Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing

The chapter opens with a quote from Robert Frost: “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall, that wants it down” (304). Conover is working the night shift at B-block on New Year’s Eve; his wife has to work that evening, and he is curious about the stories he has heard about this particular night of the year. He is told by the OIC that he should avoid going out into the galleries, and he soon finds out why: inmates are starting debris fires throughout the prison in celebration of the New Year.

The Afterword is written three years after Conover completed his work as an officer. The book is declared contraband in New York state prisons, but prisoners are able to acquire a copy after certain pages of the book have been torn out by officers. Conover is uncertain at first about how officers will respond to the book, but after a successful reading his fears are assuaged; numerous officers, including Conover’s former co-workers, have read the book and tell Conover that they appreciate his depiction of their work. On the other hand, the inmate response, writes Conover, is “coming in more slowly” (316). In closing the book, Conover leaves the reader with several of his own recommendations for what can be done in terms of prison reform, which include repealing mandatory sentencing laws for drug offenses, reincorporating education and counseling into the corrections system, and investing in the needs of youth and their communities.