TheStar.Com: A Canadian prisoner's perspective

Greg Simmons, 40, spent 17 years of his life behind bars, for a laundry list of serious crimes. He was a cocaine dealer and an addict. Prison, he says, is "warehousing. You warehouse your emotions, the way you deal with life is stunted. What it did to me, was it became a place where I felt I belonged. Because I was an animal." Part of the Toronto Star's Crime & Punishment series, at thestar.com/crimepunish.

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News & Politics

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• Toronto
• Star
• crime
• punishment
• prison
• prisoner
• law
• legal

[ChristiansMustLearn]

This guy is bright and makes the notion of a criminal turn on its head. He's a human that made a mistake. My prayers are with you bro.

[dundem187]

I'll believe this man's perspective over ANY so-called "expert"/polititian/cop/media/­C.O or any other entity claiming to have a grasp on incarceration and the effects it has on people and society as a whole.

[BostonCreamDonut]

@acidheadzzzz To be honest the definion of prison is basically a place where people go to be rehabilitated whilst being locked up. Have you seen what prisons look like in Austria? its like 5 star resort, clean cells, tv, sink, some lower risk cells even have pull out beds and mini kitchens! even balconies! don`t get the notion all prisons are all violent and about death, the US is far behind, Canada is ahead, but some Euro countries, have decent rehab programs, very humane.

[acidheadzzzz]

Prison isn’t a place we send people to rehabilitate them. Nor is it much of a punishment. After all, the goal of both punishment and rehabilitation is to teach something — a lesson of some sort. There are no life lessons in prison. Only lessons on violence and death. And if, by mistake, you do manage to take something from the experience, it will probably be how to drink horror straight up without blinking. Not exactly the kind of wisdom you want to leave your grandkids ???????

[4capulina]

Inspirational

[reavadee1]

Wow...I watched this and was blown away..My name is Reava Simmons I was married to Greg..had his beautifull daughter Chanelle...I had lost touch with him 0ver 20 years ago..All I knew of Greg is that he was a great father and A geat man...that just needed more of a better start in life. If by chance you read this pls message me...P,S. your lil pookey misses you..I hope your on a path to great things you deserve and dont think other wise. reavadee1

[oybbib12]

Great story, I truly hope this guy found his way, cheers

[Shukria123]

Everybody gets theirs.

[uraniumcity1964]

Doing 17 years will kill me. I will now be a better boy.

[cantroos]

Putting people away for drug offences is a major failure. But the damage a person suffers when they are victim to a violent crime is so immense, in many ways it ruins their ability to lead a normal life ever again. Unless you take a purely utilitarian view of justice, in which case maybe we should just close jails and give bank robbers 50k/year living allowances so they don't have to commit crimes, you simply have to be appalled by the paltry sentences handed out for incredibly serious crimes.

[NightmareCinemaDX]

This class is awesome!