Truthout
Prison
![Two officers dismantle the chair inside of a gas chamber](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2019/04/2019_0506-execution-gas-chamber-400x300.jpg)
Ending the Death Penalty Is One Step Toward Ending Mass Incarceration
We must replace the death penalty's punishment paradigm with a vision of true justice.
![In a 1995 photo, prisoners on a chain gang are taken out for work detail by an armed guard at the Limestone Correctional Facility in Harvest, Alabama.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2019/05/2019_0504-chain-gang-400x300.jpg)
People in Alabama Prisons Are Shackled to Buckets for Days on End
Families and supporters of Alabama's incarcerated have organized a protest at the State Capitol on May 13.
![White barbed wire creeping toward white prisoner](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2019/04/2019_0404-white-prisoners-400x300.jpg)
Rise in White Prisoners Doesn’t Change Innate Racism of Prisons
There is a powerful political constituency to mobilize against the cruelties of the U.S. carceral state.
![Razor wire fence outside prison](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2019/04/2019_0425-prison-400x300.jpg)
Allowing People in Prison to Vote Shouldn’t Be Controversial
Disenfranchising people convicted of violent crimes does nothing to address violence; it perpetuates violence.
![Razor wire fence outside of a prison](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2019/04/2019_0414-prison-razor-wire-400x300.jpg)
Locking Up Drug “Dealers” to Save Users Doesn’t Make Anyone Safer
For a real solution, we must first address the economic conditions that drive people into illicit economies.
![Protesters hold a candlelight vigil and a march calling for the end of the drug war on September 6, 2012, in New York City. The influence of the drug war has reshaped U.S. society.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2019/04/2019_0409-drug-war-400x300.jpg)
Calculating the Damage From a Century of Drug Prohibition
The influence of the drug war has reshaped U.S. society.
!["We have invested in the carceral state, not in the community programs that these folks need," says Gabriel Sayegh, co-director of the Katal Center for Health, Equity and Justice. Sayegh is one of the advocates in the Less Is More campaign.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2019/04/lessismore-e1554425934770-1200x624-400x300.jpg)
“I Had Nothing”: How Parole Perpetuates a Cycle of Incarceration and Instability
Richard Cannon was making gains after being released from prison. Then one arrest changed the course of his life.
![Muslims come together in prayer at The Islamic Center of Los Angeles one day after the shooting in a mosque in New Zealand killed 49 people.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2019/04/GettyImages-1130813366-400x300.jpg)
Supreme Court Says Discrimination Is OK — If You’re a Muslim
A Muslim on death row was denied a constitutional right granted to prisoners of other faiths.
![An elderly prisoner sits in a hospital bed](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2019/04/2019_0403-elderly-prisoner-400x300.jpg)
Behind Bars, Co-Pays Are a Barrier to Basic Health Care
A bill under consideration in California would eliminate medical co-pays in the state's prisons and jails.
![A New Jersey court judge recently ruled that prisoners are entitled to workplace protections against discrimination or retaliation.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2019/03/GettyImages-88623064-400x300.jpg)
Labor Law Doesn’t Apply if You’re in Prison
A New Jersey District Court judge recently ruled that prisoners aren't entitled to key workplace protections.