John Kiriakou: American Gulag
Western journalists are providing breathless depictions of the harsh conditions facing U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner in Russia. Have none of them been inside a U.S. prison?
US Private Prison Industry: Profiting From Exploitation and Suffering
Eugene Puryear of BreakThrough News talks about the high rates of incarceration in the US and the role of the private prison sector in intensifying the crisis.
Being Pregnant in Prison Is a Nightmare That Won’t Be Ended by One Bill Alone
Even for future people who are pregnant behind bars, legislation doesn’t necessarily ensure that prison or jail officials will follow the new measures.
Jail Telecom Company Offered Sheriffs Caribbean Cruises and Florida Retreats
Smart Communications, a for-profit Florida company that sells phone, videochat, and email-like services to prisons and jails, told at least one sheriff’s department that it can live “the resort life”…
New Data Tool Details Thousands of Corporations Profiting From US Prison Industry
"Despite earning tens of billions of dollars each year, the public knows little about the prison industry and those that profit from it."
‘Habitual Offender’ Laws Imprison Thousands for Small Crimes — Sometimes for Life
Data obtained by The Appeal show nearly 2,000 people in Mississippi and Louisiana are serving long—and sometimes life—sentences after they were labeled “habitual offenders." But most are behind bars for…
California’s Dependency on Prison Labor for Fighting Fires Must End
Incarcerated firefighters face much higher rates of injury than professional firefighters, are minimally compensated, and are largely unable to negotiate the conditions of their work.
“Death By Incarceration”: Human Rights Groups Urge UN to Call for Abolition of Life Without Parole Sentences
The United States condemns one out of every seven prisoners — or more than 200,000 people — to die in prison. Over two-thirds are people of color.
Chris Hedges on Trauma and Teaching Writing in Prison
Chris Hedges joins Mansa Musa on Rattling the Bars to discuss his new book, “Our Class: Trauma and Transformation in an American Prison.”
The Chris Hedges Report: The Long Road Home (Part 2)
In the second of the two-part series The Long Road Home, we learn how five former prisoners have reentered society after spending a collective 119 years locked up.
Jorja Leap on the American Women and Children We All Conveniently Forget
The UCLA professor joins Robert Scheer to discuss the plight of women who have been incarcerated and their struggles to reenter society.
John Kiriakou: New York’s Prison Crisis
Rikers Island has been in the news lately, but Great Meadow Correctional Facility is even worse.
The 13th Amendment’s Fatal Flaw Created Modern-Day Slavery
Slavery still exists in America, but the only people whose labor can be enslaved are those convicted of a crime
Private SoCal Prison Remains Open Despite Ban
Despite President Biden's ban on private prisons, a for-profit private prison in San Diego, California, is attempting to remain open.
Corporations are Making Millions of Dollars From U.S. Prison Labor
A Freedom of Information Act request shines a light on how much private corporations and government agencies have been exploiting prison labor during the COVID-19 pandemic.