Jails and Prisons

Men imprisoned at the Mafanta Prison peer out at the world. In 2016, Sierra Leone’s Human Rights Commission decried the squalor and lack of rehabilitative programs as “inhumane.”

The Legacy of the British Legal System Continues to Inflict Misery in Sierra Leone The Legacy of the British Legal System Continues to Inflict Misery in Sierra Leone

Decades after independence, colonial-era laws have created a mass-incarceration crisis in Sierra Leone as poor citizens are thrown into prison for the smallest offenses.

Dec 19, 2024 / Feature / Mara Kardas-Nelson

Rahsaan

Prison Journalism Is Having a Renaissance. Rahsaan Thomas Is One of Its Champions. Prison Journalism Is Having a Renaissance. Rahsaan Thomas Is One of Its Champions.

Thomas and his colleagues at Empowerment Avenue are subverting the established narrative that prisoners are only subjects or sources, never authors of their own experience.

Dec 13, 2024 / Piper French

Illinois Has Put an End to the Injustice of Cash Bail

Illinois Has Put an End to the Injustice of Cash Bail Illinois Has Put an End to the Injustice of Cash Bail

Amid a national backlash against criminal justice reform, Illinois has achieved something extraordinary. It’s working better than anyone expected.

Dec 2, 2024 / Feature / Bryce Covert

Black and white photo of people waving to a train.

America Has Done Mass Deportation Before America Has Done Mass Deportation Before

From the Indian Removal Act of 1830 to the deportation of Mexican-Americans during the Great Depression, Trump can easily find precedents for his policy. None of them ended well.

Nov 25, 2024 / Eric Foner

Maya Schenwar (left) and Kim Wilson.

How Love Fuels Resistance: Parenting for Liberation How Love Fuels Resistance: Parenting for Liberation

Maya Schenwar and Kim Wilson discuss their new anthology, We Grow the World Together, about how caregiving and the organizing work of abolitionists can go hand in hand.

Nov 19, 2024 / Q&A / Regina Mahone

Incarcerated individuals participate in

The Prison Rodeo at the Heart of Legal Enslavement The Prison Rodeo at the Heart of Legal Enslavement

Angola prison workers make between 2 and 40 cents an hour. They also have a controversial outlet for recreation and to vend their wares at market rate: a rodeo.

Nov 12, 2024 / Lauren Stroh

Why We Need Prison Journalism More Than Ever

Why We Need Prison Journalism More Than Ever Why We Need Prison Journalism More Than Ever

If we lose incarcerated journalists, we lose a whole voice from the conversation.

Oct 25, 2024 / Christopher Blackwell and Emily Nonko

Ignoring Mental Health Is a Crime

Ignoring Mental Health Is a Crime Ignoring Mental Health Is a Crime

Prisons aren’t the answer to our mental health crisis.

Oct 2, 2024 / OppArt / Hector Manuel Rodriguez

How a Probation Violation Turns Into Indefinite Jail Time

How a Probation Violation Turns Into Indefinite Jail Time How a Probation Violation Turns Into Indefinite Jail Time

Probation detainers are forcing tens of thousands of people to remain in jail indefinitely.

Sep 9, 2024 / Feature / Katie Rose Quandt

A mock prison cell, intended to simulate the heat inside prision cells in Texas, sits outside the Texas State Capitol in Austin on July 18, 2023. Activists visited the capitol to discuss the need for air-conditioning in Texas state prisons.

Air Conditioners Can Only Do So Much for Those Behind Bars Air Conditioners Can Only Do So Much for Those Behind Bars

Extreme heat has long been a concern for incarcerated pregnant women and those behind bars with underlying health conditions.

Aug 30, 2024 / Victoria Law

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