Challenging the Criminalization of Trauma Survivors
The criminal legal system traumatizes survivors. Noncarceral alternatives are key to breaking the cycle of violence.
20 Years Too Many, Free Simon Trinidad Now!
By Fight Back! News On January 2, 2004, under the orders of the U.S. government and the CIA, Ecuadorian and Colombian forces kidnapped and arrested Colombian revolutionary Simon Trinidad. 20…
New Jersey’s Failures to Provide for Mentally Ill People in Prison
"No one seems to care about the incarcerated men with mental health issues who bang and scream above my head."
They Were Wrongfully Convicted. Now They’re Denied Compensation Despite Michigan Law.
The state can provide the wrongfully convicted compensation of $50,000 for each year of incarceration, but the law’s narrow criteria and confusion over eligibility leave former prisoners facing another system…
Abolition Is a Global Movement. Here’s What We Learned From Allies Worldwide.
To make abolition possible, grassroots groups of people directly impacted by incarceration must mobilize globally.
Dems Claim to Oppose Mass Incarceration, But Blue State Commutations Are Falling
Commutations plummeted from 2020 record highs in California and Illinois. Are presidential ambitions to blame?
Mutual Aid Inside: How Incarcerated Communities Survive Together
Inside prisons, letter writing, networking, storytelling, education, resource distribution, mentorship, collective mourning, nursing, nurturing, listening, and performing other rituals of mutual aid belong to the legacy of incarcerated caregivers.
I’m Serving 40 Years in Federal Prison. Here’s a Glimpse Into My World.
Every day, the conditions of incarceration work to strip away my humanity.
In Washington State, Prison Closure Divides Abolitionist Community
We should be focused on building systems of social support to replace prisons rather than keeping it from collapsing under the weight of its own bloated grotesqueness.
Minnesota Man Who Was Arrested at 16 Exonerated After 19 Years in Prison
By Equal Justice Initiative This article was originally published by the Equal Justice Initiative. On December 11, Marvin Haynes was released after 19 years in prison for a crime he…
I’m a Spiritual Advisor for Condemned Men. Alabama’s Next Execution Could Kill Me, Too.
Alabama plans to execute Kenneth Smith next month by suffocating him with nitrogen. But the new method is untested—since I’m supposed to be in the room with Kenny when he…
The 13th Amendment Legalizes Slavery—and Many States Have Their Own Version
Like many states, California backs up the federal exception for involuntary servitude in its own state constitution. These activists are fighting to change that.
Militarized Police ‘Indiscriminately’ Attack Nonviolent Stop Cop City March With Tear Gas
"This is the type of 'training' they will get if Cop City is built," said one activist group.
The Wrongful Conviction Scandal That Never Happened
Years ago, the all-white judges of a Louisiana appellate court decided, in secret, to systematically ignore petitions filed by prisoners, most of them Black, who claimed they had been unjustly…
Dying Behind Bars — Another Form of Capital Punishment
The aging prison population has tripled in the past two decades. These facilities, which offer poor medical care and a stressful environment, are ill-equipped to handle their graying population.