if they come out here and do any type of thing, the life sentence became the modern day noose. That was how they started hanging Black people instead of just putting them out in the streets. Thousands upon thousands, tens of thousands of people, Black individuals began getting life sentences in these thirty, forty, fifty, 160. Why would you give someone three life sentences? Even if you die and somehow get reincarnated, we're going to lock you back up, and then if you happen to get reincarnated again, we will lock you back up. You have three life sentences. You will never see daylight. How does that make sense? Guy Kawasaki: There's lots of things I read in your book that made no sense to me, and I'm going to try to hit on them. When you look back, and I don't know any other word but blame, when you look back, who or what do you blame for you turning to dealing drugs? Stanley Andrisse: There's a chapter in my book and the book is called From Prison Cells to PhD: It's Never Too Late to Do Good, and it's never too late to do good is this phrase that my father used to tell me. Hopefully, I will get into talking a little bit about that. Guy Kawasaki: Sure. Stanley Andrisse: Interestingly, I'm on a Facebook friend who was the second biggest dealer. He was my first or second big time dealer, but the first one, he was connected with the Mexican cartel. He was just moving crazy amounts of drugs for an eighteen-year-old. He was just a teenager and he was older than me. I think I was sixteen or something at the time, and we're still connected. He ended up doing some prison time as well. He's turned his life around and he just posted on social media and was sharing how he's so happy that he's a changed person now. Then he had other people commenting, and this girl commented, I don't know this girl, but then I looked at her picture and I checked her out. She had a husband and beautiful children and looked to be living a pretty nice life. My friend on the other hand has led a very challenging life and he was in prison and all, as I just mentioned, and he was this big time drug dealer, cartel connected as just a teenager. He told this girl that she was the reason she asked in fifth grade, she was a cute girl, she asked him if he could get some weed and he got his first little bag of weed to try to please her, and that was this first sale that he ever made. Then he ended up a couple years later becoming this big-time cartel connected. I shared that just to say how simple it actually can be. It wasn't these are bad people. I actually opened the first lines of my book, it's contrary to popular belief, "Drug dealers are regular everyday people." Then I opened the book up with talking about this family event that I was at where just like him that I just explained, we are humans that want love and care about those things. So how I got involved was really just a combination of things, but very similar to that situation. I started selling drugs just to smoke a little bit with my friends. Then one day, I was just sitting with some friends that were obviously not on the right side of making good decisions, but they presented this person and opportunity presented itself. Somebody lost their drug dealer, and they needed a new drug dealer, and I was really just smoking a little bit, but I was like, "My guy, I think, I could get that amount of weed. I think I could solve that problem there. I'm just going to help this other friend solve this problem by getting a little bit more weed." Then the next thing I know I'm getting ten pounds of weed every other day, and then all of a sudden I'm getting 100 pounds of weed every other month, and then all of a sudden I'm getting 300 pounds of weed and now everyone that I know carries guns and everybody's selling pills and cocaine. It just happened. Guy Kawasaki: So you often hear both users, but in general people are saying, quote, unquote, "It's just weed." So from both the users and the dealer's perspective, what's your opinion of this concept? "Eh, no big deal. It's just weed. It's not the really hard stuff." Stanley Andrisse: So that's obviously very interesting now that a large portion of our country has legalized weed, and to some extent, weed is less of a dangerous drug than, say, alcohol, for instance. So there's that side of the argument. It's not just weed though. So first, selling weed is very different. The amount of money and the amount of drugs, it was dangerous. So it definitely wasn't just weed because it was money, it was the amounts of money that people would kill for, literally. So there's no way that you can say that it's just weed if it's that type of level of dealing, but at the lower level, I would caution against people thinking that it's just weed because it's the old saying of the gateway drug, but if you're dealing, it can lead to bigger things, but in terms of its use and the danger of its use, I do think that it is not as dangerous of a substance as alcohol is, and alcohol is more widely used. Guy Kawasaki: You never hear of someone drinking alcohol and becoming an alcohol dealer. You could make the case if it's, quote, "just weed" and it's less harmful than alcohol and weed is controlled by the government and all that, then it's okay, but it doesn't sound okay. Stanley Andrisse: Well, it's the illegal aspect that wasn't okay because I think ten, fifteen years down the road, we will move to where it is like alcohol when you remove the Black market aspect and when you do the research and dive into it. The opioid epidemic has drawn a lot of medical research into the field of substance use, and they've moved to the place where they actually open up, I can't think of the name of them, but they're facilities that people can come to, and use heroin and use drugs and they can use it safely though. It's the Black market aspect of things that makes weed and anything that you're doing illegally so dangerous is because people will make sure that you don't bring it out of the Black market because if you bring it to the police, you could get me in a lot of trouble. So now I have to do nefarious things to make sure that it stays in the dark, but if we bring it to the light and we remove the stigma of it, we remove a lot of the danger. Guy Kawasaki: By the way, we're going to spend a fair amount of time on weed and prison and crime, but ultimately, we're going to get to your book because the real purpose of this, but for people to understand how great the book is, they got to understand where you're coming from. As you were starting dealing, did your parents or adults or other people warn you off, and why didn't you listen? Did you think you're going to be the person who got away with it? Surely you understood most people either got killed or imprisoned. What was in your mind that said, "No, I'm going to be the guy that threads the needles," so to speak? Stanley Andrisse: In multiple different instances within the book, I used the phrase we were teenagers, and to emphasize this idea that we know now that the human brain is not fully developed until a person reaches the age of twenty-five roughly, and the part of the brain that's not fully developed is the ability to see long-term consequences. I often equate it to I have a beautiful five-year-old daughter and an amazing soon-to-be two-year-old son. When I had my daughter, there's an app for everything. I had this app that told us every week the new development stages, and I just wanted to be on top of everything of raising this tiny human. One week came up and it said that a baby just waves their arms around sometimes and there's a point in their development where eventually they realize that these things that are waving in front of their face is actually attached to their body and it's actually them and they're actually amazed at it. So you can see this point in the baby's development that they're so amazed at seeing their hands like they're tripping or something. When you think about how powerful the brain is, the brain literally was at a place that this thing that was attached to them, they could not realize that this thing that was attached to them was attached to them. The brain is this powerful thing, and when it hasn't developed something yet, it's really just not there. All of a sudden, they can tell that this thing waving in front of them is their hand. When we say the part of the brain that understands consequences isn't there yet, I couldn't see it. We were teenagers. That goes back to your question and my response on the first question that you asked is that the thing about it is all teenagers are making poor decisions. It's just that certain people get punished more harshly for the poor decisions they make, and certain people, eventually, the society says that, "You can become this," but then society says, "You can't become this," for certain others. For me, as I was writing the book, there was a chapter where one of the drug dealers that I was dealing with, this very dangerous guy, happens to be the same guy that I was just telling you about. I was going to pick up some drugs from him, about twenty-five pounds from him, and he has hundreds usually. I walk up to his house and it looked like somebody had broken in. This is a person that I know had just purchased, literally a couple days earlier, he was showing off his AK-47. He was like, "I just bought this for 20,000 dollars," and was shooting it off and was crazy. I see that somebody broke into his house, and I snuck into this very dangerous persons’ house. Guy Kawasaki: You went around the back, right? Stanley Andrisse: When it looked some crazy stuff was going on in the house, and yet my brain told me, "Hey, this looks real crazy. Let's get a little crazier though. Let's go inside and find out what's going on." Why? I look back at that, I'm like, "What are you thinking?" I'm writing it and I'm thinking, "This couldn't be. What? Why would you go in there?" and I just don't know. I don't know. My brain was at this place where it just didn't see that far. I was good at math and I'm a scientist. I didn't all of a sudden just become smart. I was smart back then too, but for some reason, I walked into this very dangerous situation, and I walked into a lot of dangerous situations. The only thing that really makes sense is that I was this teenager, that one, as a teenager, the brain is prone to not seeing long-term consequences and thus making poor decisions because they don't see those long-term consequences. Then I was conditioned by society to think that I should be reacting and doing things in a certain way and making certain types of decisions. Guy Kawasaki: Wow. I want to switch a little bit to prison because there's a lot of wisdom in your book about prison. First question is, how does one physically survive in prison? The next question is I'm going to ask you, how do you mentally survive? So that's common. So physically, who to trust? How do you pick your alliances? How do you not get killed? Stanley Andrisse: I think the way you survive prison is actually a mental psychological game. You survive the physical aspects by understanding the way to mentally and psychologically survive because physically, physical harm can be brought your way if your psychological and mental state is not in balance. So if your psychological and mental state are in a place of somewhat balance or at least consciousness, less physical harm will come your way, but the thing about prison is that you've just been told that you've just gone through a sentencing process that basically says you have a mental problem, that's why we have to outcast you from society. You're thinking you walked into this drug dealer's house that was just shooting off AKs, you're thinking is effed up. So you've already been told that your mental is effed up. You have a psychological problem. Then you walk in, and a bunch of other people have been told they have psychological mental problems. The truth is that a large percent of people do indeed have neurodivergence where they have different types of mental health issues before they even step foot into prison, but then it's just exponentiated through the process of being sentenced and going through incarceration. Then you're not able to be a real human and express normal human emotions in prison. For me, for instance, maybe we were going to talk about this in a little bit, but I ended up losing my father to his battle with type two diabetes and he went through a challenging situation. Losing someone and having someone be sick, you can easily want to shed emotions, crying or being depressed or being angry and yelling. Crying could literally bring physical harm to you. If you didn't check this regular human emotion, it could literally bring you physical harm. Yelling, screaming, and other aspect of potentially going through the emotions of grief could literally bring you harm. So it was really about understanding how to get your psychological self and mental health in a place of balance that helped you survive prison, but the thing that so many people that I witnessed had significant challenges surviving prison was because their psychological and mental health was not in balance, which when we think about it, why aren't we doing more to help people? We know all the things that lead to prison, we know the process, but the way the prison system is, the people that act out, they just further get punished. They get put in the hole and segregated where their mental health becomes even worse. It's crazy. It's literally crazy the amount of time they put people in a tiny box. How could somebody think that's going to help this situation out? It only pours fuel on the flame for this person who is already volatile. It's crazy. Guy Kawasaki: So what are you saying in terms of advice? If you want to survive prison, you've got to get your mental and psychological states in balance, but what does that mean? When you're alone at night in the cell, what are you thinking about? Are you thinking about getting out, you're thinking about revenge? What should you be thinking about? Stanley Andrisse: I personally poured myself into books. So first, even before I eventually started pouring myself into learning, I read my first scientific article on diabetes while I was incarcerated. Then I started reading a whole bunch more, and that is, of course, the field that I'm in now, but even before that epiphany came, I would just read and read. Literally, reading just took you away from physically having to be present in some of the prison BS. You literally just weren't out on the yard, you're reading. Then I was an avid journalist. So there was no psychologist or anybody helping me through this. I happen to be a journaler ever since I was in high school. So I would journal my emotions and what I saw that day and it would help me. I didn't know that I was helping myself process the trauma that was going on around me, and it gave me this avenue to, one, process the trauma and things that were going on around me, but then two, to take me away from it because it was literally taking time away from being in that environment. Then there's the physical health aspect, which a lot of people do in prison because that's one of the main things to do is get big and buff, but that does help your mind as well to be in this state of physical fitness. Then I think there needs to be this aspect of some people will say it's putting it into God's hands. For me, I realized that I didn't want other people telling me how I should live my life or how I should react to something. What that meant for me was I have been offered to join a number of gangs, and for me, I saw it as I would rather keep my integrity to do what is right and potentially have harm come to me because I was doing the right thing than to not have maybe harm come to me, but knowing in my soul that I'm not doing what my soul wants to do. So when I got to just letting my soul be itself regardless of what the outside world would think of me, and that's a challenging place to get to in prison. Guy Kawasaki: A lot of your book deals with the struggle of inform or not inform. So with hindsight, what's your analysis of, cost benefit analysis of being an informer? Stanley Andrisse: So you mean an informant to the police? Guy Kawasaki: Yeah. Stanley Andrisse: So as I got to this place of really letting my soul make my decisions, and that is this integrity, and I personally believe that deep down inside a person's soul really understands this concept of doing good. Whether their actions and behaviors that matriculate out into the world is something completely different, but the world in prison will tell you that there's a lot of sociopathic people that just are very harmful, unrepairable people, but that number is the way society portrays it. From my understanding of both research and just my personal experience, society's perceptions is completely wrong. The percentage of people in prison that are sociopathic, even people that have committed murder, the percentage of those individuals is very slim in terms of unrepairable and their soul being bad. When I was out on the streets, and I still believe that loyalty is one of the top qualities that I possess, and now I just don't make promises in the ways that I used to make promises, but if I make a promise to you, I personally think that to me, my soul tells me that the right thing to do is to keep my promise to you, and if I'm not going to keep my promise to you, then I should not make the promise to you. In terms of informants, in the streets, the people that I was hustling with, we were married to each other, we said our vows and we became married to each other, and we promised to each other that we wouldn't go to the police and do this. So to me, what I would do now is not make that promise. I would say, "Maybe I could hustle with you, but I can't make this promise that I'm going to give up my mom and my loved ones for you," But that's the promise that I made. I basically said, "I'm hustling with you. I will give up my life. I will lose my family to keep this promise." So the problem I made was making that promise. I don't think that once the promise is made, personally I think that you've made it and you shouldn't break it. Guy Kawasaki: I didn't quite understand in your book how your sentence got reduced and you had this opportunity to get a PhD. Can you just explain how did Stanley achieve that? Stanley Andrisse: I think you're asking two questions there. One is the sentencing aspect of things, and then two, how did I get a PhD, which has both literal and, of course, figuratively behind that. So one, I often like to inform folks that they need to read the book to get the deeper appreciation for that, but really, the sentencing aspect was literally an act of God almost. I have never been given a true reasoning behind why that was changed. For the PhD aspect of things, when I go and talk, I refer back to a portion of my life when I was nineteen years old and I was in Dallas, Texas and I was picking up 100 pounds of dope, and I walk into this hotel room and I walk in and my friend is the person who greets me and he's excited to see me and he's saying, "Hey, what's up?" and there happens to be a Mexican individual. So he's speaking in Spanish. Then I look over deeper into the room and I see an individual with the sawed off shotgun and his finger on the trigger and the barrel is pointed directly at me, but I continue to have this conversation with this friend of mine. I pull out a lot of money and then all of a sudden people's expressions are changing and they hand over this big Tupperware bin of drugs and we go about our way. I juxtaposed that with when I'm finishing up my PhD, I had this friend of mine who thought that my PhD committee was the devil and was the toughest PhD committee. Days before my dissertation he was like, "Oh, my God, aren't you terrified? Aren't you scared that they're going to eat you alive?" Looking back at the things that I've been through I was like, "No. I think I'll be okay. I think this is okay." Partly how I got through the PhD was I knew that I had been through challenges that were literally life-threatening and so that I could push forward in this. Then the other thing is that having been given this opportunity that I didn't understand how I had gotten it, I didn't want to mess it up. So I was going three, four times as hard as my classmates in terms of studying and wanting to do the best that I could. So I had this extreme hunger and thirst to be the best that there was at this, which was really a sense of fear that I had no idea how I had gotten out, how I had gotten into this program. My thinking was if the shit hits the fan, at least I can say, "I'm the top student in this program. why would you kick me out?" I was working so hard for that reason, but then also having gone through what I went through, I see challenge differently than sometimes my peers do. Guy Kawasaki: I would say that's a mild understatement. Oh, my God. Speaking of challenges, so let me see if I got this straight. There is a prison rule that mail cannot be longer than five pages. So your friends and family had to break up all the admissions pamphlets and applications into five-page letters, send multiple letters. You piece them back together again to get the whole thing. What's the logic of that rule that you can't get a brochure in prison? Stanley Andrisse: The logic is punishment and laziness. So there's literally people that have to scan through and read through every word of letters that come. Your letters always come opened up. So the envelope is always sliced open and having been opened and checked for if there's drugs in it, and also read to see if there's plans on escape. So there's the five-page limit, but then there was also a limit that you could have in your physical cell. The logic behind it is punishment, laziness, and punishment that they didn't want to have to go through that much mail. The thing that really annoyed me was not the rule, it was the fact that they were unwilling to make an exception when I very clearly showed them what this was for. Whatever you got the rule for, but you clearly see what I'm trying to do here. I'm trying to get into school. I'm trying to do exactly what I would hope that you want for the people that come through your custody is that they want to do better for themselves. So I've gotten to the place I want to do better and you don't want to let me do that. That's what really got me is that they denied me this exception. Basically, you're no better than anybody else. Why would we give you an exception? Guy Kawasaki: This is because they're focusing on punishment as opposed to preparing you for a life after prison? Stanley Andrisse: That's my thinking is that if the focus was on true rehabilitation and true belief that people can change, then making exceptions to those types of policies, and really, it should have been clear we need to change the policy. Whoa, one of our policies is stopping a person from getting their education. We need to change that. Why wasn't that the thinking pattern that they took towards that? Because the policy could just be changed and it doesn't even have to go through the way that our society changes where it has to be voted on, it has to be the popular vote. There's one person that could just say, "We're changing this policy," and the prison system is set up to where the warden or the head of the prison system can make that change pretty unilaterally without there being some democratic process to it. Guy Kawasaki: You touched on this before. As you say, it's all relative in a sense, right? I don't if I even told you, but I'm basically deaf, and the way I'm doing this is because of a cochlear implant and I'm also getting real time transcription. So I'm thinking, "Man, Guy, you're such a stud because you're a podcaster and you're deaf and you're reading live transcription," and then I read your book and you freaking can't even get letters and you got to piece them back together, and then you send your draft response to Bodie and then Bodie sends it back, and then you got to write it back, and then the other person has to put it online and, "Guy, get real, man. You have faced nothing compared to the challenges he did." Stanley Andrisse: I think the resilience is an individualized thing. I look back at that and I still have a pretty strong drive, but that is a level of resilience that you cannot teach. What you've just explained is you were placed in this situation that I've never been placed in and many others have never been placed in, and you individually found the resilience to get to where you wanted and needed to be. Guy Kawasaki: You had these two great stories about how you became friends with Frank the racist and Mark the gay. What's the life lesson there? Stanley Andrisse: That is the aspect of I'm going to make decisions on where my soul sees being right and being comfortable with it regardless of what the outside world sees. I think there's just a level of integrity that you shouldn't be driven by the way the world wants you to be. You should be driven by your internal guidance of what is right and wrong and what is right with your soul. To me, I think that a lot of times, particularly dealing with the ideas around homophobia and different aspects of why people may shy away from certain people or certain things is because of what the world might think of them. So I moved to this place that I would literally rather someone bring harm to me than not do what I feel is right with my soul. Once you're in that place, if you end up with harm being brought your way or someone, even worse, taking your life, my soul will rest knowing that I was in the right, that it was doing what I felt was right and good for the world. That's a place that's quite comforting, actually. You have this level of comfort with yourself that you come to this place of you're not directed by what the world wants you to be. For so much of my life, the world's influence was a big driver of how I thought I should be acting and behaving. Guy Kawasaki: With Chaminade and Dr. Shang, they stopped supporting you because of peer pressure. They found out your record, et cetera. What are they supposed to do? What is society supposed to do when they find out something like that? Just stand by you and deal with it or ... I could see both sides of the argument. What do you think? Stanley Andrisse: When I was fired? Guy Kawasaki: Yeah. Stanley Andrisse: There was a couple of things that were just hurtful. Even beyond just the decision, it was that idea of promising. So for me, I had told this coach my situation, and I think it hurt him as well that he was like, "I know you're a good guy. I know you so well," and he was like, "I promise you everything will be okay." Unfortunately, that was a promise that was outside of his ability to keep. So I think it was hurtful in that way that it resulted in me wanting to pull back and not be vulnerable like, "Don't open yourself up for this hurt again." There was just the aspect of being hurt because I told that, "We understand your situation, that you're formerly incarcerated, and we still want you," then all of a sudden to have it slammed in your face that, "You're a criminal. We don't want criminals. Oh, my goodness, stay a thousand feet away from my kids. You're a terrible person." So it was just the unexpectedness and it hurt. Whether it was right or wrong, didn't take away from the way that it happened, made it hurt a little bit more than had I just been rejected outright and told that, "You can't get the job," and then I would've been like, "That's what always happens," but then to have the elation of getting the job and it'd be something that you really enjoy and then to have it ripped up under you and it smacked in your face that you're a criminal and the world doesn't like you, it was hurtful and painful. Guy Kawasaki: So Stanley, this is the big question. So why are there so few Stanleys? If you are in this kind of position, how do you become a Stanley? Stanley Andrisse: What I believe is that talent is distributed evenly and it's access and opportunity that are not evenly distributed. I think there are a number of other people that look like me that have been through the similar situations as me that have the talent to be where I am, but it's access and opportunity. They lack access to the resources. They lack the opportunities that happen to come my way. I really believe that we as a society and me as an individual and as the organization that I created, Prison to Professionals, we are working to create access and opportunity for people who look like me and who have been through situations like me. So I think it's a matter of access and opportunity, and in order to start providing that, society needs to see that there are people that have talent. The first part of the equation is you have to believe there are other talented people out there that have gone through my situation and then you have to provide them access and opportunity. Guy Kawasaki: So if someone has in their circle of friends or family a Stanley, someone with this background, how do you treat, interact and support them? Are you supposed to just never bring it up or you bring it up? What do you do? Stanley Andrisse: One, I think that you do as much as possible to just respect and validate their humanity and their personhood. Words really matter. Moving away from using words like criminal, convict, ex-con, felon when you're talking about them in their presence and when you're not in their presence and just appreciating the experiences and voice that they can bring to everyday conversations. So I think you build up their personhood because for so many people that have gone through prison, their personhood has been stripped from them. It's hard to feel regular emotions after you've gone through not being able to cry, knowing that if you're angry that it can bring harm your way or that it can make other people feel a little bit more fearful if you raise your voice in certain ways that another person wouldn't have that fearfulness of you. It's helping them understand that their personhood is valued and seen is one way to help them understand that they have those innate talents within them. Guy Kawasaki: Listen, I think your book is really interesting and it just opened my eyes. So I want you to take this uninterrupted moment and pitch people on why they should read your book. Stanley Andrisse: First, thank you for offering me that opportunity. I am a formerly incarcerated person with three felony convictions since the ten years in prison, was told by this prosecutor who was pushing for twenty years to life in prison, that I had no hope for changing the decisions that I had been making up until that time in my early twenties. Fast forward some time, I did my time. I'm now Dr. Stanley Andrisse, an endocrinologist scientist and assistant professor at Howard University College of Medicine, the mecca of historically Black colleges and universities. Also, was a faculty at Johns Hopkins, visiting professor at Georgetown, took my hustles across seas and held a position at Imperial College London. So I clearly didn't live up to these expectations that this prosecutor set. So I would encourage people to read the book to really help them understand how it is never too late to do good, to help them understand that too much of the way that our society views the criminal legal system is that people don't have that capacity for change. The book helps you understand that it is possible to do good, it is possible to be part of something that seems so dangerous and harmful to society, to being a person that can bring good into society. Then the other aspect of what the book is, although it is my journey, From Prison Cells to PhD, it's not really about me. It's really about the social, political, cultural aspects of why a young Black kid from Ferguson ends up in what we now know as the school to prison pipeline and goes to prison, and then it offers ideas about how we might help change this school to prison pipeline and potentially create this pipeline of helping individuals move into higher education. Guy Kawasaki: I hope you enjoyed Stanley's remarkable story. To achieve what he did while in prison and then while carrying around his prison record is truly a remarkable accomplishment. I'm Guy Kawasaki. This is Remarkable People. My thanks to the Remarkable People team, Alexis Nishimura, Luis Magaña, Fallon Yates, the Ace design team, Jeff Sieh and Shannon Hernandez, and finally, the Nuismer sisters, Madisun, drop-in queen and producer of this podcast, and Tessa. Luckily, she doesn't surf because Santa Cruz doesn't need any more people dropping in. Don't forget, Madison and I wrote a book, Think Remarkable. It is a book that I promise you will transform your life as you learn how to make a difference and be remarkable. Until next time, mahalo and aloha.

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PhD Opportunities at PRC

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The PRC welcomes enquiries from potential PhD students.

The Prisons Research Centre welcomes applications from well qualified students wishing to undertake PhD research within the Centre's areas of expertise. Graduate students work in the stimulating research environment of the Centre under the direction of their supervisor.  Initial enquiries should be directed to Professor Alison Liebling or Professor Ben Crewe according to the person’s specific research interests.  More details of the University's PhD programmes and procedures for application can be found on the  Institute of Criminology website  and the  University of Cambridge Graduate Admissions website .

PhD Opportunities with Professor Alison Liebling

Professor Liebling is interested in receiving applications broadly looking at the changing shape and effects of imprisonment; the role of values in criminal justice; the role of safety, trust and fairness in shaping the prison experience, the work of prison officers, and in the prevention of ill-treatment, in the UK or elsewhere.

PhD Opportunities with Professor Ben Crewe

Professor Crewe would be keen to supervise PhD students interested in researching prison social life and culture, prisoner identities and adaptations, prison quality and conditions, and other issues relating to the terms, nature and organisation of imprisonment.  Students wishing to get in contact informally in order to discuss potential research ideas are welcome to email him, with a brief CV and a short research proposal. 

Current and Recent PhD Topics

PhD students work on a variety of topics relating to the research of the Centre. These include: 

• Transformative encounters in prisoner education and their role in desistance. (Judith Gardom, supervised by Alison Liebling)
• The social experiences of sex offenders in prison: A comparative analysis. (Alice Ievins, supervised by Ben Crewe)
• The prison and the city: a tale of two cultures in HMPs Pentonville and Hull (Deborah Kant, supervised by Alison Liebling)
• Emotions in prison: an exploration of space, emotion regulation and expression. (Ben Laws, supervised by Ben Crewe)
• Faith, race, gangs and ‘the street’ in prison: An inductive analysis. (Dev Maitra, supervised by Alison Liebling)
• The experience of imprisonment amongst serving and former military service personnel. (Daniel Packham, supervised by Ben Crewe)
• Democratizing democracy: Re-imagining prisoners as citizens through participatory governance. (Bethany Schmidt, supervised by Alison Liebling)
• Philosophy in Prisons: A grounded theory in personal development. (Kirstine Szifris, supervised by Alison Liebling)
• The role of self-empowerment in the process of human flourishing in prison. (Fabio Tartarini, supervised by Ben Crewe)
• The Prison Based Forensic Psychologist: in Person and Practice. (Jason Warr, supervised by Ben Crewe)
• Understanding the use and experience of segregation in English prisons. (Ellie Brown, supervised by Alison Liebling and Nicola Padfield)
• Opening new prisons: a comparative study of the penal field. (Aiden Cope, supervised by Alison Liebling)
• Peace Behind a Veil of Ignorance (VOI). (João Costa, supervised by Alison Liebling)
• Legitimacy in prison-based psychology practices. (Sophie Ellis, supervised by Ben Crewe)
• Moral development and ethical self-governance among men imprisoned for murder. (Ben Jarman, supervised by Ben Crewe)
• Caring Encounters: Exploring Kindness and Support among Male Prisoners. (Elinor Lieber, supervised by Alison Liebling)
• The construction of prisoner masculinities through experiences of work. (Martha Morey, supervised by Ben Crewe)
• Prison pen-pals: the value of correspondence and support from individuals not known to prisoners prior to their incarceration. (Tania Mejia, supervised by Ben Crewe)
• A short longitudinal study of life sentenced prisoners’ pre-release expectations and post-release realities. (Ailie Rennie, supervised by Ben Crewe)

Prisons Research at Cambridge University

The Prisons Research Centre (PRC) was founded in 2000, under the Directorship of  Professor Alison Liebling . The Centre has received funding from a wide range of sources, including the Prison Service/NOMS, the Nuffield Foundation, the Leverhulme Trust, the ESRC, KPMG, the Home Office and UKDS (now Kalyx).

The Cambridge Institute of Criminology Prisons Research Centre aims to provide a stimulating research environment in which a coherent strategy of high quality research can be pursued, and integration between funded and non-funded, and applied and theoretical projects can be facilitated. We investigate how prisons operate, socially, morally and operationally, how they are experienced, and the relationship between these moral and social qualities, and their effects.

Members of the PRC team carry out, individually and collectively, methodologically rigorous and theoretically relevant field-based studies addressing problems of human and social values, punishment practices, and the organisation and effects of aspects of prison life. We strive to forge links with other prisons researchers, scholars in the broader fields of criminology and sociology, and with practitioners. Our vision is to develop a rigorous and person-centred model of social inquiry.

You can read more about the latest projects in our  Annual Reports .

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PhD Programs in Forensic Science – Accredited Doctoral Programs

There are various doctoral programs in forensic science for forensics professionals with niche research interests, several years of experience, and an unbreakable work ethic. While most of the programs at this level fall into one of the discipline’s subfields, such as chemistry, clinical psychology, or anthropology, there are a few terminal degree options in forensic science.

Preparation at the PhD level is crucial to furthering the discipline of forensic science for several reasons. First, graduate students and professors are typically responsible for revolutionizing the technologies and methods behind forensic technologies. By illustration, Discover Magazine published a piece on Dr. Robert Hare—one of the pioneers in forensic psychology—and explained that in the 1950s, he was working in uncharted waters. Dr. Hare is well-known for his Psychopathy Checklist (PCL), which he developed in 1980 to identify psychopathic tendencies. While forensic psychology was still in its infancy, this groundbreaking researcher pinpointed 20 items associated with psychopathy, including exhibiting a lack of empathy, impulsivity, a tendency toward short-term relationships, and a failure to take responsibility for one’s actions.

Dr. Hare was also one of the first researchers to use physiological arousal studies to study the disease. People with mental illness generally do not show the same arousal in response to stressful stimuli as control subjects. Dr. Hare is one example of a forensic scientist who pioneered new methods in the subfield of clinical psychology to measure mental illness.

Second, achieving a terminal degree in forensic science may require employment at the highest levels of universities, forensic laboratories, research organizations, and other institutions. Having a PhD can enhance one’s candidacy for leadership and teaching positions and may also increase one’s salary potential.

Lastly, it may be wise to pursue a PhD in forensic science or a subfield to prepare oneself for professional certification. In fact, several credentialing boards of the discipline require applicants to have a doctoral degree, including the American Board of Forensic Anthropology (ABFA), the American Board of Forensic Odontology (ABFO), and the American Board of Forensic Toxicologists (ABFT), specifically for credentialing at the Fellow level. In addition, please visit the forensic science careers page to learn more about the credentialing organizations accredited by the esteemed Forensic Specialties Accreditation Board (FSAB).

Read on to learn about the wealth of accredited PhD programs in forensic science and the relevant psychology, chemistry, and anthropology subfields.

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Doctoral degree programs in forensics.

While few doctoral programs focus exclusively on forensic science, there are many PhD options in the varied subfields. Prospective students in forensics are urged to verify the accreditation status of their institutions and programs. To learn more about accreditation, please read the section at the end.

Doctoral Degree Program Requirements

To gain entry into a PhD program, admissions committees typically call for the following from students:

• Official transcripts from all undergraduate (and graduate) institutions with a stellar GPA (e.g., >3.5)
• Proof of having completed specific coursework in a relevant major (e.g., forensic science, natural science, chemistry, biology)
• A resume with one to two years of professional experience in forensic science
• Letters of recommendation
• A personal statement (typically 1,000 words or less)
• Interview (in-person, phone, or web-based)
• Competitive Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores
• GRE Subject Test scores (generally optional)
• TOEFL scores (for non-native speakers of English only)
• Proof of professional publications (recommended, but not always required)
• A background check (especially for competitive internships for program credit)
• Application fee

Doctoral Programs in Forensic Science

There are currently limited options at the PhD level for forensic science programs, but they are on the rise.

Sam Houston State University

At Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, students can pursue a doctor of philosophy (PhD) in forensic science. As one of the only programs in the US, this 86-credit-hour program generally takes four to five years of full-time study to complete. Sam Houston’s curriculum comprises core coursework, electives, and dissertation research.

In addition, the degree plan includes classes such as forensic instrumental analysis; trace and microscopical analysis; forensic toxicology; research methods; and forensic laboratory management.

Notably, Sam Houston State University has a master’s degree in forensic science that is FEPAC-accredited.

• Location: Huntsville, TX
• Accreditation: Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC)
• Expected Time to Completion: Four to five years

West Virginia University

West Virginia University (WVU), based in Morgantown, is another program that offers a PhD specifically focused on forensic science. According to the school, the program “is strongly science-based and prepares students to work across the foundations of criminalistics.”

WVU is the only school in the nation boasting forensics programs at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels. WVU’s bachelor’s and master’s programs are accredited by the prestigious Forensic Science Education Programs Accreditation Commission (FEPAC). FEPAC is the gold standard in program approvals for forensic science at the bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

Applicants to the PhD program should possess a bachelor’s or research-based master’s degree from an accredited university or college which includes at least one year of the following courses: fundamentals of chemistry, biology, organic chemistry, physics, or calculus. They should have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 and GRE scores of 300 or better.

Students in this program must successfully complete a minimum of 71 credits. Each student may apply a maximum of 31 credits of research toward the 71-credit requirement and the remaining 40 credits must be earned in graduate-level courses in forensic science. The program also includes a dissertation proposal presentation, an oral defense of the dissertation, and an oral qualifying examination.

The curriculum includes courses such as foundations of criminalistics; forensic informatics; forensic laboratory management; trace evidence examination; research design in forensic science; arson and explosives analysis; analysis of seized drugs; and analytical forensic toxicology.

• Location: Morgantown, WV
• Accreditation: Higher Learning Commission (HLC)

Doctoral Programs in Forensic Psychology

The American Psychological Association’s (APA) American Psychology-Law Society maintains a detailed guide to legal and forensic psychology programs. In addition, there are PhD programs and PsyD and PhD/JD combined options.

Palo Alto University

Palo Alto University (PAU) in California provides a four-year PhD in clinical psychology with a forensic area of emphasis. Core coursework for this specialized PhD includes forensic assessment, an advanced forensic psychology seminar, assessment and treatment of trauma in adults, child and adolescent development, biological psychology, psychopharmacology, adult development and aging, neuropsychological assessment, and cross-cultural issues in psychology.

In addition, by dividing students into small, faculty-guided research groups, PAU ensures that students get empirical instruction in research methods and proper leadership through all phases of developing their dissertations.

• Location: Palo Alto, CA
• Accreditation: WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC); American Psychological Association (APA)
• Expected Time to Completion: Three years

Sam Houston University

Sam Houston University provides a 108-credit PhD program in clinical psychology with a forensic emphasis. In addition to clinical training and coursework, the forensic track helps students specialize in applying psychology to legal issues by learning how to perform court evaluations, mental health assessments, court consultations, and more.

The program’s coursework includes classes related to profession-wide competencies, discipline-specific knowledge, and forensic psychology as well as dissertation, thesis, practicum, and internship credits.

Sam Houston’s forensic psychology classes include psychopathology; assessment of personality and psychopathology; assessment of intelligence and achievement; cognitive and affective bases of behavior; law and social psychology; forensic assessment; and mental health law.

• Accreditation: Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC); American Psychological Association (APA)

Doctoral Programs in Forensic Chemistry

Forensic chemistry specializes in forensic science and can provide many career avenues. For example, forensic chemists holding PhDs can go on to work at a university in academia or may end up heading a forensic research lab.

Florida International University

Florida International University (FIU) in Miami is one of the top 25 largest universities in the nation and provides a PhD program in chemistry, forensic sciences, and biochemistry. With over 100 graduate students and a $4 million annual research budget, FIU’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry has a multidisciplinary approach to the forensic science field.

For example, the forensic science track focuses on the environmental impact of trace elements (e.g., mercury and arsenic), an essential line of work primarily in the wake of the Flint, Michigan water crisis. Other projects involve the study of hydrocarbons, airborne particulate matter, free radicals, and organophosphates. The forensic track also focuses on advanced aspects of biomedical research, such as the synthesis of essential molecules, protease enzymes, and how macular pigments are impacted by diet and nutrition.

Notably, Florida International University has a bachelor’s as well as a master’s degree in forensic science that is FEPAC-accredited.

• Location: Miami, FL

University at Albany

The University at Albany in Albany, New York, offers a PhD in analytical and forensic chemistry. This program is committed to advancing the techniques in forensic analysis at a molecular level and features classes such as advanced forensic chemistry, pharmacology, toxicology, analytical methods, comprehensive biochemistry, experimental methods of organic structure determination, and a forensic drug chemistry internship.

Finally, all students must pass the American Chemical Society graduate exams in organic and physical chemistry and inorganic or biological chemistry.

• Location: Albany, NY
• Accreditation: Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE)
• Expected Time to Completion: Three to five years

University of Central Florida

The University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando offers a PhD in chemistry and four concentration areas: materials chemistry; environmental chemistry; biochemistry; and forensic science.

The 72-credit forensic science program requires coursework in forensic analysis of explosives; forensic molecular biology; forensic analysis of ignitable liquids; forensic analysis of biological materials; population genetics and genetic data; frontiers in chemistry; radiochemistry; advanced instrumental analysis; and directed research in forensic science. Students at UCF will also have access to the National Center for Forensic Science (NCFS), a highly regarded research center.

• Location: Orlando, FL

Doctoral Programs in Forensic Anthropology

Forensic anthropology is an essential part of the crime-solving goals of all forensic sciences. PhD programs in forensic anthropology will allow students to deepen their understanding of how human remains and other evidence can help in the legal process.

University of Florida

The University of Florida (UF) in Gainesville provides a PhD program in biological anthropology focusing on forensic science. Students receive advanced instruction in recovering human remains and analyzing trauma. Classes include evolutionary biology; human gross anatomy; biostatistics; forensic pathology; biomechanics; archaeology; human development; and radiology and osteology.

UF also boasts a state-of-the-art forensics lab: the C.A. Pound Human Identification Laboratory (CAPHIL), which services other agencies around the state. This school’s multidisciplinary approach to forensic anthropology involves collaboration with departments in entomology, laboratory medicine, and soil and water analyses. Please note that this program is highly competitive, with fewer than 3 percent of applicants gaining admission. Typical admittees have high GPAs (>3.5) and GRE scores are not required for admission.

• Location: Gainesville, FL

The University of South Florida

University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa offers a doctoral program in applied anthropology. In addition, students may choose a concentration in archeological and forensic sciences (AFS). The program requires 42 credits beyond the master’s degree. The concentration in archeological and forensic sciences includes courses such as seminars in archaeology; forensic anthropology; advanced methods in forensic anthropology; introduction to forensic sciences; and bioarchaeology.

As the first institution in the US to offer a doctoral-level degree in applied anthropology, USF helps forensic anthropology students prepare for careers in the public and private sectors.

• Location: Tampa, FL

International PhD Programs in Forensic Sciences

For forensic science professionals seeking to advance their knowledge while living abroad, there are some PhD programs in forensic science in other countries.

Deakin University

Among them is a doctoral program at Australia’s Deakin University. Deakin, based in Geelong in the state of Victoria, provides a PhD program in chemistry, biotechnology, and forensic sciences.

Key research emphases at Deakin include forensic chemistry, forensic biology, forensic entomology, materials chemistry, and agricultural biotechnology, to name a few.

• Location: Geelong, Victoria, AUS
• Accreditation: N/A

Hybrid and Online Graduate Programs in Forensic Science

The American Academy of Forensic Science (AAFS) recognizes several online graduate programs related to forensic science. Still, there are no PhDs in forensic science that students can complete 100 percent online. This is mainly due to the importance of being present in a lab to analyze research findings and learn the empirical techniques of forensic science in a clinical context.

Oklahoma State University offers a notable PhD in forensic science program in a hybrid format.

Oklahoma State University

Oklahoma State University offers a PhD in forensic science program which is a highly interdisciplinary research degree involving advanced coursework in several forensic disciplines. Graduates of this PhD will have advanced knowledge conversant in a broader range of forensic disciplines than one with a master’s degree.

Applicants to the program must have a master’s degree. The curriculum includes courses such as survey of forensic sciences; technical aspects of forensic document examination; quality assurance in forensic science; ethics in forensic leadership; fire dynamics in forensic investigations; population genetics for the forensic scientist; advanced forensic laboratory experience; and forensic osteology and anthropology.

• Location: Tulsa, OK
• Expected Time to Completion: Four years

That said, there are some online programs related to forensic science, including:

University of Massachusetts

University of Massachusetts offers a graduate certificate in forensic criminology that can be completed entirely online. Courses completed in this certificate can be applied toward UMass Lowell’s online master’s degree in criminal justice.

The program’s 12-credit curriculum includes courses such as criminal profiling; forensic psychology; victimology; and sex crimes and offenders.

• Location: Lowell, MA
• Accreditation: New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE)
• Expected Time to Completion: Nine months

University of North Dakota

The University of North Dakota offers an online master’s degree in forensic psychology preparing students for a variety of psychology-related careers in the criminal justice and legal systems. This top-ranked online program is offered entirely online on a part-time basis and can be completed in about two years.

Applicants to the program must have a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university with a behavioral or social science major allied with psychology and a cumulative undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 or above. There are no residency requirements or GRE requirements.

Made up of 30 credits, the program includes courses such as psychology and law; research methods in forensic psychology; cognitive psychology; eyewitness testimony memory; diversity psychology; and behavior pathology, among others.

• Location: Grand Forks, ND
• Expected Time to Completion: Two years

The University of Florida (UF) UF offers four online master’s programs related to forensics which can also be completed as web-based, 12 to 15-credit graduate certificates. These may be ideal for master’s-prepared forensic scientists seeking to enhance their knowledge in a subfield before committing to a PhD program. The four featured subfields at UF include forensic drug chemistry, forensic death investigation, forensic DNA and serology, and forensic toxicology.

While there are limited distance-based options for PhD programs in forensic science, some advanced programs in the subfield of digital forensics offer web-based coursework.

For example, Sam Houston State University offers a PhD in digital and cyber forensic science. This program is intended for students who have a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering, digital forensics, or computing science, and provides students with the conceptual, theoretical, computational, and methodological skills needed to understand the role of cyber and digital forensic science in post-technological societies.

Students in this program must complete 85 credits beyond the bachelor’s degree. Courses include file system forensics; cyber forensics principles; ethics for digital forensics; operating system forensics; network forensic analysis; mobile device forensics; live system & memory forensics; and computational forensics, among others.

Purdue Polytechnic Institute

The Purdue Polytechnic offers a PhD in technology with a specialization in cyber forensics. Students in this specialization will complete all the requirements of the PhD in technology degree along with 15 credits in core cyber forensics courses. Courses include basic computer forensics; advanced research topics in cyber forensics; cyber forensics of file systems; and cyber forensics of malware.

• Location: West Lafayette, IN

Please visit the online forensic science programs page to learn more about distance-based options in this field.

Common Courses and Requirements for Forensic Science PhD Programs

To complete a PhD program in forensic science, students typically need to complete the following:

• Advanced didactic coursework (generally 60-85 credit-hours)
• Internships, externships, or clinical practicums
• A dissertation on original scientific research
• Oral examination (i.e., oral defense of one’s thesis or dissertation to a program committee)
• Other exams (e.g., American Chemical Society graduate-level exams for forensic chemists)

These programs generally take four to six years to complete.

Organized by the popular subfields of forensic science, here are typical classes within each of the doctoral programs discussed above:

PhD in forensic science: forensic instrumental analysis, law and forensic sciences, forensic toxicology, controlled substance analysis, trace and microscopical analysis, ethical conduct, scientific communications, research methods, forensic lab management, forensic analysis of ignitable liquids, population genetics and genetic data analysis, forensic analysis of explosives

PhD in forensic psychology: mental health law, developmental psychopathology, psychological assessment, research methodology, psychometrics, multicultural psychology, effective intervention, theories and methods of diagnosis, experimental design, advanced statistics, consultation and supervision

PhD in forensic chemistry: microscopy, DNA in forensics, applied organic synthesis, chemical thermodynamics, kinetics and catalysis, drug chemistry, computer-assisted data analysis, questioned documents, toxicology, comprehensive biochemistry, advanced synthesis laboratory, toolmark and ballistics analysis, infrared spectroscopy, chromatography, solid phase extraction, medicinal chemistry and pharmacology, techniques in polymer science

PhD in forensic anthropology: forensic entomology, human growth and development, comparative analysis, archaeological methods and techniques, human variation, evolutionary medicine, anthropology of genocide, biophotography

Forensic Science Programmatic and Institutional Accreditation

Aspiring PhD candidates are encouraged to verify the accreditation status of their schools and programs. This program approval process is essential for several reasons. It helps establish a requisite quality level in the faculty, curricula, student outcomes, program resources, and other aspects that can impact a student’s education and experience. Also, graduating from an accredited institution may be a prerequisite to professional credentialing for some organizations.

There are two main types of accreditation: programmatic and institutional.

Programmatic Accreditation

The Forensic Science Education Programs Accreditation Commission (FEPAC) is the gold standard for programmatic accreditation. As of early 2024, FEPAC has not accredited any PhD programs. However, it is worthy of note that West Virginia University (WVU) has both FEPAC-accredited bachelor’s and master’s programs. Since WVU’s new PhD in forensic science program will share facilities and faculty with these FEPAC-accredited offerings, prospective students can presume that the doctoral program may also reflect this tradition of excellence.

Also, additional programmatic accreditation agencies may exist depending on one’s intended subfield of forensic science. For example, the American Psychological Association (APA) accredits forensic psychology programs at the doctoral level. Likewise, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accredits graduate programs in forensic accounting.

Institutional Accreditation

There are six leading institutional accreditation agencies, which are organized according to region. They have been recognized by the US Department of Education’s Council of Higher Education Agencies (CHEA). These include:

• Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) Western Association of Schools and Colleges
• Higher Learning Commission (HLC)
• New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE)
• Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU)
• Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC)
• WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC)

Jocelyn Blore

Jocelyn Blore is the chief content officer of Sechel Ventures and the co-author of the Women Breaking Barriers series. She graduated summa cum laude from UC Berkeley and traveled the world for five years. She also worked as an addiction specialist for two years in San Francisco. She’s interested in how culture shapes individuals and systems within societies—one of the many themes she writes about in her blog, Blore’s Razor (Instagram: @bloresrazor). She has served as managing editor for several healthcare websites since 2015.

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Happy 4/20 day! Is it legal to smoke weed in Florida? Here's a look at the state's marijuana laws

Happy 4/20 day, for all who celebrate. But make sure you know what you're getting into before you light up.

Saturday is 4/20, the international holiday to celebrate and consume cannabis . Even if we don't know for sure why we call it 4/20 , many Floridians will use the time to consume a fair amount, festivals will be held across the globe and deals will abound at marijuana dispensaries and even some savvy restaurants.

Is it legal, though? For most of the people smoking, vaping, and edible-ing in the Sunshine State, it is most definitely not.

Here's what you need to know about marijuana laws in Florida .

Is marijuana legal in Florida?

Yes, but only for some people.

Marijuana is legal in Florida for people diagnosed with a specific set of conditions who have applied for and received a Medical Marijuana ID Card .

Marijuana closer to legal? Ahead of Florida amendment vote, DEA reportedly moves to reclassify marijuana as less harmful

Is recreational marijuana legal in Florida?

That might change if enough voters approve the recreational marijuana amendment that will be on the ballot in the November general election, but for now, it remains illegal.

4/20 ahead: Where does Florida rank on list for best cities for weed?

Is medical marijuana legal in Florida?

Yes. In 2016, Florida voters overwhelmingly supported the Florida Medical Marijuana Legalization Initiative referendum, which expanded the existing limited state medical marijuana program from only terminal patients to include more patients.

The qualifying conditions for medical marijuana are currently:

• HIV (human immunodeficiency virus)
• AIDS (Acquired immune deficiency syndrome)
• PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder)
• ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis)
• Crohn's disease
• Parkinson's disease
• Multiple sclerosis
• Comparable medical conditions or status to the above
• A terminal condition
• Chronic nonmalignant pain

The Florida Legislature banned smokable medical marijuana and THC vaping but reversed the bans in 2019.

What is the difference between medical marijuana and recreational marijuana?

How it's sold, and how legal it is.

Recreational marijuana, or adult-use marijuana, is for adults 21 and older to use for fun instead of for medical reasons. There is rarely any difference in quality between recreational and medical marijuana, according to Good Rx , although medical marijuana must undergo a stricter and more controlled process.

Can I smoke medical marijuana in public?

Nope. Medical marijuana users are prohibited from using their weed in any public place, on any public transportation, in their place of employment unless the boss is cool with it, in a correctional institution, on school grounds (unless administered by school district personnel ), or in a school bus, vehicle, aircraft, or motorboat.

In some cases, you may publicly use "low-THC cannabis not in a form for smoking," according to Florida Statutes .

Is it legal to possess weed in Florida?

Without a Medical Marijuana Card (or Medical Marijuana Caregiver Card , for people assisting medical marijuana patients who are minors or who need help), if you are caught with pot, you may face penalties under Florida Statutes :

• Possessing 20 grams or less: first-degree misdemeanor, up to one year in jail and maximum $1,000 fine.
• Possession of paraphernalia: Misdemeanor, up to one year in jail and maximum $1,000 fine.
• Possessing marijuana within 1,000 feet of a school, college, park or other specified areas: Felony, mandatory three-year sentence and maximum $10,000 fine.
• Possessing from 20 grams: to 25 lbs : Felony, up to five years in jail and maximum $5,000 fine.
• Possessing from 25 to 2,000 lbs of marijuana: First-degree felony, from three to 15 years in jail and $25,000 fine.
• Possessing from 2,000 to 10,000 lbs of marijuana: First-degree felony, from seven to 30 years and $50,000 fine.
• Possessing more than 10,000 lbs of marijuana: First-degree felony, from 15 to 30 years and $200,000 fine.

However, many communities and municipalities have decriminalized possession of up to 20 grams or marijuana, meaning if you're busted you'll get a fine (which will go up each time) and you may be required to attend a drug education program or do community service.

Areas that have decriminalized pot include Alachua County , Broward County , Cocoa Beach , Hallandale Beach , Key West , Miami Beach, Miami-Dade County , Orlando , Osceola County, Palm Beach County , Port Richey, Sarasota , Tampa , Volusia County , and West Palm Beach County.

Is it legal to sell weed in Florida?

Only licensed medical marijuana dispensaries may sell marijuana in the state of Florida. Even if the proposed recreational amendment passes, you still would have to buy your weed at licensed dispensaries.

People charged with selling marijuana can face the following:

• 25 grams or less, without renumeration: Misdemeanor, maximum 1 year in jail, $1,000 fine.
• 20 grams to 25 lbs: Felony, maximum 5 years in jail, $5,000 fine.
• 25 to less than 2,000 lbs or 300-2,000 plants: Felony, three to 15 years, maximum $25,000 fine.
• 2,000 to less than 10,000 lbs or 2,000-10,000 plants: Felony, seven to 30 years, maximum $50,000 fine.
• 10,000 lbs or more: Felony, 15 to 30 years, maximum $200,000 fine.
• If within 1,000 feet of a school, college, park, or other specified areas: An additional 3-15 years, $10,000 fine

Is it legal to grow marijuana in Florida?

Only for state-licensed growers . It is illegal for anyone else, even those eligible for medical marijuana, to grow their own plants. Anyone found with marijuana plants can be charged with a felony and will face the following penalties:

• Fewer than 25 plants: 5 years in jail, $5,000 fine.
• 25 - 30 plants: 15 years in jail, $10,000 fine.
• 300 - 2,000 plants: 3-15 years in jail, $25,000 fine.
• 2,000 - 10,000 plants: 7-30 years in jail, $50,000 fine.
• 10,000 plants or more: 15-30 years in jail, $50,000 fine.
• If within 1,000 feet of a school, college, park, or other specified areas: An additional 3-15 years, $10,000 fine.

Are low-THC products like delta-8, delta-9, delta-10 or THC-O legal in Florida?

Assorted different types of so-called "diet weed" cannabinoids such as delta-8 , delta-9 , delta-10 and THC-O, which are derived from hemp and not marijuana and contain lower levels of THC, are sort-of legal here under the 2018 federal Farm Bill that allows farmers to grow industrial hemp.

However, they remain federally illegal and this year the Florida Legislature passed a bill, SB 1698 , that effectively bans delta-8 and delta-10 products and places a 5-milligram-delta-9 concentration limit per serving. Once signed, the law will go into effect Oct. 1, 2024.

Is delta-8 safe? As it flies off shelves, thousands call poison control over bad experiences

Can you get a DUI in Florida on marijuana?

Yes. Drivers under the influence of drugs, including marijuana, face the same penalties as drunk drivers in Florida. That ranges from up to six months of jail time, a fine between $500 and $1,000, a license suspension, 50 hours of community service and a 10-day vehicle impoundment (for the first offense) to up to five years in prison, up to $5,000 in fines, lifetime license revocation and more for the fourth offense.

Penalties go up fast if there is a minor in the vehicle or you cause property damage, injury or death.

Does Florida accept medical marijuana cards from other states? What about weed I bring from states where it's legal?

No. According to the  Florida Department of Health , Florida does not offer reciprocity when it comes to medical marijuana cards, and if you bring any in from other states you can get busted for it .

What is the recreational marijuana amendment in Florida?

Under a  proposed constitutional amendment on the November general election ballot,  anyone 21 years old and up could use and possess up to three ounces of marijuana  with not more than five grams in a concentrated form (with assorted restrictions) and it could be sold through marijuana dispensaries without the need for a medical marijuana card.

Marijuana possession, sales, transportation and use would still be against federal law, however.

Is weed federally legal?

No, marijuana remains on the list of controlled substances as far as the federal government is concerned.

However, on Oct. 6,  President Joe Biden announced he was pardoning people with federal convictions for simple possession of marijuana , USA TODAY reported. The president's pardon also blocked future federal prosecutions for simple possession.

In December he went a step further and issued a federal pardon to every American who has used marijuana in the past, including those who were never arrested or prosecuted. The pardons do not apply to people who violated state law and do not forgive anyone jailed for selling pot or driving under the influence, but they were intended to help people overcome barriers to employment, educational opportunities and housing.

Trump trial highlights: Lawyer for Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal takes the stand

What to know about the hush money trial.

• The fourth witness to take the stand today was Keith Davidson, who worked as an attorney for Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal — the Playboy playmate who accused Donald Trump of having a monthslong affair. Trump has denied affairs with both women.
• Earlier in the day, the jury heard from witnesses who authenticated videos of Trump, including on the campaign trail and during a deposition.
• Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records related to the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels, another woman who accused Trump of having an affair. He has pleaded not guilty and denied a relationship with her.
• Court proceedings are set to resume on Thursday.

Outside courtroom, Trump repeats claims that gag order is 'unconstitutional'

Zoë Richards

Isabelle Schmeler

Speaking with reporters after leaving court this afternoon, Trump repeated earlier claims that Judge Merchan's gag order violates his constitutional rights.

"It’s totally unconstitutional," Trump said, adding that he was spending time in court instead of making trips to Georgia, New Hampshire, Ohio "and lots of other places" as part of his presidential campaign.

His comments come after he posted on Truth Social shortly before returning to court earlier this afternoon that Merchan "has taken away my Constitutional Right to FREE SPEECH."

Trump's legal team and prosecutors depart in contrasting fashion

As the Trump team strolled out, a single legal assistant struggled to exit under a pile of boxes and binders that everyone else left behind.

The district attorney's team left in a notably less glamorous fashion sharing the load, with even Steinglass, a two-decade plus veteran of the office, carrying his own bankers box and binder.

Court is done for the day, trial resumes Thursday

Gary Grumbach

Rebecca Shabad is in Washington, D.C.

Trial proceedings are done for the day.

Court will be back in session Thursday, starting with a gag order hearing at 9:30 a.m. ET. The jury is set to return at 10 a.m.

Dylan Howard told Keith Davidson to 'push for the cash'

One text presented from former National Enquirer editor-in-chief Dylan Howard to Davidson said, "Push for the cash. [David Pecker] and I just told him he has to pay the $150K."

Davidson said he thought that meant, “That I should try to get as much as I could, up to 150,000.”

Davidson said that the deal for Daniels changed from National Enquirer's parent company to Michael Cohen and his corporate entity.

"He says you are paying," Davidson texted Howard, referring to Cohen.

“Dylan tells me push for the cash, and then basically tells me to call Cohen. And then when I call Cohen he says I’m not paying anything," Davidson testified. "It's just one more snafu."

Prosecutors struggle to get Davidson to make direct Trump link to Cohen negotiations

Laura Jarrett

Davidson could be a useful witness to prosecutors because he helps explain the motivation to bury Stormy Daniels' story, but the DA's office has struggled to get him to bring Trump directly into his protracted negotiations with Cohen for weeks leading up to the 2016 election.

Prosecutor tries to get at how Davidson understood Trump would be paying

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is having a hard time asking Keith Davidson a question that Judge Juan Merchan will allow about how and why he understood Trump would be paying for the deal.

Steinglass notes that at one point Davidson paused when he was asked who he understood would be responsible ultimately for paying Daniels. Davidson responded that he found the question confusing.

Steinglass then asked whether during his dealings with Michael Cohen, Davidson understood how the deal would be funded. Davidson responded that he “had an assumption,” and Trump attorney Emil Bove interjected an objection, which Judge Merchan honored.

Davidson said 'it would be a tornado' if Daniels story got out

More text messages between Keith Davidson and Dylan Howard presented during the trial this afternoon reflected Davidson's belief, he said, that if Stormy Daniels' story got out, "it would be a tornado."

The texts also corroborated Davidson's testimony that he walked away not only from Michael Cohen but also from representing Gina Rodriguez, Daniels' manager, and Daniels herself. Davidson said he expected "there would be tremendous media activity around this story."

Court has resumed

The trial is back and Davidson is on the stand.

Former Trump aide Carter Page is in the courtroom

Former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page is in the courtroom, seated in the last row.

Page was the target of a secret national security surveillance warrant executed by the FBI during the Russia probe. He was never charged with a crime.

Trial takes a break

The trial has taken a break until 3:50 p.m.

Davidson says he didn't believe Cohen was the source of the deal's funds

Kyla Guilfoil

The prosecution pushed Davison on whether he "ever believed that Michael Cohen was going to be the ultimate source of the funds" for the deal, to which Davidson responded, "Never. Never prior to funding."

Davidson went on to testify that he believed the money would be coming from "Donald Trump or some corporate affiliation thereof."  

Appeals court denies Trump's request for a trial delay

Days after the trial began, an appeal's court today denied Trump's request that the trial be delayed. Trump sought a delay because Judge Merchan refused to recuse himself, because he couldn't invoke a presidential immunity defense and because the judge made his team file motions with a delay to allow for redactions.

Keith Davidson email to Michael Cohen details delay of funds in Stormy Daniels deal

By Oct. 17, 2016, Keith Davidson emailed Michael Cohen at his  Trumporg.com  address with the subject line: “PP v. DD: Important.”

In the email presented during the trial, Davidson said, “My client informs me that she intends to cancel the settlement agreement if no funds are received by the close of business today.”

Davidson testified that Cohen gave him a series of excuses about not paying in a phone conversation. "The conversations didn’t leave me with a comfort level” that the settlement would be funded, he said.

Some of the excuses included the Secret Service setting up firewalls in their email system, the computers being “all f----- up,” and Cohen’s inability to reach Trump who Cohen said was in “4 or 5 different states today” and that he was “doing the best” he could.

Eric Trump listens as Davidson continues testimony on Cohen

Eric Trump is looking up at the screen showing the email between Cohen and Davidson about the side letter agreement as Davidson reads from it.

Davidson goes on to testify that Cohen insisted that only he could keep a copy of the side letter agreement, which Davidson acknowledges was highly unusual.

Davidson says pseudonyms were used in agreement for Daniels and Trump

Keith Davidson testified this afternoon that pseudonyms were used in the settlement to identify Stormy Daniels and Trump: Daniels was "Peggy Peterson" and Trump was "David Dennison." He said they used pseudonyms to ensure additional confidentiality, in case the contract was lost, misplaced or stolen.

Davidson said that he came up with the pseudonyms as stand-ins for the parties, and that he knew someone named David Dennison who was on his high school hockey team. “He’s very upset,” Davidson said, noting that his former teammate wasn't pleased about being associated with the agreement.

When asked by prosecutor Joshua Steinglass whose identities were meant to be protected, Davidson replied, "Stormy Daniels and Donald Trump."

Davidson testifies no one wanted to deal with Cohen

Davidson testified that when the deal between Dylan Howard, the former National Enquirer editor-in-chief, and Gina Rodriguez, Stormy Daniels' manager, fell through, Davidson was pressured into negotiating with Cohen.

"The story is no one wanted to talk to Cohen," Davidson testified.

“Gina approached me. She said, ‘Hey, we have this deal and it’s going to be the easiest deal you’ve ever done in your entire life, and it’s already been negotiated. All you need to do is pay for it and talk to that a------,'” referring to Cohen.

Keith Davidson says they needed to 'pad the deal' so he could get a cut

Jillian Frankel

Keith Davidson said when he took over negotiating the deal on Stormy Daniels' behalf — working with Michael Cohen after the National Enquirer backed out — that he "needed to pad the deal" by making the total larger.

"We needed to pad the deal. To compensate me now, because I was added to the deal. And Stormy and Gina weren’t going to take a discount for adding me," he testified.

Keith Davidson says 'Access Hollywood' tape had 'tremendous influence' on Daniels' story

Keith Davidson said that the "Access Hollywood" tape had "tremendous influence" on Stormy Daniels' story.

"I think before, before 'Access Hollywood' tape, there was very little interest from what I understand," he said.

After the tape resurfaced, Davidson said interest in Daniels' story "reached a crescendo."

"Trump is f-----," Davidson said in a text to Dylan Howard.

"Waive the white flag. It’s over people!" Howard said.

Davidson testifies about 'barrage of insults' in conversation with Cohen

Keith Davidson said that Stormy Daniels was a client who had been referred to him by Gina Rodriguez, Daniels' talent manager.

Asked if he spoke to Daniels during various encounters, Davidson said, “I think I had a brief conversation with Stormy and Gina ... but most of my conversations I believe were with Gina.”

He said that he sent a cease-and-desist letter for Daniels. "There was a blog post or a story posted on the website that stated that Stormy Daniels and Donald Trump had some sort of physical romantic interaction," he testified.

Davidson said he spoke to Michael Cohen by phone and "before I could even get my name out, I was just met with a hostile barrage of insults."

"I don’t think he was accusing us of anything, he was just screaming," Davidson said.

According to Davidson, Cohen thought the story was leaked by Daniels and Davidson said he was calling because Daniels didn't want the story published. He said he was successful and had the story taken down.

More testimony about ABC News trying to secure McDougal interview

Allan Smith

Davidson testified that as part of his negotiations with ABC News in possibly having it break the story of McDougal’s alleged affair with Trump, ABC News dangled the opportunity for McDougal to appear on a future season of “Dancing With the Stars.”

“It was discussed a lot,” Davidson said of McDougal appearing on a future season of the long-running show. “There was an inference that best efforts would be made that would happen. But it was never guaranteed. Best efforts were discussed.”

Davidson testified that Rhonda Schwartz, a producer for Brian Ross, was calling regularly to try to secure the interview.

Davidson ended discussions with ABC News after signing a catch-and-kill agreement with American Media Inc., the publisher of National Enquirer.

ABC News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Davidson said National Enquirer wanted to help McDougal and Trump by buying the story

The prosecution asked Davidson why he thought National Enquirer purchased the McDougal story if it didn't intend to print it.

Davidson responded that there were two goals: to help build McDougal up as a brand and to help Donald Trump by not exposing the affair.

He went on to say in his testimony that “there was an unspoken understanding” that there was a close affiliation between David Pecker and Trump.

Keith Davidson says married man identified in National Enquirer-McDougal deal was Trump

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked Keith Davidson about the final deal signed by the National Enquirer parent company and Karen McDougal, which Davidson said was effective Aug. 5, 2016.

Davidson said one of the paragraphs said that it grants her life rights to the subject manager regarding an affair she had with a married man.

“Was there a particular married man you understood this to apply?” Steinglass asked.

"Yes," Davidson said. "Donald Trump."

Prosecutors show nitty gritty of deal negotiations for McDougal story

The prosecution is walking Davidson through a series of text messages where he appeared to be hammering out a deal for McDougal to be paid to keep quiet about her story.

One text that former National Enquirer editor-in-chief Dylan Howard sent to Davidson said, appearing to refer to Karen McDougal, "She’ll get more out of a deal with AMI than ABC and I’m happy to sign some sort of agreement that alleviates..."

Another from Davidson to Howard said, “Let’s try and wrap up Karen’s deal. She is getting repeated calls from Rhonda Schwartz.” She was a producer at ABC News.

"We are figuring out the mechanics of the deal already," Howard texted Davidson.

Davidson also texted Howard about then-AMI general counsel Cameron Stracher, “He wants me to call Cohen. U think that’s okay? I’ve been trying like hell to avoid that.”

Trump posts on Truth Social shortly after deletion of posts Merchan fined him for

Trump posted on Truth Social just minutes before returning to court Tuesday afternoon and less than an hour after other posts — which Judge Merchan had ordered to be deleted in accordance with his gag order — were taken down.

"This Judge has taken away my Constitutional Right to FREE SPEECH," Trump's new post read.

"I am the only Presidential Candidate in History to be GAGGED. This whole 'Trial' is RIGGED, and by taking away my FREEDOM OF SPEECH, THIS HIGHLY CONFLICTED JUDGE IS RIGGING THE PRESIDENTIAL OF 2024 ELECTION. ELECTION INTERFERENCE!!!" the post continued.

Texas AG Ken Paxton and Club for Growth's Dave McIntosh are in the courtroom

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Club for Growth President Dave McIntosh, a former congressman, are both in the courtroom. Paxton is an avid Trump supporter. And McIntosh, after opposing Trump in the Republican primary, backed his campaign earlier this year.

Court is back in session

The trial has resumed.

The posts that Merchan ordered Trump to take down are now gone

As of 1:24 p.m. ET, all of the Truth Social and campaign website posts that Judge Merchan ordered Trump to remove by 2:15 p.m. ET today have been taken down.

Merchan ruled this morning that the posts had violated Trump's gag order and fined the former president $9,000 — $1,000 for each offending post. The judge also threatened Trump with possible jail time if he continues to violate the order.

Court takes a lunch break

The court has taken a break for lunch. Davidson is expected to continue testifying once the trial resumes.

Davidson says one of McDougal's goals was to not go public with her story

Summer Concepcion

Davidson stressed that McDougal did not want to go public with her story, and he said that a competing deal with ABC would have forced her to come out and tell it.

Her goals included that she rejuvenate her career, make money and avoid becoming “the scarlet letter,” he said.

“Was AMI attractive because she would not actually have to tell her story?” Steinglass asked.

“That was one of her stated goals, and that would be in alignment with one of her very important stated goals," Davidson answered.

Analysis: Davidson is keeping his disposition monotone

Keith Davidson's disposition on the witness stand is notable. His speech is monotone, without a lot of elaboration and seemingly avoiding colorful language.

For instance, he called the alleged dealings between his client, Karen McDougal, and Trump a "personal interaction."

Davidson is looking at his own text messages and asked to explain the context surrounding events even he described as a "bombshell" at the time, but today on the stand, his voice pattern never changes — even when the subject is objectively eyebrow-raising.

Keith Davidson said in one text that McDougal was 'being cornered by the estrogen mafia'

In one text exchange between Keith Davidson and Dylan Howard, Davidson said, “Don’t forget about Cohen. Time is of the essence. The girl is being cornered by the estrogen mafia."

Davidson testified, “That was a very unfortunate, regrettable text I sent. That phrase is not one that I used or came up with. That was a term by one of, I think, one of Karen’s associates that was at the first meeting. And there was several women who were leaning on Karen to sign a deal with ABC.”

Trump campaign fundraises off of fine for violating gag order

Jake Traylor

The Trump campaign swiftly moved to fundraise off of the fine the former president received for violating Merchan’s gag order, sending an email this morning arguing that the fine is part of an effort to “silence” him.

“A Democrat judge JUST HELD ME IN CONTEMPT OF COURT!” an email from the Trump campaign this morning reads. “I was fined $9,000 for 9 gag order violations. THEY WANT TO SILENCE ME!

The email goes onto decry the gag order as an “undeniable election interference” effort and includes a link to contribute financially to his campaign.

Keith Davidson describes meeting in which McDougal alleged affair with Trump for 'several weeks to months'

Davidson said that by June 20, 2016, Dylan Howard texted him that he had landed and was en route to Davidson’s office, where they met with McDougal, Jay Giardina (her ex-brother-in-law), and a man named Johnny Crawford, a friend of McDougal's.

At that meeting, McDougal alleged she had had a romantic and sexual affair with Donald Trump for “several weeks to months” some years prior.

Davidson is detailing meetings and details we first learned about from David Pecker’s testimony, but with more details and from a different vantage point.

Text exchange between Davidson and Enquirer reporter revealed Trump and McDougal's affair

Keith Davidson testified that he had texted with National Enquirer reporter Dylan Howard, saying he had a "blockbuster Trump story," in June 2016.

Davidson testified that the story was about the interactions between Trump and Davidson's client, Karen McDougal.

Howard had responded to Davison, "Talk 1st thing, I will get you more than ANYONE for it. You know why..."

Davidson said he didn't know if he had a "clear understanding at the time" of Howard's text.

"But I knew that Dylan’s boss David Pecker and Mr. Trump were longtime friends and had a former business relationship," Davison continued.

"Mr. Pecker published Trump magazine, and at the time, AMI had announced, kind of announced explicitly that they had endorsed Mr. Trump’s candidacy," Davidson continued.  

Howard had gone on to text Davidson asking if Trump cheated on Melania Trump or if the affair with McDougal happened during his marriage with her.

Davidson had responded, "I really can’t say yet, sorry," in a text. He testified today that he hadn't been prepared to discuss the details at that point.

Prosecutor shows texts between McDougal's lawyer and Dylan Howard: 'Did he cheat on Melania?'

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass introduced text messages as evidence between Davidson and Dylan Howard the morning after Davidson told him that he had a "blockbuster Trump story."

"Did he cheat on Melania?" Howard asked Davidson. "Do you know if the affair was during his marriage to Melania."

"I really can't say yet, sorry," Davidson said.

"Okay keep me informed," Howard said.

Davidson says he won’t testify about his conversations with McDougal because of attorney-client privilege

Asked by Steinglass whether he discussed with McDougal that he was authorized to negotiate on her behalf with media companies, Davidson declined to detail his discussions with his client.

 “I can’t and won’t discuss what I discussed with Ms. McDougal,” Davidson said, drawing a firm line with respect to attorney-client communications.

Prosecutor begins questioning Keith Davidson about Karen McDougal

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked Keith Davidson a few questions about how he knows Karen McDougal. He said he met her about 25 years ago and she was dating his friend.

Asked if he represented McDougal in the summer of 2016, Davidson said, “I represented her in order to provide advice and counsel ... regarding a personal interaction she had ... with Donald Trump."

Trump appears to fall asleep during testimony

Trump appeared to have fallen asleep while listening to testimony — at times appearing to stir and then falling back to sleep.

Trump's eyes were closed for extended periods and his head at times jerked in a way consistent with sleeping.

With reporters mostly stationed in an overflow room and relying on screens showing Trump at a distance, it can be difficult to totally discern the nature of Trump’s shut-eye. His eyes are closed — a lot — but determining whether or not he is actually asleep is particularly tricky given the circumstances.

Davison said he met Cohen after article about Daniels and Trump was published

After being questioned about how the pair met, Keith Davidson testified that he met Michael Cohen after Trump and Stormy Daniels' relationship had been publicized in 2011.

“In approximately 2011, there was an article published in a blog about my client and Donald Trump, and I had occasion to talk to Michael Cohen," Davidson said.

Davidson confirmed that that client was Daniels.

Davidson details his work in civil litigation

Davidson said he is employed by a law firm that he owns, Davidson and Associates, and specializes in civil litigation such as injury and media cases.

He said that he was involved in media cases from 2003 to 2017, and that he regularly worked on nondisclosure agreements from 2015 to 2017 through which parties agreed to not discuss certain subjects.

Davidson said he got immunity through his grand jury testimony but did not seek it.

He acknowledged knowing a talent manager named Gina Rodriguez, who primarily manages reality TV stars, and has known her for more than a decade. 

Prosecutors call Keith Davidson as their next witness

Prosecutors have just called Keith Davidson to the stand. He is the former attorney for both Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels.

Davidson is a key player in the scheme and alleged conspiracy, but he's managed to stay under the radar since we first heard his name in relation to Daniels and McDougal. He was a key source for Dylan Howard.

Jurors watch videos of Trump's remarks, but without much context to understand why

Today, for the first time, the jury is watching videos of the former president in his own words, but without much context as to why.

This is the only way for the prosecution to get some of this evidence in at trial, but the jury doesn’t know that yet. Hard to know what they make of this.

Analysis: Trump Team's unwillingness to authenticate records is adding to the witness list

As Phillip Thompson takes the stand, he is now the second witness called solely for records authentication purposes.

The last guy — Robert X. Browning — came from Indiana, leading his employer, C-SPAN, to hire counsel. Now, it's clear Thompson's employer, Esquire Deposition Solutions, has also had to hire counsel and fly him out from Texas to serve as a witness in the trial.

All of this could have been avoided if Trump's legal team had been willing to acknowledge the C-SPAN videos and Carroll deposition transcript were authentic and enter into a simple agreement to that effect. Instead, we now see these two witnesses having to testify themselves to prove authenticity on records.

Prosecutors call Phillip Thompson as their next witness

Prosecutors just called Phillip Thompson as their next witness to the stand. He's from Montgomery County, Texas, and is in his eighth year working at Esquire Deposition Solutions, which supplies court reporters and interpreters.

He's the regional director of field operations.

Esquire Deposition Solutions acquired TSG Reporting, which transcribed Trump’s deposition in the E. Jean Carroll trial.

The defense had no cross-examination of Browning.

Prosecutors play clip from Trump rally in North Carolina

After Browning detailed how C-SPAN works, prosecutors played to the jury a clip of a Trump rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, when he discussed allegations of sexual assault.

“The stories are total fiction,” Trump says in the clip.

Trump trial providing lessons in how the media works

Ginger Gibson Senior Washington Editor

First, David Pecker testified about how his tabloid defied all journalistic principles and paid for stories — a practice media ethicists say is far outside the norm and not how journalism works.

Now, Robert Browning, who oversees the archive process at C-SPAN, is testifying how television networks log videos.

It's not the most compelling stuff about making television. But it is what television staff are constantly doing, making sure that video feeds are working properly and that future archives are able to find them by keeping detailed transcripts.

Brown is testifying that C-SPAN has more than 278,000 videos in their archives alone.

Prosecutors call Robert X. Browning to the stand

Prosecutors just called Robert X. Browning as their next witness.

Browning is the executive director of the C-SPAN archives and has been in that role for 37 years. He is also a professor at Purdue University.

Merchan says no court the Friday before Memorial Day

Merchan says there will be no court on Friday, May 24. That ups the pressure on the prosecution to either be done well before then — and to not allow deliberations to extend over the holiday weekend — or to ensure there is still testimony after what is now a four-day weekend.

Merchan returns to the bench before Trump back in court

Merchan took the bench before Trump and his lawyers were back in court, but after a brief wait, the court is back in session.

Manhattan DA's office offers to withdraw July 2017 text exchange as evidence

The Manhattan district attorney’s office just offered to withdraw from evidence a July 1, 2017, text , in which Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal’s lawyer told American Media’s chief content officer: “He owes AMI everything & he f----- u. Idiot.”

Who is the "he" in question? Not entirely clear — but, presumably, Trump.

Court takes a break

Trump and the lawyers have left and the court is now taking a full morning break.

Defense wants text redacted that talks about 'shady' stuff going on

Prosecutors and Trump's defense team are now going over text messages from former National Enquirer editor-in-chief Dylan Howard again and whether they should redact one saying “there is shady s--- going on."

It was from Oct. 19, 2016, in the midst of negotiations over the Stormy Daniels deal and delays perceived by her publicist Gina Rodriguez. That's when she told Howard, "There is some shady s--- going on."

Court takes a brief morning recess

The jury is taking a brief morning recess, but the legal teams remain in the courtroom.

When jurors walk out for a break, they have to walk past the defense table. None of them look at Trump.

Some jurors shift in their seats as testimony goes deep into financial banking process

As Blanche's cross-examination of Farro goes into the weeds of the financial banking process, jurors appear to still be awake in the courtroom, but some are seen shifting in their seats with one having just rubbed his face and a couple seen yawning.

Gary Farro says he doesn't open shell companies

Gary Farro testified after questions from Trump lawyer Todd Blanche that he doesn't open accounts for shell companies and that he only opens LLCs.

He said shell companies have a business behind them and said there would be only one purpose for an LLC to buy a home, yacht or aircraft and the purpose would be to stay anonymous because it becomes public record.

“If the client had told me that this would be a shell corporation, the account would not have been opened," Farro said.

Blanche then asked, "If Mr. Cohen says he’s opening a consulting business or a law firm, that wouldn’t raise any red flags to you either?”

"Not at all," said Farro, who confirmed that's what Cohen was doing.

Trump lawyer tries to impugn Farro's credibility

Blanche is trying to impugn Farro’s credibility by insinuating that Farro and his group had lax practices and could or should have known Cohen had long been involved in risky business.

Trump lawyer asks Farro about the term 'de-risking'

Trump lawyer Todd Blanche asked Gary Farro if he's familiar with the term de-risking, which refers to the phenomenon of financial institutions terminating or restricting business relationships with clients or categories of clients to avoid, rather than manage, risk.

Farro said he's not familiar with that term. Blanche said the bank can decide it doesn't want to do business with a customer. He then asked Farro if he knows whether that analysis was done on Michael Cohen while he was at the bank. Farro said he doesn't know.

Farro recalls Cohen thinking there was an urgent matter '90% of the time'

Farro described Cohen as a “challenging client because of his desire to get things done so quickly.”

Farro recalled that with Cohen there was an “urgent matter” about “90% of the time.”

Trump just closed his eyes

Trump just closed his eyes for several minutes.

Sitting behind him, political aide Susie Wiles is straining to watch the witness, a juxtaposition to Trump sitting with his eyes closed.

Farro says wire transfer paperwork did not indicate money being transferred on behalf of a political candidate

Asked by Mangold whether any of the wire transfer paperwork indicated that money was being transferred on behalf of a political candidate, Farro said “no” and that additional questions would’ve been asked if that were the case.

Farro also denied that any of the wire transfer paperwork indicated that money was being transferred for payment to an adult film star.

Gary Farro says bank asks for purpose of transfer to ensure it knows what it's getting involved in

On the paperwork requesting the transfer of $130,000 to Keith Davidson's account, Michael Cohen wrote that the purpose was “Retainer,” which was itself a lie.

Gary Farro said the bank asks for that information to ensure that the bank is not involving itself in anything it doesn’t want to be involved in. 

Prosecutor walks through key acts in Cohen's deception of his bankers

Using documents she painstakingly authenticated and admitted through Farro on Friday, prosecutor Rebecca Mangold is walking through key acts in furtherance of the conspiracy: Cohen’s rushed opening of, funding of, and deception of his bankers at First Republic.

But for Cohen’s misrepresentations about the purpose of his LLC and his request that the bankers expedite the opening of the account, the transfer of funds from Cohen’s home equity line of credit to the account, and ultimately, the wire transfer to Davidson, he might not have paid Stormy Daniels in time to ensure her silence before Election Day.

Throughout Farro’s testimony this morning, the jurors have been following along with the email chains with the computer monitors in front of them, with some seen taking notes.

Cohen praises gag order decision

Jesse Rodriguez

Michael Cohen — who has been the target of much of Trump's criticism that was cited as gag order violations — praised the decision.

"The imposed fine is irrelevant. Judge Merchan’s decision elucidates that this behavior will not be tolerated and that no one is above the law," Cohen said in a statement.

Judge orders Trump to remove social media posts violating gag order by 2:15 p.m.

Judge Merchan ordered Trump to remove the posts from Truth Social that violated the gag order by 2:15 p.m. ET.

Trump gets to go to son's graduation, despite his earlier claims

Amanda Terkel Politics Managing Editor

It's notable that the judge decided to allow Trump to attend Barron's graduation on May 17, since Trump and his campaign had earlier been claiming that the judge had barred him from doing so.

During the first week of trial, Trump told reporters: "My son is graduating high school, and it looks like the judge will not let me go to the graduation."

His campaign also sent out a text that read: "THEY ARE FORCING ME TO SKIP MY SON’S GRADUATION. I’LL BE IN COURT."

That text was wrong. The judge had not yet made a decision.

Farro says process would be different for payments to an adult film star

Assistant District Attorney Rebecca Mangold asked Farro whether the bank’s process for opening the account would be different if Cohen had indicated he was paying an adult film star.

Farro replied, “Yes, we would certainly ask additional questions."

Asked whether there was anything indicating that the account was made for paying an adult film star, Farro denied that was the case and that more questions would’ve been asked if he had known.

Trump says Time cover story ‘60% correct,’ compares Columbia protests to Jan . 6 riot

Speaking to reporters outside of the courtroom, Trump touted his new exclusive interview with Time magazine , in which he discussed his agenda if he wins a second term in office, saying that the story is “at least 60% correct.”

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee also criticized the ongoing pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses nationwide, describing them as “Biden protests” in colleges that are “overrun.”

Trump argued that the 2017 Charlottesville “Unite the Right Rally,” which Biden has said is what led him to launch his presidential campaign, is “peanuts” compared to the protests happening at college campuses across the country.

“This whole country is up in arms breaking into colleges ... they took over a building,” he said, referring to news this morning of the occupation of Hamilton Hall at Columbia University by pro-Palestinian students.

Trump then said he wonders what is going to happen to the pro-Palestinian protesters compared to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol rioters who stormed the building amid his refusal to concede the 2020 election to Biden.

Gary Farro back on the stand

Gary Farro, the banker that worked with Michael Cohen, is back on the stand.

Merchan threatens Trump with jail for further gag order violations

Merchan, in his decision finding that Trump had violated his gag order, wrote that he understands a $1,000 fine is unlikely to make much of a difference for someone with wealth, but that he cannot levy a larger fine.

"Because this Court is not cloaked with such discretion, it must therefore consider whether in some instances, jail may be a necessary punishment," Merchan wrote.

“Defendant is hereby warned that the Court will not tolerate continued willful violations of its lawful orders and that if necessary and appropriate under the circumstances, it will impose an incarceratory punishment."

Judge grants Trump permission to attend son's HS graduation

Merchan began proceedings Friday by addressing Trump's request at the beginning of the trial that he be able to attend his son Barron's high school graduation on May 17.

“I don’t think the May 17th date is a problem. So Mr. Trump can certainly attend that date. Attend his son’s graduation," Merchan said.

Judge orders Trump in criminal contempt for gag order violations, fines him $9,000

Judge Merchan has ruled that Trump is in criminal contempt for nine violations of the gag order. The punishment is $1,000 per violation. Merchan didn't elaborate on anything else.

Under the judge's ruling, Trump is fined $9,000.

Eric Trump joins his father in court

Vaughn Hillyard

Eric Trump has joined his father in the courtroom today, becoming the first of Trump's family members to be present at the trial.

Susie Wiles, a senior Trump campaign adviser, Dan Scavino, former White House deputy chief of staff for communications, and Jason Miller, longtime Trump adviser, are also in the courtroom today.

Court is in session

Merchan has taken the bench and the trial has resumed.

As the criminal hush money trial against former President Donald Trump enters its third week, NBC News’ Gary Grumbach previews who will be taking the stand and what to expect regarding the judge’s upcoming gag order decision.

Trump back in court for second week of witness testimony in hush money trial

Dareh Gregorian

The criminal trial of Donald Trump resumes in a Manhattan courtroom Tuesday with a focus on the hush money transaction that’s at the center of the allegations against the former president.

The first witness of the day will be Gary Farro , a banker who worked with then-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen when Cohen, Trump’s self-described “fixer,” paid adult film star Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet during the 2016 presidential campaign about her allegation that she had a sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier. Trump denies her claim.

Farro, who in 2016 was an executive at First Republic Bank, testified Friday that Cohen reached out to him in mid-October of that year to set up a bank account for a company he was forming called Essential Consultants LLC.

Cohen described the company to the bank “as a real estate consulting company to collect fees for investment consulting work he does for real estate deals,” Farro told jurors. Prosecutors characterized it as a shell company that was set up to mask the source of the payment, which was made shortly before Election Day.

Read the full story here.

Gag order hearing set for Thursday

As the trial resumes today with Farro's testimony, we await a decision from Judge Juan Merchan on the prosecution’s request to hold Trump in contempt for 10 alleged violations of the gag order against him. There will be a hearing Thursday at 9:30 a.m. for the remaining four alleged violations and any others that might be added by the prosecution team.

Far-right news network OAN retracts article about Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels

One America News Network retracted an article Monday that said former President Donald Trump’s onetime attorney  Michael Cohen  had had an affair with adult film star  Stormy Daniels .

The March 27 article from the conservative news outlet quoted a post on X from a user who falsely claimed to have obtained information in 2018 from Daniels’ then-attorney, Michael Avenatti. Citing Avenatti, the post claimed that Cohen and Daniels had been having an affair since 2006 and that Cohen “cooked up” the hush money scheme to extort the Trump Organization ahead of the 2016 election.

“To be clear, no evidence suggests that Mr. Cohen and Ms. Daniels were having an affair and no evidence suggests that Mr. Cohen ‘cooked up’ the scheme to extort the Trump Organization before the 2016 election,” OAN said in a  statement  Monday.

The network said it was taking the story down “from all sites,” as well as “all social media.”

“This retraction is part of a settlement reached with Michael Cohen. Mr. Avenatti has denied making the allegations,” the statement said. “OAN apologizes to Mr. Cohen for any harm the publication may have caused him.”

Trump departs for Manhattan criminal court

Matthew Johnson

The former president has left Trump Tower and is headed to the courthouse.

Trump supporters gather outside court

Max Butterworth

A small crowd of Trump supporters gather outside Manhattan criminal court this morning in a planned protest at the invitation of the New York Young Republican Club, waving flags and wearing trademark MAGA hats.

What to expect in court today

Gary Farro, who testified on Friday that he was assigned as Michael Cohen’s banker at First Republic Bank in 2015, is scheduled to take the stand again today after the trial resumes at 9:30 a.m. ET.

Farro has said he helped Cohen set up   a bank account for the shell company that was used to pay Daniels. Farro also said he was assigned Cohen because of his “ability to handle individuals who might be a little ... challenging.”

It's not immediately clear who might take the stand if Farro's testimony concludes today.

Trump’s longtime executive assistant testified, along with a banker who helped Michael Cohen facilitate a payment to Stormy Daniels. Defense lawyers also completed their cross-examination of David Pecker, attempting to discredit the former publisher of the National Enquirer who testified about how he tried to bury negative stories about Donald Trump before the 2016 election. NBC News’ Laura Jarrett reports

Here's what happened when court was last in session

There were no court proceedings yesterday, so Friday was the most recent day of trial testimony. That's when former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker took the stand for a fourth day and was questioned by a Trump attorney who sought to reshape the narrative painted by prosecutors about the norms of Pecker's publication, particularly the practice of buying stories.

His cross-examination was followed by testimony from longtime Trump assistant Rhona Graff, who testified that she believed she had created contact information pages for Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels — displayed by the prosecution in court — that were saved in the Trump Organization’s computer system. An attorney for Trump sugg e sted that Trump had Daniels' contact information because he had indicated she might be an interesting candidate for "The Celebrity Apprentice," a reality TV show.

The last witness to take the stand on Friday was Gary Farro, who was Michael Cohen’s banker and allegedly helped set up the bank account for the shell company that was used to pay Daniels. Farro was asked about bank documents and communications, including paperwork for an account Cohen opened for an LLC .

O.J. Simpson Proved That With Enough Money You Can Get Away With Murder

The accused killer won and lost in court depending on his bank account.

After serving nine years in a Nevada prison on a dozen charges that included kidnapping and armed robbery, O.J. Simpson spent the last seven years living at the Rhodes Ranch Golf Club in Los Vegas as the guest of the country club’s well-heeled owner, James Barnett, who was a close friend of the football star. After a long and tumultuous life marked by repeated dramatic reversals of fortune, Simpson ended up enjoying his version of the good life, playing golf all day in the ultimate gated community with his wealthy white friends—who enjoyed basking in Simpson’s celebrity while ignoring the overwhelming likelihood that in 1994 he murdered his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.

Simpson was acquitted of these murders in 1995 in a celebrated criminal case thanks to a legal defense that rested on establishing reasonable doubt because of demonstrable police misconduct, including racism. In that case he was represented by a very expensive “Dream Team” of high-powered attorneys, including Johnnie Cochran Jr., F. Lee Bailey, Alan Dershowitz, Barry Scheck and Robert Shapiro. 

But two years later Simpson was found guilty of the same murders in a civil suit brought by the Brown and Goldman families—a verdict based in large part on the lower standards of proof required in civil cases. Simpson finally suffered an adverse judgement in a criminal case in 2008—for breaking into a Los Vegas hotel room the previous year, an incident in which Simpson claimed he was recovering sports memorabilia that belonged him.

The O.J. Simpson saga is usually presented as a morality tale about racism in America. Indeed, the football star’s New York Times obituary made racism its central theme and had a sub-headline reading: “His trial for the murder of his former wife and her friend became an inflection point on race in America.” There is no denying that the trial polarized American public opinion along racial lines. Despite strong forensic evidence for Simpson’s guilt, the jury’s decision to acquit was justifiable given the documented racism of police officer Mark Fuhrman, a lead investigator, which allowed Simpson’s defense to raise reasonable grounds for distrusting the prosecution’s case.

The Nation Weekly

But race isn’t the only important prism for understanding Simpson’s life. As legal scholar Crystal Weston cogently argued in a 1995 article for the Hastings Women’s Law Journal , gender and class are also central to understanding the murder trial. Weston rightly notes that while Simpson “may be Black, a least-favored status in this nation…he is also rich, famous and male, three most-favored-statuses from which he benefits greatly.” O.J. Simpson was enormously wealthy in 1995, thanks to not just his football career but also his post-sports role as the star of both advertising campaigns (being the public face of Hertz rental cars for many years) and movies (such as the Police Academy franchise) whose earnings made him a multimillionaire.

“Race legitimately belonged in an analysis of the trial because of Fuhrman,” Weston concluded, “but race was allowed to dominate the trial analysis before the appearance of Fuhrman because this culture does not take misogynist violence seriously. Our society uses race as a smoke-screen to derail legitimate analysis based on gender and class.”

With considerable justice, Weston insists that the case was powerfully shaped by misogyny. Simpson had a long history of violence against Nicole Brown Simpson both during and after their marriage. She repeatedly called the police to report Simpson’s violence. As The New York Times notes,

The abuse left Nicole Simpson bruised and terrified on scores of occasions, but the police rarely took substantive action. After one call to the police on New Year’s Day, 1989, officers found her badly beaten and half-naked, hiding in the bushes outside their home. “He’s going to kill me!” she sobbed. Mr. Simpson was arrested and convicted of spousal abuse but was let off with a fine and probation.

Weston emphasizes that the police’s indulgence toward Simpson was a case where his status as a wealthy man—and a celebrity to boot—overrode all other considerations. Wealth played a similar role in his arrest: If he had been a poor black man, would he have been allowed to surrender after a slow 60-mile car chase? 

The same kid-glove treatment continued after Simpson’s arrest, Weston points out:

Once he was caught…O.J.’s wealth and fame ensured that he was not charged with resisting arrest. Most importantly, his wealth allowed him to purchase the best legal defense that money could buy: the “Dream Team.” Certainly, O.J.’s wealth and celebrity status have brought him significantly more favorable treatment than that afforded most people.

The journalist Robert Scheer had a similar analysis in a 1995 op-ed for The Los Angeles Times , writing , “Blacks don’t have power; rich people do, and O.J. Simpson is one of the few who managed to cross that line. Being able to afford an army of top evidence experts is what made the difference in this case.”

If O.J. Simpson benefited from rich man’s justice in 1995, his subsequent trials showed him that even being moderately well-off was not as good as being fantastically rich. He still made $400,000 a year from his pension and Screen Actors’ Guild residuals—but that wasn’t enough to help him in his second bout of legal peril. The expense of paying for his “Dream Team” lawyers took a big bite out of his wealth, so his legal team in the civil suit wasn’t of the same caliber. By the time he faced criminal trial again in 2008, his finances were in an even more straitened state thanks to losing the civil suit. Lacking funds, Simpson experienced the full force of the law when it goes after someone who is not fabulously rich. The result was a nine-year stint in prison.

Simpson’s entire life is a parable of the power of money in America. He grew up poor and by dint of athletic prowess entered the realm of the super-rich. His fortune saved him from a murder conviction, although diminishing wealth made him legally vulnerable. But in the end, moneyed friends allowed him to enjoy a relatively gentle retirement playing golf. If there’s a lesson in this sordid story, it’s a reaffirmation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s adage that the very rich are indeed “different from you and me.”

These 3 Things Can Cause You to Lose Your Social Security Benefits

If you receive Social Security benefits of any sort, read this to avoid losing them.

When you apply for Social Security benefits , including Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income , it can take up to eight months for the Social Security Administration to approve your benefits. However, the administration can revoke those benefits at any time, and you could lose them almost instantly. 

A few things could cause you to lose your monthly benefits, including jail time, getting a new job and divorce. Which type of benefits you're receiving also matters, which we'll explain below.

Keep reading to find out how you could potentially lose your Social Security benefits. For more, here's what to do if your Social Security payment is late .

You're making too much money

If you get a new job while receiving benefits, it could affect how much money you can get each month. Here's what to know.

Getting a job could potentially cause your SSI benefits to end, according to the Social Security Administration . However, it depends on how much money you're making. Generally, SSI eligibility is for people who make $1,971 or less each month . If your income exceeds that amount, you'll no longer qualify for benefits.

Note that if you're working, $1 will be reduced from your payment for every $2 you make. For 2024, the maximum amount you could receive each month is $943, or $1,415 for a couple.

For SSDI beneficiaries, you can go back to work for up to nine months without losing your benefits. This is the SSA's nine month trial work period, or TWP. If after that time you earn $1,550 or more per month, the SSA will consider that substantial gainful activity . In that case, your benefits will be suspended for the months your earnings are over the substantial amount during the 36-month re-entitlement period after you complete the TWP.

However, if your earnings fall below the substantial amount during that 36-month window, your benefits can be reinstated. Benefits will end if your earnings are above the substantial amount after the 36-month re-entitlement period ends.

You go to jail or prison

If you're in jail or prison longer than 30 days, your Social Security and SSI benefits can be suspended . And once you're out of jail, you aren't automatically entitled to your benefits again. Here's how it breaks down.

Social Security/SSDI

If you receive Social Security and your benefits have been suspended because you've been sentenced to jail or prison, your benefits can be reinstated starting the month following the month of your release. So if you're released in May, your benefits could start again in June.

Note that benefits that your spouse or children receive will continue as long as they remain eligible.

If you receive SSI, your benefits will be suspended for the time you're in prison. Your payments can start again the month you're released, unlike with Social Security benefits. The money you receive that month would be a partial payment, depending on your release date. 

However, there's a caveat. If your jail or prison time lasts longer than 12 consecutive months, your SSI benefits will be terminated and you'll need to contact the Social Security Administration at 800-772-1213 to file a new application once you're released.

You get a divorce

If you're recently divorced or planning to be soon, there are a few provisions that would stop you from getting your ex-spouse's Social Security retirement benefits.

You weren't married to your ex-spouse for 10 years or longer.

You're married to a different person now, so you can't collect benefits on your former spouse anymore. This changes if your current marriage ends due to annulment, divorce or death.

You're entitled to benefits on your own behalf, and your benefit amount is more than what your ex-spouse's benefits are.

For more, here's a Social Security guide to all of your benefits . Also, here's how to find out how much Social Security money you could receive when you retire.

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Create and add an email signature in Outlook

In Outlook, you can create one or more personalized signatures for your email messages. Your signature can include text, links, pictures, and images (such as your handwritten signature or a logo).

Note:  If the steps under this New Outlook tab don't work, you may not be using new Outlook for Windows yet. Select Classic Outlook  and follow those steps instead.

Create and add an email signature

On the View tab, select   View Settings . 

Select Accounts > Signatures .

Select    New signature , then give it a distinct name.

In the editing box below the new name, type your signature, then format it with the font, color, and styles to get the appearance you want.

Select Save when you're done.

With your new signature selected from the list above the editing box, go to  Select default signatures and choose whether to apply the signature to new messages and to replies and forwards.

Select Save again.

Note:  If you have a Microsoft account, and you use Outlook and Outlook on the web or Outlook on the web for business, you need to create a signature in both products.

Create your signature and choose when Outlook adds a signature to your messages

If you want to watch how it's done, you can go directly to  the video below .

Open a new email message.

Under Select signature to edit , choose New , and in the New Signature dialog box, type a name for the signature.

Under Edit signature , compose your signature. You can change fonts, font colors, and sizes, as well as text alignment. If you want to create a more robust signature with bullets, tables, or borders, use Word to create and format your signature text, then copy and paste it into the Edit signature box. You can also use a pre-designed template  to create your signature. Download the templates in Word, customize with your personal information, and then copy and paste into the Edit signature box. 

You can add links and images to your email signature, change fonts and colors, and justify the text using the mini formatting bar under Edit signature .

You can also add social media icons and links in your signature or customize one of our pre-designed temlates. For more information, see Create a signature from a template .

To add images to your signature, see Add a logo or image to your signature .

Under Choose default signature , set the following options. 

In the E-mail account drop-down box, choose an email account to associate with the signature. You can have different signatures for each email account.

You can have a signature automatically added to all new messages. Go to in the New messages drop-down box and select one of your signatures. If you don't want to automatically add a signature to new messages, choose (none). This option does not add a signature to any messages you reply to or forward. 

You can select to have your signature automatically appear in reply and forward messages. In the  Replies/forwards drop-down, select one of your signatures. Otherwise, accept the default option of (none). 

Choose OK to save your new signature and return to your message. Outlook doesn't add your new signature to the message you opened in Step 1, even if you chose to apply the signature to all new messages. You'll have to add the signature manually to this one message. All future messages will have the signature added automatically. To add the signature manually, select Signature from the Message menu and then pick the signature you just created.

Add a logo or image to your signature

If you have a company logo or an image to add to your signature, use the following steps.

Open a new message and then select Signature > Signatures .

In the Select signature to edit box, choose the signature you want to add a logo or image to.

To resize your image, right-click the image, then choose Picture . Select the Size tab and use the options to resize your image. To keep the image proportions, make sure to keep the Lock aspect ratio checkbox checked.

When you're done, select OK , then select OK again to save the changes to your signature.

Insert a signature manually

If you don't choose to insert a signature for all new messages or replies and forwards, you can still insert a signature manually.

In your email message, on the Message tab, select Signature .

Choose your signature from the fly-out menu that appears. If you have more than one signature, you can select any of the signatures you've created.

See how it's done

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Note:  Outlook on the web is the web version of Outlook for business users with a work or school account.

Automatically add a signature to a message

You can create an email signature that you can add automatically to all outgoing messages or add manually to specific ones.

Select Settings   at the top of the page.

Select Mail >  Compose and reply .

Under Email signature , type your signature and use the available formatting options to change its appearance.

Select the default signature for new messages and replies.

Manually add your signature to a new message

If you've created a signature but didn't choose to automatically add it to all outgoing messages, you can add it later when you write an email message.

In a new message or reply, type your message.

If you created multiple signatures, choose the signature you want to use for your new message or reply.

When your email message is ready, choose Send .

Note:  Outlook.com is the web version of Outlook for users signing in with a personal Microsoft account such as an Outlook.com or Hotmail.com account.

Related articles

Create and add an email signature in Outlook for Mac

Create an email signature from a template

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Judge fines Trump $9,000, threatens jail for contempt in hush money trial

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Reporting by Jack Queen and Jody Godoy in New York and Andy Sullivan in Washington; editing by Noeleen Walder and Jonathan Oatis

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Thomson Reuters

Legal correspondent specializing in politically charged cases.

Jody Godoy reports on banking and securities law. Reach her at [email protected]

Andy covers politics and policy in Washington. His work has been cited in Supreme Court briefs, political attack ads and at least one Saturday Night Live skit.

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Gaza protests: ucla pro-palestinian camp attacked by israel supporters.

Police deployed in force on the University of California in Los Angeles campus on Wednesday morning after Israel supporters attacked a camp set up by pro-Palestinian protesters.