Truthout
Prison
![Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez talks to reporters before heading into the U.S. Capitol Building, September 27, 2019, in Washington, D.C.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2019/10/2019_1008-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-400x300.jpg)
AOC Is Talking About Prison Abolition. Will She Take Action?
Up until now, no politician would be caught dead defending abolition.
![California Bans For-Profit Prisons, Migrant Jails After Death in ICE Custody](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2019/10/SEG3-Otay-Detention-Center-Wide-400x300.jpg)
California Moves to Ban For-Profit Prisons, Including Immigrant Jails
The legislation follows the death of a migrant in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
![A prisoner sits in an isolation room in a prison](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2019/10/2019_1002-prisoner-isolation-400x300.jpg)
Sheriffs Release Sick People From Jail to Avoid Paying Hospital Bills
Some people have been rearrested once they recover.
![A Black child holds an adult's hands while silhouetted by the sunset](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2019/10/2019_1002-child-holding-hands-400x300.jpg)
How Can We End Child Sexual Abuse Without Prisons?
A new book shares essays by 40 Black survivors on what accountability could look like outside of the prison system.
![A group of men is led down a hallway in California's Pelican Bay prison, where many people spend years in solitary confinement and only leave their cells with full chains on.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2019/09/2019_2509-PRison-400x300.jpg)
“Gladiator Fights” Expose Prisons to Be Genocidal Machines
In “gladiator fights,” guards pit known rivals against each other in the prison yard.
![Sen. Kamala Harris speaks during the Democratic Presidential Committee summer meeting](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2019/09/2019_0910-kamala-harris-400x300.jpg)
Don’t Be Fooled — Kamala Harris’s “Criminal Justice” Plan Is Not Progressive
Harris's plan is about brand management, not political vision.
![Prisoners are seen through several sets of prison fencing and doors](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2019/08/2019_0906-prisoners-chain-link-400x300.jpg)
We Must Abolish Prisons to Rebuild Communities Fractured by Mass Incarceration
We can begin by transforming our relationships to one another, say abolitionist activists.
![Electronic monitoring is not a better alternative to incarceration because it sets you up to fail.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2019/08/2019_0828-electronic-surveillance-2-400x300.jpg)
Let’s Fight for Freedom From Electronic Monitors and E-Carceration
Electronic monitoring is not a better alternative to incarceration, because it sets you up to fail.
![David Koch listens to speakers at the Washington Convention Center November 4, 2011, in Washington, D.C.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2019/09/2019_0903-david-koch-400x300.jpg)
David Koch’s Dangerous, Right-Wing “Criminal Justice Reform” Lives On
Koch used his money not for systemic change but to control the narrative around prisons for his profit.
![A young man in a prison uniform sits on an 18th birthday cake with bars for candles](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2019/08/2019_0901prison-teens-400x300.jpg)
The Criminal Legal System Punishes Youth for Not Thinking Like Adults
Handing life sentences to 18-year-olds shows the same callous disregard for life the juveniles are accused of.