May 2, 2026
Saturday
DAYBOOK ENTRY
Today, I woke up feeling like I'm living the same day over again."Prison life" is kinda like that. For instance, today is Saturday. Nothing spectacular took place. The same wake-up call and lights-on routine at 6:00 A.M., with a slight difference: we don't have to make our beds and organize our cells on Saturdays and Sundays. As for everything else, well, we better follow the orders to a tee. The consequences for disobeying a simple order such as, "Hey you! don't step on the blue line!" (there's two blue lines along the hallway leading to food service in which the inmates are ordered to stay within) can have detrimental results. It can easily result in 30 days of loss commissary privileges or 30 days of phone restriction. This is a negative part of prison where every inmate is categorized as a manipulative, dangerous individual despite his background and case history. But I won't start complaining. We already have enough of that in here.
I woke up late, not twelve o'clock late, more like 8:30 A.M late. I practiced my morning prayers and meditation, made a cup of coffee (there was hot water again this time, Yay!), and ate a granola bar. I read the Bible and part of another spiritual book called "The Untethered Soul" by Michael A. Singer. Interesting book; specifically the part where it says, "In case you haven't noticed, you have a mental dialogue going on inside your head that never stops. It just keeps going and going as if right now you are hearing, 'I don't know what you're talking about. I don't have any voice inside my head!' that's the voice we're talking about."
Michael then shares about the power of self-awareness. I'm not that far into the book. Only the first chapter. I ate lunch: three bananas, a glass of water and tuna with rice. I didn't go outside to recreation because the temperature has dropped into the 40s (we will be freezing our butts off tonight because the prison staff decided to shut off the heater prematurely). Another inmate and I settled on callisthenic exercises inside the housing unit. Thirty sets of squats in diminishing form: thirty the first set, twenty-nine the second, twenty-eight the third, and so on; lunges and calve raises on the edge of the stairs (five sets of 25); ab exercises while laying on the floor: ten crunches, ten bicycles, ten flutter kicks, and ten leg raises for four sets without stopping. Tomorrow I'll be sore as hell. Afterwards, I took a shower; answered e mails; made a phone call; ate dinner (a banana, rice and fish); no work today; played chess, and now it's almost lights out. But before I depart into the the world of dreams and nightmares, I must say: I can't change my living circumstances, but I can find ways to grow and mature and learn from the experiences I lived the day before. This is why I personify this quote: "Lord grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." Okay, lights out! #freedwinrubis #imlivingtruth
He was 29 years old when he entered prison in 1999.
Today, more than a quarter-century later, Edwin Rubis remains behind bars.
During that time, states across America have legalized cannabis, companies have made billions from its sale, and public opinion has shifted dramatically.
Yet he is still serving a 40-year sentence.
Whether you support legalization or not, one question deserves an answer:
Should anyone spend a lifetime in prison for a cannabis-related offense while legal cannabis businesses operate openly across the country? #freedwinrubis
#CannabisJustice #CriminalJusticeReform #SecondChance
@FAMMFoundation But is this really going to make a difference. My family member Edwin Rubis has been in prison for 27 years serving a 40-year sentence for a non-violent cannabis crime. He had four clemency petitions denied by four presidents. We shall see.
@Kinza1278 Thank you for sharing this. Edwin Rubis really needs it. He is serving 40 years in prison for a non-violent cannabis crime. He's been in there for 27 years. He needs all the hope and faith from God he can receive. God bless you and your family.
President Trump gave me a second chance at life. Now, it is my mission to help others have the same opportunity.
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We have sent emails to the University of Minnesota, University of Chicago, University of St. Thomas, University of California, Villanova University, and NYU with additional details on how their clemency clinics can participate in this important effort. We are excited to partner with law students and faculty to submit candidates that deserve a second chance for consideration.
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As a reminder, anyone is able to submit a clemency request for consideration.
@AliceMarieFree We π pray these efforts will finally bring our family member Edwin Rubis home to us after serving 27 years in prison on a 40 year sentence for a non-violent cannabis crime. His past four clemency petitions have been denied by the past four Presidents.
This is the call to action:
Edwin Rubis' family and friends have been trying to raise 100 thousand dollars to hire a pardon and clemency attorney and to create public awareness to his story and unjust case. Over the past three years we have only raised 29,000. Please help us reach our fundraiser goal. Stand with Edwin Rubis and bring him home to his family. No should be incarcerated for a plant. This is the link to donate:
https://t.co/tC3ldvgYNk
This is the call to action:
Edwin Rubis' family and friends have been trying to raise 100 thousand dollars to hire a pardon and clemency attorney and to create public awareness to his story and unjust case. Over the past three years we have only raised 29,000. Please help us reach our fundraiser goal. Stand with Edwin Rubis and bring him home to his family. No should be incarcerated for a plant. This is the link to donate:
https://t.co/tC3ldvgYNk
APRIL 28, 2026
TUESDAY
DAYBOOK ENTRY
The day ended on a good note. Well, let's just say nothing unexpected happened; nothing out of the ordinary. Other than at work. We had to mop further up the hallway from our housing units - to clean up someone's vomit. An inmate had self-surrendered at the front of the prison. As he was being led inside by the guards he couldn't handled the reality of entering the belly of the beast. There's a great distinction between seeing the prison experience from outside the fence and actually living behind it. It isn't so much the physical removal from society that actually torments you, but the mental and emotional anguish a person feels under lock and key. We're not, however, going to paint a dark picture of what prison life is or feels like. I think I've already done that on too many occasions. I didn't exercise today. I took a break to rest. Plus, I had to attend the weekly two-hour (Tuesdays) rehabilitation class: non-residential drug abuse program (NRDAP). The reason I am in such a program is because my Unit Team mandated it as a goal to accomplish before I am released from prison even though I stopped doing drugs more than twenty-five years ago (I did it by choice). I know people wonder if prisons offer the opportunity to get high or drunk. No, they don't offer it but it is certainly widely available. And while drugs and hooch are not available in large quantities (because they have to be smuggled in or made behind the staff's backs), they are there if you want them. The RDAP instructor went over eight positive attitudes for personal change: honesty, gratitude, objectivity, caring, responsibility, willingness, humility, and open-mindedness. Each of the eleven participants had to choose one positive attribute that best describes them. I chose open-mindedness, because I'm always willing to learn new skills, new perspectives from people, and open to new ways of doing things. Next week, each one of us participants need to choose two attitudes we struggle with - in which we are weak or ineffective. Right after class, I headed back to the housing unit, made a cup of coffee (this time there was plenty of hot water available), ate a snack, and replied several e-mails on Corrlinks. I listened to music afterwards then stood for the mandatory 4:00 P.M. inmate count ... and now well, I'm about to close my eyes and go to sleep. But not before reading my Bible and praying for loved ones and friends, and for peace in the world. Lights out! #freedwinrubis #imlivingtruth