Will Your Child Grow Up to Be Victim or Torturer? Will Your Child Grow Up to Be Victim or Torturer?
While 90 percent of teens break the law, only some enter a violent system.
Oct 15, 2014 / Column / Patricia J. Williams
‘Evolution of a Criminal’: A Conversation With Filmmaker Darius Clark Monroe ‘Evolution of a Criminal’: A Conversation With Filmmaker Darius Clark Monroe
Filmmaker Darius Clark Monroe on his documentary.
Oct 14, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Mychal Denzel Smith
Mental Illness, Homelessness, Drug Addiction: Do These Sound Like Crimes? Mental Illness, Homelessness, Drug Addiction: Do These Sound Like Crimes?
Why are we letting these serious social problems be handled by the criminal justice system?
Oct 9, 2014 / Mychal Denzel Smith
A Mental Health Crisis Shouldn’t End in a Jail Cell A Mental Health Crisis Shouldn’t End in a Jail Cell
Nearly $9 billion per year is spent locking up people struggling with mental illness.
Oct 9, 2014 / Kara Dansky
Policing Pain Policing Pain
It’s been estimated that half of the people shot and killed by police officers in the United States have some type of mental-health problem. James Boyd was killed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, after a five-hour negotiation with police, who were trying to get the homeless man to leave his illegal campsite. Boyd had only two small camping knives, but he was shot in the back after the officers set off a stun grenade. When they aren’t killing people with mental-health issues, the police are arresting them, a harrowing and harmful experience in its own right. “Jails are the number one mental-health facilities across the country,” San Antonio Police Officer Joe Smarro explains in a new video series about overcriminalization, which launches at TheNation.com on October 9. Produced by Brave New Films in partnership with the ACLU, the series explores alternatives to the criminalization of social problems like mental illness, homelessness and addiction. Please support our journalism. Get a digital subscription for just $9.50! There’s a long history in America of imprisoning vulnerable populations. The criminalizing of homelessness harks back to the days after Reconstruction, when outdated vagrancy laws were suddenly applied to the newly freed black population. The “black codes” targeted formerly enslaved people, who were arrested for violations such as lacking proof of employment. They were then sent to prisons that had sprung up on former plantations, effectively re-enslaving them. This legacy carries on through stop-and-frisk policies and discriminatory immigration enforcement measures. Such policies criminalize everyday behavior, are enforced in a racist fashion, and designate police officers as the first and only solution to society’s problems. That’s why this series is not just about describing the problem, but about how you can take action. These videos focus on innovative and cost-effective solutions that actually improve people’s lives, making us less dependent on prisons and policing to address problems that are far too complex to be beaten into submission. Read Next: Steven Hsieh on the mentally ill veteran who “baked to death” at Rikers
Oct 8, 2014 / Mychal Denzel Smith
Who Profits From Plans to Lock Up More Immigrant Families? Private Prison Companies Who Profits From Plans to Lock Up More Immigrant Families? Private Prison Companies
Human rights groups are alarmed by the administration’s proposal to dramatically expand family detention for undocumented women and children.
Sep 30, 2014 / Zoë Carpenter
Why White People’s Awareness of Racism Isn’t Enough Why White People’s Awareness of Racism Isn’t Enough
A majority of Americans believe the criminal justice system is racially biased, but it takes more than an acknowledgement to dismantle the system.
Sep 24, 2014 / Mychal Denzel Smith
Inmates Aren’t the Only Victims of the Prison-Industrial Complex Inmates Aren’t the Only Victims of the Prison-Industrial Complex
Prison-reform advocates tend to focus on the plight of those behind bars. But the enforcers of this draconian system are victims as well.
Sep 16, 2014 / Alex Hannaford
Overturned Death Penalty Conviction Sparks Debate in North Carolina Overturned Death Penalty Conviction Sparks Debate in North Carolina
The release of a wrongfully imprisoned death row inmate has opened up a bipartisan conversation around punitive justice in North Carolina.
Sep 11, 2014 / StudentNation / StudentNation
A Plea for Humanity at Rikers A Plea for Humanity at Rikers
Inmates and activists unite to stop prisoner abuse at Rikers Island Prison.
Aug 14, 2014 / Sarah Leonard