POLITICO
A Journalist Who Spent Time Behind Bars Dishes on How He Rebuilt His Life
A revealing Q&A conversation about life after prison by a journalist still serving time at Sullivan Correctional Facility.
Lawrence Bartley at his home in Connecticut. | Christine Breslin for Politico
By JOHN J. LENNON
Link Copied
John J. Lennon is a contributing editor for Esquire and a contributing writer for The Marshall Project. His 2018 story for Esquire was a National Magazine Award finalist in feature writing. The next year, he contributed a feature essay to The Washington Post Magazine’s prison issue which won the National Magazine Award in single topic issue. He is on his twentieth year of incarceration, currently in Sullivan Correctional Facility, in Fallsburg, New York, and will be eligible for parole in 2029.
COVID-19 was the crucible that shaped our year, as everyone’s, in 2020. The pandemic caused us to shift plans, cancel travel, and work remotely. But it also inspired creativity and resulted in powerful and important journalism.
As coronavirus cases began to soar in March, our reporters immediately started reaching out to prison officials in all 50 states and the federal system to track the number of prisoners and staff who tested positive for the virus and those who died. The tracker, updated weekly, has become an essential resource for other journalists, scholars and even prisons themselves.
Beyond the pandemic, we collaborated with journalists in Alabama, Indiana and Chicago on a ground-breaking investigation into the devastating injuries caused by the misuse of police dogs nationwide. Our year-long reporting led us into this hidden world, where maulings are common and oversight is rare.