Something rather astounding happened in 2011: prisoners went on strike, and people paid attention. A hunger strike over conditions in California prisons that started at Pelican Bay, the state’s notorious supermax facility infamous for its use of solitary confinement, spread across the state, attracting headlines and attention across the country. Not just in prison media, …
Tag Archives: prison reform
Incarcerating Youth Shouldn’t Be A For-Profit Business
Incarcerating anyone shouldn’t be a for-profit business, strictly speaking, but the rising market in youth incarceration is particularly disturbing. As the Southern Poverty Law Center pointed out in investigations conducted last year, there are some special concerns with incarcerated youth, and it’s disturbing to see the number of youth in prison on the rise. Particularly …
Patterns and Presidential Pardons
One of the notable issues with the Obama Administration when it comes to prison reform has been a distinct reluctance to get involved in the process through Presidential pardons, with a paltry nine in total through the second half of FY2011. Critics wondered why the President was so reticent to issue pardons, especially in cases …
The Costs of Calling Home From Prison
With opportunities to contact the outside world greatly limited, many prisoners highly value the chance for a phone call, whether it’s with a friend, loved one, attorney, supporter, or someone else. Prison visitation isn’t always an option, so sometimes it’s only possible to communicate over the phone, because letters aren’t always enough. Consequently, there’s a …
Segregating HIV+ Prisoners: An Outdated Practice
In 2012, only two US states still segragated HIV+ prisoners from the general population: Alabama and South Carolina. The ACLU took Alabama to court in September to challenge their policy in the hopes of pushing a judge to order the state to end it, on the grounds that it’s discriminatory and inhumane. It’s also utterly …
When Wardens Become Judge, Jury, and Executioner
In 2005, a woman passed away shortly after her arrest by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department. Such deaths in custody or shortly thereafter are rare, but they do happen, and this case was complicated by the fact that she had diabetes. Her family is suing, arguing that she was denied insulin and this led to …
Following Up On Prison Overcrowding
California made national headlines last year with the mandate to reduce its prison population in order to address egregious overcrowding. Prisons were so packed that they had difficulty providing enough beds for prisoners, let alone services like health care, food, and access to exercise, education, and other basic rights of life. Appalled by the conditions …
Funneling Children With Disabilities Into the Justice System Through Zero Tolerance Policies
The hot trend in US schools is zero tolerance policies, brought on by a series of incidents in the 1990s which reminded people that schools weren’t necessarily safe places to be. Columbine was probably the critical turning point, the moment at which people understood that violence could strike anywhere, at any time, and could involve …
Torturing Prisoners By Denying Access to Medical Care
Torture is something that we seem to have difficulty defining, especially when it comes to act of torture committed on ‘our’ behalf; thus, the United States commits acts of torture against enemies and defends them, while it would be furious if another nation was doing that sort of thing to US citizens. Except, of course, …
HIV In the Prison System
The prison system in the United States is in a perennial state of health crisis, because the environments in prisons lend themselves to the transmission of disease, adequate treatment is not provided, and there are few commonsense measures in place to prevent infections. HIV/AIDS are not the only conditions common in prisons; prisoners are also …
