The invitation to serve as 'citizen member' on this appellate board came to the author as a result of his earlier work on inmate grievance procedures, reported in a previous Journal article. The present article gives a close-up account of the types of inmates and inmate problems encountered while serving on such a board and of the difficult role conflicts that the board members face in trying to make decisions that are both fair and realistic. The article also gives a first-hand impression of the flavor of prison life. (Publisher abstract)