criminal legal system

219 posts

Philadelphia city plan may force houseless people to choose jail or treatment

The city of Philadelphia has released a 100-day Public Safety Plan with a section focused on cleaning up the “open-air drug market” in the city’s Kensington neighborhood. The release follows recent reports that the city’s jails are violent and understaffed, leading criminal legal advocates to call

•
4 Min
By: Sterling Johnson

Why isn’t PEN America paying its incarcerated literary prize winners?

It started with a tweet. “I won the @PENamerica Prison Writing Contest in 2022 and never received the $250 prize, even after much back and forth via email, which continues to this day. I know of at least one other first place winner who never received their prize money, either,

•
6 Min
By: Alex Tretbar, Natalye Childress

Never eat the candy on your pillow: Circle of trust

Dear Reader, “To be or not to be?” Hamlet famously asked this question in the play by the same name written by William Shakespeare. I first encountered the life-changing power of Hamlet when I signed up for a prison playwright’s circle called Voices Inside, created by Curt Tofteland

•
5 Min
By: Derek R. Trumbo, Sr.

Cooking in prison is a way to feel free

When far from home, what food reminds you of love or comfort? For me, it’s chicken and dumplings—something that’s hard to come by here in the Northpoint Training Center, where I have been incarcerated for nearly two decades.  Like most civilized folks, we adhere to traditions on

•
6 Min
By: William Daniels

State officials deny incarcerated people the ability to view Monday’s historic eclipse

The Ohio State Reformatory (OSR) operated as a prison for 80 years until its closure in 1990 following a class action lawsuit by incarcerated people for inhumane conditions and overcrowding. Now, OSR is better known as the backdrop for movies and historic tours, conferences, Halloween events, and even eclipse viewings.

•
3 Min
By: Tamar Sarai

Intrusive new digital tools in the criminal legal system transfer ‘one concern for another’

In an ad released last spring by top electronic monitoring manufacturer BI Incorporated, viewers are introduced to the VeriWatch, one of the latest in the company’s suite of digital surveillance tools. The short video follows a day in the life of a VeriWatch user: how he starts his morning

•
14 Min
By: Tamar Sarai

Death of a mentally ill migrant in solitary confinement lays bare ICE’s cruelty and lack of accountability

The death of a 61-year-old migrant with mental illness from Trinidad and Tobago is raising questions about the U.S. federal immigration agency’s adherence to international, federal, and state regulations governing the treatment of detainees.  Charles Leo Daniel died on March 7 after being held in solitary

•
6 Min
By: Maurizio Guerrero

‘It never warms up’: Surviving extreme cold in Texas prisons

The brutal heat wave that swept Texas last summer posed extreme risks for many incarcerated people, garnering the attention of lawmakers, advocacy organizations, and everyday Texans. This winter we faced a different extreme: cold.  For the past eight years I’ve lived in solitary confinement, the heat goes out every

•
4 Min
By: Kwaneta Harris

How the media facilitates climate criminality

A climate protester named Mama Julz spent February 1 locked to a grounded helicopter, the kind usually used to transport construction workers to remote portions of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, the rushed and ecologically destructive pet project of West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin. After a few hours, police arrested Mama

•
15 Min
By: ray levy uyeda

Never eat the candy on your pillow: Release 

Dear Reader, This week’s subject is release. When I first stepped foot in prison, it felt like my life ended. What would release feel like? Would leaving prison be like a new beginning? Prison has a way of distorting time. Days become weeks that feel like years. Waiting on

•
5 Min
By: Derek R. Trumbo, Sr.

COVID-19 is far from over for the incarcerated

When I first heard about the coronavirus in early 2020, I braced myself, thinking about its unchecked spread and our vulnerability to disease behind bars. Four years later, as I remain incarcerated, I watch as the pandemic continues to damage our incarcerated community.  Despite the false and damaging narrative from

•
5 Min
By: Carla J. Simmons

New York affordable housing proposal showcases non-carceral solutions

This past December, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul unveiled plans for Seneca, a slate of new affordable housing units located at the site of the former Lincoln Correctional Facility in Harlem. The minimum-security men’s prison, located at West 110th Street across from Central Park, was shuttered in 2019

•
6 Min
By: Tamar Sarai

Showing 12 of 219 total posts

Sign up for Prism newsletters.

Stay up to date with curated collection of our top stories.

Please check your inbox and confirm. Something went wrong. Please try again.