Jails and Prisons

A blurred motion shot in a hospital corridor.

How Do You Put a Price on the Loss of Autonomy From Forced Sterilization? How Do You Put a Price on the Loss of Autonomy From Forced Sterilization?

California has created a compensation fund for victims of state-sponsored, non-consensual sterilization, which happened in prisons for decades. But as the deadline looms, many who ...

Nov 9, 2023 / Amy Littlefield

Senator Barry Goldwater, Republican nominee for the presidency, makes his formal acceptance speech as he addresses the Republican National Convention in the Cow Palace here today, July 16.

The Twisted History of the American Crime Anxiety Industry The Twisted History of the American Crime Anxiety Industry

Our political and cultural systems are obsessed with exploiting fears about crime. But it wasn’t always this way.

Nov 1, 2023 / Caleb Brennan

Public Defender Fees

You Have the Right to an Attorney, but It Might Cost You You Have the Right to an Attorney, but It Might Cost You

Approximately 40 states allow courts to charge for the use of a public defender, acting as an additional punishment for those who cannot afford to pay.

Oct 30, 2023 / StudentNation / Nicholas Miller

They Were Supposed to Be Free. Why Are They Locked Up?

They Were Supposed to Be Free. Why Are They Locked Up? They Were Supposed to Be Free. Why Are They Locked Up?

No one wants a person convicted of a sex offense in their neighborhood. So New York keeps them in prison long past their release dates.

Oct 17, 2023 / Feature / Chris Gelardi

Protestors demonstrate at the March for Reproductive Rights organized by Women’s March LA on April 15, 2023 in Los Angeles, Calif.

Stigma Makes Abortion Criminalization Possible Stigma Makes Abortion Criminalization Possible

A Nebraska mother and daughter were put behind bars for self-managing an abortion, but not because of what the law says is illegal.

Oct 4, 2023 / Elizabeth Ling

Michigan’s Prison Crisis

Michigan’s Prison Crisis Michigan’s Prison Crisis

The state, often considered a bastion of progressive policies, has some of the worst carceral instincts and politics.

Sep 18, 2023 / Jacqueline Williams

Flames move through vegetation as fire crews battle a new fire that started near the Manastash Vista Point along Interstate 82 on July 23, 2023 in Ellensburg, Washington.

Wildfires Are a Dire Threat to Incarcerated People Like Me Wildfires Are a Dire Threat to Incarcerated People Like Me

If we get caught in the path of raging flames, what will be the plan for those of us locked behind bars?

Aug 28, 2023 / Christopher Blackwell

A police armored vehicle patrols an intersection on August 24, 2020 in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Americans Are More Violent Than Ever, and We Have No One to Blame but Ourselves Americans Are More Violent Than Ever, and We Have No One to Blame but Ourselves

This has been a violent American century—but even less recognized is how our War on Terror helped us to turn on one another.

Aug 24, 2023 / Andrea Mazzarino

We Must Celebrate Black August by Advocating to Close Rikers

We Must Celebrate Black August by Advocating to Close Rikers We Must Celebrate Black August by Advocating to Close Rikers

To honor the legacy of the Black freedom fighters who founded Black August, join the fight to close Rikers.

Aug 23, 2023 / Sade Green

Black-and-white photo of Eugene Debs waving to s crowd in 1921

What Might Eugene Debs and Donald Trump Share? What Might Eugene Debs and Donald Trump Share?

Trump, too, may campaign from a prison cell.

Aug 8, 2023 / Richard Lingeman

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