Have you ever visited someone in jail or prison? What was that experience like?There are dozens of movies about prison and prison life, as well as TV shows and now podcasts. What have you watched or listened to? What impressions did you form about prison and prisoners?Now that you’ve read A Grip of Time, have your impressions and feelings changed at all? In what way?Did it surprise you to learn that the U.S. leads all other nations in both the number of people in prison and the rate of incarceration? Why do you think that’s true?Why do you think we should incarcerate wrong-doers? What purposes are served by imprisonment? These four ideas are (and have long been) hotly debated: Incapacitation (preventing crime by removing the criminal from society), deterrence (deterring future crime by showing wrong-doers that “crime does not pay”), retribution (extracting a “sacrifice” from wrong doers for their criminal activity), rehabilitation (improvement in moral character and behavior).What about the purpose served by the learning to tell your own story? What do you think the men in the writers group learned from the experience?How do we judge whether someone who has served time in prison is “rehabilitated”? Of the men you now know through A Grip of Time, which ones (if any) would you deem rehabilitated?What do you think about juvenile offenders who commit serious crimes? Sterling was 16 when he committed his crime. James was 17. Should they be sentenced differently than adults? If you were sitting on a parole board today, would you grant parole to Sterling or James?“Compassionate release” is a policy that grants release from prison for elderly and ailing inmates. What do you think of this idea? Let’s get specific: Remember Jann? He is now 66, has diabetes and walks with a cane. He has served 37 years in prison for murder. If it were up to you, would you grant him compassionate release?“Restorative justice” is another recent idea, It focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with victims and the community at large. What do you think about this? Especially what do you think about this when the crime is murder?Have you ever been the victim of a crime?Would you ever volunteer in a prison?