A journalist behind bars - Juan Moreno Haines

Juan Moreno Haines has come a long way from the man he once was, a Navy bratt who had a troubled upbringing and would take that with him as a young adult trying to find his way in life.

A series of events would see him end up looking down the barrel of over 80 years in prison, he would start that sentence like most, embracing the bad side of prison life, involving himself in every aspect of the prison culture that was only doing him harm. Until one day a transfer to the infamous San Quentin Prison would set him on a new path.

Juan Moreno Haines is these days and award winning journalist and former senior editor at the award-winning San Quentin News; a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, where he was awarded its Silver Heart Award in 2017 for being “a voice for the voiceless.”

Mr. Haines’s is now the for Editor-in-Chief of Solitary Watch. Solitary Watch is a nonprofit watchdog organization that works to uncover the truth about solitary confinement and other harsh prison conditions in the United States by producing high-quality investigative journalism, accurate information, and authentic storytelling from both sides of prison walls.

Mr. Haines work has been published in The Guardian, The Appeal, Hastings Race and Poverty Law Journal, Above the Law, UCLA Law Review, Life of the Law, The Oakland Post, California Prison Focus, LA Progressive, CalMatters, Witness LA, and Street Spirit.

In 2020, Mr. Haines was awarded the PEN Prison Writing Contest’s Fielding A. Dawson Prize in Fiction.

Check out the podcasts from behind prison walls now https://www.earhustlesq.com/ and https://www.weareuncuffed.org/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.