Rodney Reid recounts his experience in Rikers Island, describing the brutal conditions he endured during years spent in solitary confinement, which he argues were intentionally designed to drive prisoners to insanity.
The Sentencing Project’s article cites evidence that increasing prison sentences based on criminal history does not improve public safety and disproportionately harms people of color, and proposes that criminal records should account for no more than 10% of sentence lengths for 10-year or longer sentences.
Alabama’s prison system is a modern-day plantation, exploiting Black labor for profit while stripping them of their political power and voice.
The Prison Policy Initiative has released a report showing that the US mass incarceration system costs $445 billion annually, with 50% of the money spent on correctional systems going towards paying staff and 25% of government spending on the criminal justice system going towards policing.
The Prison Policy Initiative has found that specialty courts, while intended to reduce jail and prison populations and support rehabilitation, often fail to meet these goals and can even expand the reach of the punishment system, while also undermining community-based solutions.
Jerry “JD” Mathis, an award-winning author and PEN America Writing for Justice Fellow, discusses his experiences with mass incarceration, reentry, and the redemptive power of storytelling on the Everyday Injustice podcast.
Winter storms have left many incarcerated people without heat, reliable electricity, food, water, and medical care, exacerbating existing health risks and increasing mortality rates and suicide levels.
Governor Jeff Landry’s “tough on crime” policies have resulted in a 78% drop in parole approvals in Louisiana, with stricter eligibility requirements and a new law banning parole for those convicted after August 2024, leading to increased prison populations and criticism from civil rights attorneys and prison reform advocates.
Reentry services are essential for helping formerly incarcerated individuals successfully reintegrate into society, and cutting these services will only perpetuate the cycle of incarceration and negatively impact communities.
Mandatory minimum sentences in the United States have failed to reduce crime and have instead driven mass incarceration, deepened racial disparities and undermined the fairness of the U.S. criminal legal system, according to extensive national research.
The California Racial Justice Act (RJA) is a meaningful step toward addressing racial discrimination in the criminal legal system, but remains inadequate as a tool for confronting deeply rooted structural inequities, according to Alex Frank, Race Forward’s Director of Root Solutions for Public Safety.
The Innocence Project released a new short film, “What I Didn’t Know,” which documents the emotional and practical challenges exonerees face as they rebuild their lives after decades of wrongful incarceration.
A New Way of Life Reentry Project will host a ceremony to honor graduates of its Career Bridge Initiative, celebrating system-impacted individuals pursuing stability, employment, and opportunity after incarceration.
The Sentencing Project has released a new study warning that U.S. prisons are increasing their incarcerated populations despite falling crime rates, and that reducing sentence lengths and investing in community-based violence prevention and reentry support is necessary to reverse this trend.
One year after California voters passed Proposition 36, Los Angeles County Public Defender Ricardo Garcia has warned that the measure has failed to address the root causes of addiction and poverty, and has instead led to increased incarceration and racial inequities in the justice system.
The July edition of the Vanguard Incarcerated Press features stories from incarcerated individuals that expose the cruelty of the prison system and highlight the resilience of those who endure it, while also advocating for free speech, human rights, and prison reform.
Vera’s research reveals that ICE is detaining more than 59,000 people across the US, with 17 private facilities holding over 1,000 people per day and 2 facilities exceeding 2,000 people, and the Trump administration has allocated an unprecedented $45 billion for detention and $30 billion for additional enforcement.
Courtney Teasley, an attorney and activist, has dedicated her career to disrupting the legal system and empowering communities to fight for justice, having witnessed firsthand the system’s inadequacies while growing up in East Nashville during the crack epidemic.
The Prison Policy Initiative has released a report showing that neurodivergent youth are disproportionately confined and experience higher rates of assault by staff, and are more likely to be funneled into the criminal legal system than receive the care they need.
The US incarcerates women at higher rates than nearly every country in the world, with South Dakota having the highest rate, surpassing every country in the world.