Weaponized Compliance: Tear Gas in Women’s Prisons
By Kwaneta Harris / Prism The first time they gassed us, I was reading in my cell. It was 2009, and I had just arrived in prison. There was no…
Both Prisons and the Public Rely On Incarcerated Writers
New York tried and failed to limit art and writing behind bars. The attempt should remind us all of the public and personal benefits of encouraging creative expression inside.
It’s Known as “Death by Incarceration.” These People Want to End It.
More people are serving life sentences without parole in Pennsylvania than almost anywhere else in America. An increasingly vocal movement is trying to change that.
UN Expert Demands Immediate Shutting Down of Guantanamo Prison, Apology to Inmates
UN special rapporteur Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, the first such expert who was allowed to visit the infamous Guantanamo Bay prison in over 20 years, noted that US’ treatment of detainees…
New Research Examines Restrictions On Incarcerated Journalists In US Prisons
A briefing from the Prison Policy Initiative documents many of the restrictions that prisons in the United States impose to prevent journalism from incarcerated individuals.
A Texas Prison Guard Placed a Woman in Isolation for Talking About Abortion
Legal experts told The Nation it’s not illegal. But that didn’t stop one guard from moving a woman to extreme isolation after sharing sexual health information.
Fueled by Family Experiences with Incarceration, Black Girls Rising Seeks to Close Youth Prisons in Louisiana
After seeing firsthand how the juvenile justice system affected their relatives, advocates are pushing for alternatives to youth incarceration and working to raise awareness.Growing up, Tamia Cenance could not fully…
New Federal Proposal Could Seize 75% of Commissary Funds Sent to Prisoners
The Bureau of Prisons proposal would automatically deduct three quarters of money sent to prisoners—today is the last day to submit a public comment opposing this measure.
These Men Fought White Supremacists and Got Sentenced to Over 200 Years
How the criminal legal system slammed two Black men for standing up to white supremacist guards in an Indiana prison.
The Global Vigils for the Closure of Guantánamo on International Women’s Day
Campaigners at the global vigils for the closure of Guantánamo on March 8, 2023. Clockwise from top left: London, Washington, D.C., New York and Mexico City.
California Considers Giving the Incarcerated a Right to Vote
It takes a constitutional amendment followed by a statewide vote to legalize balloting behind bars. Will it happen?
Prisoners Donating Organs to Get Time Off Raises Thorny Ethical Questions
By Austin Sarat / The Conversation In January 2023 two Democratic representatives, Judith Garcia and Carlos Gonzalez, proposed a bill that would offer prisoners in Massachusetts a new way to…
Life Without Parole Prisoners Reignite Movement to End Mass Incarceration
A 50-year-old organization led by prisoners with life sentences has emerged from a COVID shutdown to fight for the abolition of legalized slavery.
[Rewind] Eddie Conway: Prisons Enable America’s Obscene Wealth
Prisoner-turned-journalist Eddie Conway talked about how the immorally cheap labor of those caught in the prison industrial complex is the shame of the U.S. economy.
The Holidays are the Most Painful Time of the Year to be Behind Bars
Every holiday season, prisoners suffer spikes in suicides, violence, and depression. Eddie Conway, who spent 44 years locked up, explains what people on the outside can do to help.