Victor Hassine’s Life Without Parole: Living in Prison Today was a very powerful book, because it showed all aspects of the prison world from a real person’s point of view. Several key issues were addressed in the book, and these are the same issues that we are discussing today regarding problems in prisons and areas where laws could improve conditions for inmates. This book analysis will connect the issues discussing by Hassine in the book with those that we have discussed in class. There were many pieces of Hassine’s writing that I found to be very interesting, which I will compare and contrast with ideas discussed in class. The first topic that I will discuss is the issue of overcrowding in prisons. Victor Hassine was a firsthand witness to this problem when he was confined for his capital offense. Hassine discusses how overcrowding is more than just an inconvenience; it is a real danger to the health and wellbeing of inmates. By having the prison become overcrowded, the principle of having a facility that can handle a certain number of inmates is thrown out the window. There may be not enough guards to handle a certain number of prisoners, and this brings up a safety issue for the inmates and employees of the prison. Hassine said that once crowded became overcrowded, a gang atmosphere appeared. In prisons, as discussed in class, emotions were often viewed as weak points for prisoners, so when a weakness like that appeared, the inmate might become a victim of other inmates. I thought it was very interesting when Hassine discussed the details of what kinds of conflicts come up when he had to have a cellmate instead of just him in his single cell. These are the kinds of things that lawmakers do not know about when making decisions that affect the prison system. The emotional toll from stress of having an incompatible cellmate had a big impact on Hassine’s impression of the prison system even after he was out. Next, the prisoner to prisoner relations was expanded on in the chapter about prison viol