Daniel JerimiahSimms, born October 2, 1980, in Seattle, Washington, to two handicapped parents, both being deaf. Daniel is bilingual with American sign language as his first language. He is the second son of four siblings. At an early age Daniel experienced an extremely harmful childhood event. Out of his four siblings he was singled out for abandonment into the fostercare system. The event severely impacted Daniel mentally. The trauma was greatly exacerbated when he was placed in the Auburn House Group Home and was grotesquely abused. To esc*pe the abuse Daniel ran away and began living on the streets of Seattle. Soon Daniel was surviving by sleeping in newspaper bins and stolen cars. (See: Hopeless In Seattle: A Fosterkid's Manifesto). The evolution into crime was swift and under perceived necessity. Without funds, power, or advocates, familial or otherwise, Daniel was promptly piped into the juvenile system. Over and over again Daniel was criminalized. Yet Daniel was not provided any meaningful education or careers to reverse criminalistic thinking or behaviors. Instead the government kept Daniel uneducated, took his labor by force and coercion stealing his rightful wages, saddled him with unsurmountable levels of debt, keeping him impoverished, and then released him wholly unprepared and unsupported. Resulting in high recidivism. Without his parents and lacking trust in authorities Daniel felt immensely alone and adrift in the world. He found a semblance of acceptance in street life and criminality. Needless to say, similar to ninety percent of other foster children, Daniel was piped into prison. Daniel went to prison at age nineteen, got out at age twenty four, and was back at age twenty five for a botched drug deal receiving a de facto death sentence of thirty four years. No one was severely hurt, raped, or maimed. Neither did Daniel murder any one. Yet the State is murdering him. Resulting in a gross miscarriage of justice. The egregiously long sentence practically guaranteed Daniel will die a slow death of Incarceration. Nevertheless, despite the lack of hope for release and freedom, Daniel changed substantially becoming a new creature. Turning his life over to Jesus. Being baptised and receiving the Holy Spirit. Daniel took every educational or self-help program available. Reading hundreds of books. Soon Daniel's heart led to the key civil rights struggle of his generation: mass incarceration. First Daniel entrenched himself in the legal battlefield. Helping the masses of minorities, mentally ill, and impoverished seek and obtain redress and remedy. Or a semblance of it. Daniel filed countless appeals, lawsuits, and numerous other legal pleadings for others as a Jailhouse Lawyer Member of the National Lawyers Guild. Due to his adverse lived experience, a big heart for disabled and marginalized groups, and a keen understanding of the incarcerated community, Daniel embarked on the biggest social justice mission of his life: Carceral State reform. (See: Defund D.O.C.: Turn All Prisons Into Treatment and Career Centers). In his journey of imprisonment Daniel soon discovered and distilled fundamental maxims of prison politics, prison life, and prisoner to prisoner interactions that anyone could implement to achieve success. (See: The Art of Living: Everything You Need to Achieve Success in Life and Business, I Learned in Prison). Ultimately Daniel founded and co-hosted, along with his co-host Linda Thompson, the social justice blog/podcast,www.DefundDOC.net. Now Daniel spends his days writing blogs, podcasting, and awaiting the miracle that will open the prison gates. Daniel turned his years of misery and trauma into effective advocacy for radical Carceral State reform. Today Daniel is at the Airway Heights Correctional Center, which is outside Spokane, Washington. Daniel has a deep joy and happiness highlighting and exposing injustices and inequities. If you, or anyone you know, has been harshly treated or endured horrible hardships, while incarcerated across the Country please click here,www.DefundDOC.net, and send us a message and we might share your story on social media or interview you on a upcoming episode.