First of all, I signed it like I took it because I DID TAKE THAT PHOTO – as well as every image in that post – when I went on a tour of the prison back in 2012.

As far as how the family feels, do you really think that I was the first to post a photo of that burn mark? That riot was 40 years ago. That man’s name is nearly lost with time, only found when doing some searching for it. My point is the chances of a family member – that even knew this inmate – coming to this site and seeing my photo is very very slim. I’d say close about a 0.0001% chance. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of sites online – not to mention the hard copies of newspapers and magazines, that posted their photos of that burn mark. Plus, that burn has been featured in several books about the riot. Then there’s the massive amount of publicity after it happened – that burn mark has probably been viewed over a million times by now. And you are worried about the photo that I took in a post on a website that gets about 500 hits a day? And that is the number of hits for the entire site. Traffic to that specific post is very low – perhaps 10 views per month?

I’m empathetic to what the family has been through – if there is anyone still living that knew him. But you are overlooking one very important part about posting that photo (and others like it) — prison was a daily hell for most inmates at a majority of the prisons back then. The neglect and violence back then were off the charts. By exposing what can happen when you treat people like animals have been very important any type of reformation in our prisons – which is exactly what happened after the abuse and neglect in the Santa Fe prison. The photos taken back then combined with all the publicity is what helped start a major reformation of our prison system. This man died brutally, but, thankfully, it was not in vain. Reminding the public of what can happen behind locked doors when inmates are treated like cattle – actually, not even as good as cattle are treated

Lastly, I did two years of prison-time myself. I don’t talk about it in this site b/c that’s not what Motley News is about. But until you do any time in prison yourself, and know what THAT world is all about, best to keep judgmental thoughts like yours to yourself. Or course I was not living in any of those conditions this man had to survive in – but his death wasn’t in vain as he’s helped a countless number of others by having exposed prison life back then.