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Phillip Vance Smith, II

Phillip Vance Smith, II has been serving life without parole in North Carolina for 21 years. As an incarcerated writer, his most notable works have appeared in The Humanist, The North Carolina Law Review, and the Prison Journalism Project. Smith works as editor of The Nash News, the longest running prison-published periodical in North Carolina and as a Smart Justice Fellow for the ACLU of North Carolina. In addition to his writing, he is a spoken word artist.

From the cover of Volume 7, Issue 6 of The Angolite, 1982
American Prison Newspapers 1880-2020

The Cost of Inflation in Prison

In prisons across the country, the long history of legal forced labor intersects with present-day inflation.
Phillip Vance Smith, II surrounded by covers of Nash News
American Prison Newspapers 1880-2020

What’s It Like to Be an Editor of a Prison Newspaper?

The incarcerated editor of The Nash News in North Carolina shares about the power of higher ed and his work at the prison newspaper.

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