Life of a Lifer

Life of a Lifer


Life of a Lifer - Jeffrey Young

April 22, 2020

Today Salty Candace interviews with Jeffrey Young, a Minnesota man who was convicted in 2002 and given a life sentence for first and second-degree murder, kidnapping, and assault.

When asked about his crime, Jeff said :
I acknowledge and accept responsibility for my crime. I'm a member of the Restorative Justice Committee here at Stillwater prison and do what I can to the right my wrongs as much as possible. I've written apology letters and have shared my story in hopes that it prevents situations like mine in the future. My sister was attempting to exit an abusive relationship and her ex threatened her life, I responded by killing him. My childhood experience with observing domestic violence played a role in my decision making at that time. Still, over the years of my incarceration, I've acquired other response skills to intervene in domestic violence.

In October 2011, Jeffrey submitted his first commentary to the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder,the oldest continuously published African American paper in the state of Minnesota.
His following remarks became "Reaching Out From Within," a column in which he wrote about issues surrounding his incarceration, giving readers a vivid glimpse through his eyes as he reached out from the Minnesota Corrections Facility in Rush City. Reaching Out From Within was published in the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder until April 2014.

For the last three years, Jeffrey has been working as an associate editor for The Prison Mirror, where he has been able to utilize Adobe Cloud, Illustrator, Photoshop, and Indesign programs. He also conducts interviews, writes articles about domestic violence, suicide in prison, incarcerated transgender people, prison healthcare, and many other stories.

Jeffrey enjoys giving voice to some of the issues the men in the prison are concerned about, and the chance to highlight their achievements.

Listen to what Jeffrey has to say! And Do not forget to subscribe to www.lifeofalifer.com