Today’s needull looks at life of a man who served 33 years in prison. How does he cope in a world which has changed so much in 33 years?
His time in prison did little to prepare him for a career. While he was locked up, Alabama spent less on inmates than almost any other state, and though the understaffed prison had computer classes and trade programs, Elston wasn’t eligible because of his life sentence. “I really don’t actually feel free,” he says. “It seems like everything that I try to do, you know, I run into a brick wall, because I’m not advanced with the way things is today. ”
PHOTOS BY JESSICA EARNSHAW; TEXT BY SAMANTHA MICHAELS – Mother Jones
Needull in a haystack 