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Two weeks ago, underneath a highway, in the oldest black neighborhood in America, the heart of New Orleans is pumping. In a jazz club that seats 20 people, you can find all the richness of the city – the smell of world-renowned barbecue and traditional red beans and rice; the sound of award-winning trumpets and ten gospel singers hugging the perimeters of the room; local regulars hanging out in a back patio eating turkey necks, and eager visitors from every corner of the world arriving at 5:30pm to steal a seat for the 6:00pm show. The feel of it is raw, the taste of it is real, and the look may not be what you’d find on a New Orleans postcard. But it should be. And it happens every Tuesday.

In speaking with men and women who have gone to prison, they experience withdrawals from having a cell phone once they are inside, something not allowed in federal prison. They feel imaginary vibrations in their pockets from a cell phone that is not there. They miss the connection with their family and friends. They are disconnected further from society. Loved ones who they used to text or call regularly have seemed to have vanished. The instantaneous access to calls, emails and information are over. It understandably takes a while to get used to. However, access to cell phones, particularly in minimum and low security prisoners is easy.

When can an eligible prisoner begin to earn First Step Act (FSA) credits?It seems like a simple question and the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has determined that the prisoner can begin earning credits once they are at their designated facility. For those prisoners who self surrender to prison, many are low and minimum security prisoners, the credits start on the day the person arrived at prison. However, for some prisoners, they are remanded at the time of sentencing and then transported to their designated facility, a process that can take months as prisoners make their way through holdovers and county jails until they reach their final designation. Them arriving at their final designated institution is completely out of their control.