James Kilgore is an activist, researcher and writer based in Urbana, Illinois, where he has lived since paroling from prison in 2009. He is the director of the Challenging E-Carceration project at MediaJustice and the co-director of FirstFollowers Reentry Program. He is also the author of six books, including the award-winning Understanding Mass Incarceration and the forthcoming Understanding E-Carceration (The New Press).