Life of the Law’s Nancy Mullane has this recording from caroling at California’s oldest prison, San Quentin on a Christmas Eve. This year more than 3,900 people will spend Christmas inside “The Q.”
Then, one voice began. Then another. They sang to the men in North Block, raising their voices loud enough for the men on death row to hear them on the top floor. They sang with the prisoners allowed to leave their cells, and they sang for those who stood along the rows of tiers and watched. Continue reading…
(The connection between Christmas and prison goes back a long way according to Jean Casella and James Ridgeway over at Solitary Watch. As they write, St Nicholas, Santa Claus himself is believed to have spent time in prison on more than one occassion. The historical Nicolaos of Myra who lived from 270 to 343 AD was imprisoned by the Roman empire for five years.)
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