Who Should See Your Prison Professors Profile

Building a profile is one thing. Knowing who should see it is another. Michael Santos explains why the answer is different depending on where you're incarcerated, what to do about resistance inside the system, and how eligibility for First Step Act credits actually works.

Who should you share your Prison Professors profile with?

Justin asked directly: if someone's documenting through Prison Professors, with their plan, biography, and journal entries in place, who should they share it with? A case manager at a team meeting? Written updates to their judge?

Michael pushed back on the framing. "The problem is your question, Justin, with all respect. You're asking me for a magic pill. Prison Professors is a platform. It is not a magic pill. It's a platform." Every member has to recognize they're their own professor, building their own curriculum, because outcomes vary by facility. "Some people are going to get a place with a magnificent warden," Michael said, describing one warden who took pride in running more furloughs than any other facility. Other regions have regional directors more or less supportive of the program. "There may be changes, but it's a change in bureaucracy, and it may not change in time for you to finish your sentence."

The practical answer: a case manager is one person to influence. A unit team is another. "You have to influence everybody who has discretion over your liberty." Whether someone has done that work shows in whether they've gone through the free courses available. "This is a ministry for me," Michael said, "and I'm very grateful to serve, but it is a very big job, and there are a lot of people who don't like what I do."

Are there people inside the Bureau of Prisons who resist this work?

Justin asked Michael to say more about that resistance directly.

"At the highest level, massive support," Michael said. But support doesn't reach everyone. He described a warden who took pride in compiling a book of Prison Professors materials, then moved to a different facility, leaving behind a case manager who wasn't supportive of the same work. Michael described being told directly by staff at other facilities: "If a judge sentenced you to six years, I think you should do 72 months. Not 71 months. 72 months. I don't think because you wrote a couple of book reports and your biography and you swept up your cell and made your bed that I should let you out in three years. The judge gave you 72 months."

"There are people in the agency with that mindset," Michael said. "They shouldn't be there, but they're there. I don't control those people. What I do is try to advocate for change." His own fight, he was clear, operates on a different level than any one individual's case. "I work on a macro level to try and influence 100,000 people because that's the way I'm going to change the law and policies."

Is there a path for people not eligible for First Step Act credits?

A viewer asked plainly: their charge makes them ineligible for First Step Act credits. Is there a path forward, and is expanding eligibility part of Michael's advocacy?

"I don't work for the Bureau, and I've got to be very clear on that," Michael said. He described his relationship with the deputy director, someone he's met with many times, texted with, and toured prisons alongside, a person who was previously incarcerated himself and understands being apart from a spouse and child. Even with a sympathetic ear at that level, resistance exists lower in the organization. "The wardens are very supportive of him, but there are 40,000 people," Michael said. "Even though they might write a policy, there are going to be people who are obstructive."

Advocacy, in his framing, means helping leadership implement the decisions they already want to make. "I wish I could say it's going to happen overnight, but the reality is it's going to take a lot of work. Every individual in your community and every individual in prison has a role in bringing these changes together."

What's next for Prison Professors, and what will prison tablets change?

Justin asked what's next, given Michael's health situation and the scale of the work already done across 80 prisons.

"I have inside information," Michael said. "I know that every person in federal prison is going to get a tablet." He's spending his time now building digital courses for those tablets, since onboarding becomes easier once they're standard. The platform needs to scale to 50,000 people, which requires a tech stack built by a formerly incarcerated IT team member who served 18 or 19 months of a 60-month sentence and now understands exactly how the system needs to grow.

Justin asked about confusion between the tablets people currently buy for around a hundred dollars and what's coming. "I can only tell you what I heard from the deputy director and what's online," Michael said. "Everybody's going to get a new tablet." Unlike current entertainment-focused tablets, the new ones will include free courses, email, unlimited phone calls, and eventually video calls, pending bandwidth and Wi-Fi buildout at each facility. "It's very important for us to build great content that can help people learn and memorialize what they're learning, because that becomes part of the advocacy campaign."

Frequently Asked Questions

Who should see my Prison Professors profile?

Everyone who has discretion over your liberty: your case manager, your unit team, and anyone else positioned to advocate on your behalf, since outcomes vary by facility and staff.

Does every case manager support Prison Professors work?

No. Michael Santos describes real resistance inside the Bureau of Prisons, including staff who believe good conduct shouldn't shorten a sentence at all.

Is there a path forward if my charge makes me ineligible for First Step Act credits?

Advocacy for broader eligibility continues at a systemic level, but Michael Santos is clear he doesn't work for the Bureau of Prisons and can't promise individual outcomes.

What's changing with prison tablets?

Every person in federal prison is expected to receive a new tablet with free courses, email, unlimited phone calls, and eventually video calls, replacing the current entertainment-focused devices people buy for around a hundred dollars.

How many people does Prison Professors need to serve to reach scale?

50,000, which requires a tech stack built specifically for that volume.