I'm with you on this one. The loyalty and code among people kept "outside" society and "inside" the system is something most people can only dream about. Its impossible to explain to normal people why this happens to us, all I can say is it does.

Even now, fifty years after I left home, my loyalties still belong to the people I grew up with (almost all of whom have served time). My loyalty to my own children is the only emotion that exceeds it.

The felons I know are fiercely protective of children. G-d help any deviant who even looks at one of their own children.

I used to bring a friend's eight year old daughter to visit her Dad - and have never seen men more respectful, protective and caring about a young child than I saw during those visits. It was one of the few places we'd ever been where some man wasn't looking her up and down, sizing her up and imagining her in ten years.

Thanks for speaking up.