James Kilgore is a formerly incarcerated activist, researcher, writer and educator based in Urbana, Illinois. He is also the director of a research project, Challenging E-Carceration, which is devoted to pushing back against the use of electronic monitoring in the criminal legal system. In addition, he is the author of five books, including Understanding Mass Incarceration: A People’s Guide to the Key Civil Rights Struggle of Our Time. He is the director of advocacy and outreach for the FirstFollowers Re-entry Program.