mass incarceration

51 posts

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,

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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 and

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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

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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.

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3 Min
By: Tamar Sarai

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

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5 Min
By: Carla J. Simmons

People with traumatic brain injuries need care, not criminalization

“Concussion protocols” is a phrase we hear nearly every week during football season. The effects of head trauma on a person’s behavior and personality are not new science, though research on the topic is far more advanced now than it was when Phineas Gage had a railroad spike shot

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4 Min
By: David Annarelli, Zeb Larson

Never eat the candy on your pillow: Technology and the imprisoned

Powerlessness impacts every aspect of an incarcerated person’s life—including the use of technology

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5 Min
By: Derek R. Trumbo, Sr.

Never eat the candy on your pillow: The artist’s hustle

Art gives incarcerated people a chance to create something beautiful and unique in an environment that cultivates monochrome sameness

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5 Min
By: Derek R. Trumbo, Sr.

The psychological torment and unconstitutionality of the state’s intent to kill

The threat of a death sentence creates a crucible of dehumanization that no one should have to experience and no one has the right to inflict

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4 Min
By: Lyle C. May

Never eat the candy on your pillow: An introduction to prison hustles 

Prisons provide bare-minimum living conditions and insufficient pay, forcing people inside to find alternative ways to make enough money to survive

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5 Min
By: Derek R. Trumbo, Sr.

Incarcerated writers struggle to be heard—the tech they use creates additional hurdles

Widely used prison tech company Securus has created communications issues for incarcerated writers. Some report losing all of their work, and others report being overcharged for their communications

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6 Min
By: Rukiya Colvin

California bill reduces markups on essential items across state prison canteens

Though SB 474’s passing will help curb excessive price gouging of commissary items, it still doesn’t address systemic issues like low prison wages and gender pay inequality

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5 Min
By: Tomiekia Johnson

Showing 12 of 51 total posts

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