More than a quarter of the crime committed in Charleston County last year was the work of just 1,900 men. And 12 of them are sitting in Amy Barch’s classroom this morning. Many of them are drug dealers, but some dabble in carjacking, home invasion and armed robbery. A few have shot people, a couple … Read more
In the shadow of the razorwire fences and bleak facade of the Al Cannon Detention Center sits the small, nondescript building that houses the Turning Leaf Project. Inside, two classrooms are lined with handwritten lists that encapsulate the lessons learned by the former convicts who participate in the reintroduction program. Identifying a social support network, … Read more
There are about a dozen guys sitting in this room — some of them tattooed, some with long hair or dreads — talking casually about doing drugs, committing crimes. Quietly and calmly, they are listing the factors that led them into both. Joe McGrew urges them on, writes their answers on a board at the … Read more
Shakiem Maxwell will tell you straight — he was headed down the wrong road, doing all the wrong things. At 22, he already had a rap sheet that included attempted armed robbery, forgery and drug crimes. He was doing time in the Charleston County jail when Amy Barch found him. Today, Maxwell is enrolled in … Read more
Sean Kittrell has been a federal prosecutor for more than two decades. He packs a gun in Charleston, South Carolina, where he’s known as a “traditional, old-school, tough-as-nails violent crime and drug prosecutor,” according to Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, a top Justice Department official in Washington. “I have spent a lifetime putting people in … Read more
The Justice Department’s second-highest-ranking official Thursday said that the federal prison’s most successful education and reentry program has “dramatically” shrunk in recent years, leaving more than 10,000 inmates on a waiting list for prison jobs and educational training. On the eve of the early release of thousands of federal inmates back to their homes, Deputy Attorney General Sally Quillian … Read more
Selling drugs was just a way of life for Kelvin Dayse. Growing up in the Gadsden Green housing project in downtown Charleston, Dayse said he was taught to think with a pack mentality and to do whatever was needed to make money. He said he was charged with tax evasion and money laundering from his … Read more
Amy Barch doesn’t just take chances, she gives them. In 2011, Barch founded The Turning Leaf Project, a volunteer-led initiative focused on educating criminal offenders and preparing them for successful re-entry. After years of success inside the walls of the Al Cannon Detention Center, The Turning Leaf project has now evolved to include a new … Read more