James Kilgore is an activist and researcher based in Urbana, Illinois who spent a year on an electronic monitor as a condition of his parole. He is the director of the Challenging E-Carceration project at MediaJustice and has authored six books, including Understand E-Carceration (The New Press) slated for release in January 2022. In his hometown, Kilgore is the co-director of FirstFollowers Reentry Project. Follow him on Twitter: @waazn1.