Criminal Defense Blog

Christopher Zoukis, JD | May 7, 2025 | Prison Industries

Federal Prison Industries, known as UNICOR to most, is the for-hire prison labor arm of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Inside the prisons, UNICOR is known as the best employment that one can hope to obtain. This is because they pay the best wages; $0.23 to $1.15 an hour plus $0.20 an hour for premium […]

Christopher Zoukis, JD | May 7, 2025 | Prison Research Papers

Inmate students report increased self-confidence and raised self-esteem. They are calmer, and their presence leads to a safer prison environment. Inmates who participate in educational programs develop an improved outlook, increased self-esteem, and confidence to set goals. Prison education also has a positive effect on behavior, with prisoners often becoming role models for others. The Hidden […]

Christopher Zoukis, JD | May 7, 2025 | Educational Programs

Generally, crime is a violation of generally agreed-upon societal norms that have been codified into law via criminalization.  The concept is that society has deemed certain actions to be acceptable and others to be unacceptable, and when someone violates a social norm we expect that they will be chastised.  This chastisement maintains the agreed-upon social […]

Christopher Zoukis, JD | May 7, 2025 | Prison Life

In American prisons, inmates are held to specific codes of conduct. In the Federal Bureau of Prisons, if prisoners violate these codes of conduct, they are subject to disciplinary proceedings, which can result in the loss of telephone, visitation, commissary, and email privileges, loss of good conduct time, confinement to solitary confinement, or even a […]

Christopher Zoukis, JD | May 7, 2025 | Prison Life

While the days of gruel in a tin cup have long gone by for inmates confined in the Federal Bureau of Prisons, no one imprisoned in today’s facilities will accuse their captors of providing a five-star dining experience, either. Most federal prisoners will agree that a key component of happiness behind bars is ensuring that […]

Christopher Zoukis, JD | May 7, 2025 | Educational Programs

Phillips State Prison has fostered various academic programs that lead to a general education diploma.  Historically, this prison’s programs have included remedial literacy, special education, and basic adult education.  It has recently moved beyond the high school education arena, however, to provide college-level courses.  Located in Buford, Georgia, Phillips State Prison is the site of […]

Christopher Zoukis, JD | May 7, 2025 | Prison Life

On April 22, Verizon implemented a service change in which its landline customers are no longer allowed to accept collect calls from inmates confined within the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Federal inmates were notified of this new policy through an April 17 notice posted to the Inmate Bulletin Board system on TRULINCS computers. This follows Verizon’s […]

Christopher Zoukis, JD | May 5, 2025 | Educational Programs

American prisoners and wild mustangs roaming the Arizona desert have a lot in common. The most obvious mutual denominator inmates and these untamed beasts share is there are too many of them. There are about five prison programs in the U.S. that bring prisoners and horses together to tame each other and ultimately lower the […]

Christopher Zoukis, JD | May 5, 2025 | Prison Life

Prison officials in several states are mulling over two sides of the same coin with respect to organ transplants for prisoners: first, the eligibility and cost of such medical procedures, and second, whether prisoners should be allowed to donate their organs. Prisoners in Need of Organ Transplants In Rhode Island, a liver transplant performed on […]

Christopher Zoukis, JD | May 5, 2025 | Legal Rights

A California high school football star who was exonerated after serving five years in prison for kidnapping and raping a classmate has fulfilled his dream of playing for the NFL, and there are plans to make a movie about his ordeal. Meanwhile, the woman who falsely accused him has been ordered to pay $2.6 million. […]