Chained Birds: A True Crime Memoir
2 days ago

From here

Carla Conti is a true crime journalist and staunch prison reform advocate. In Chained Birds, Conti becomes part of the story herself.

She was asked to tell the story of Kevin Sanders and the conditions he experienced as a convict serving his sentence at Lewisburg Prison in Pennsylvania. Sanders’ legal team soon hires her to help his defense, specifically a series of unjust assault charges.

It all started with a snowball, and it would, pardon the pun, snowball into something more. One inmate launched a snowball at a corrections officer before assaulting him—the officer’s revenge led to an orchestrated rec cage assault that involved Sanders through no fault of his own. This is the event that brought Sanders to Conti’s attention, as well as the prison’s Special Management Unit, which turned out to be rife with abuse , corruption, and violence.

As a journalist and advocate, she became a fierce supporter not only for Sanders but for reformation of the entire prison system. The trial was just the beginning as Conti recounts her life before, during, and after the case, including the political strife, family drama, and even the writing of this book.

Conti writes with an endearing balance of humor and passion, and she is a driven and intelligent advocate for those without a voice—even before working with Sanders. Without her assistance on the case, he might have disappeared into the system and the SMU program may have gone unnoticed.

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