Truthout
Prisons & Policing
![A digital illustration of a young man holding a tablet computer close to his chest as it radiates warm light upwards](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/05/2024_0512-mothers-day-400x300.jpg)
My Mother’s Letters Should Belong to Me — Not a Company That Works With Prisons
My mom has written me thousands of letters. As an incarcerated person, I don’t own any of them.
![Police arrest a man as the city of Philadelphia begins a long anticipated clearing of the homeless encampment in Kensington on May 8, 2024, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2152171607-400x300.jpg)
Plan to Crack Down on Unhoused People Spells Disaster for Philadelphians
A new report reveals the city's plans to clear homeless encampments and jail vulnerable residents.
![Friends and family members of people who have died from overdoses in Broome County gather for an annual memorial, August 19, 2023, in downtown Binghamton, New York.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/05/2024_0510-overdose-400x300.jpg)
Grieving Mothers Say Punitive New Drug Laws Won’t Solve the Overdose Crisis
Mothers who lost loved ones are speaking out against a wave of harsh anti-drug legislation that has swept the US.
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Plaintiffs in Abu Ghraib Torture Case Aim to Retry Case After Mistrial
The lawsuit against US military contractor CACI was brought by three Iraqi survivors of torture at the notorious prison.
![Police arrested at least 79 people after student and area organizers launched an impromptu encampment on the South Lawn of the University of Texas at Austin on April 29 in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and student encampments elsewhere across the country.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/05/lead-400x300.jpg)
Facing PR Crisis, UT Austin Administrators Manufacture Myth of Outside Agitators
Organizers say UT is avoiding the truth about its crackdown on students by calling the protesters “outsiders.”
![Avis Lee holds a banner for Let's Get Free, the Women and Trans Prisoner Defense Committee which helped with her fight for freedom and with which she now organizes to free others.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/05/AvisLee-400x300.jpg)
“To Be Free Is to Free Others”: Formerly Incarcerated Women Urge Decarceration
The fight to free women and end mass incarceration is long and ongoing, but these activists aren’t giving up.
![NYPD officers arrive in riot gear to evict a building that had been barricaded by pro-Palestinian student protesters at Columbia University, in New York City, on April 30, 2024.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/05/2024_0503-nypd-400x300.jpg)
NYPD Officer Fired Gun During Violent Raid of Columbia Hamilton Hall Protest
Police officers had entered Hamilton Hall with guns raised as they brutalized student protesters on Tuesday.
![A member of the U.S. Capitol Police is seen in the senate carriage entrance on September 21, 2023.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/05/2024_0503-capitol-police-400x300.jpg)
Documents Expose How DC Police Surveil Protest Activity, Social Media Profiles
Numerous emails reflect how DC police deploy powerful tools to track individual organizers.
![300+ Arrested in Police Raids on Columbia and CCNY to Clear Gaza Encampments](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/05/SEG1-CUnyandCU-400x300.jpg)
300+ Arrested in Police Raids on Columbia and CCNY to Clear Gaza Encampments
Columbia University's president asked for continued police presence to ensure encampments aren't reestablished.
![A marijuana cannabis plant peaks through netting at an indoor grow operation](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/04/2024_0430-marijuana-400x300.jpg)
The Biden Administration Is Reportedly Moving to Reclassify Marijuana
The proposed reclassification would recognize that cannabis has medical uses and less potential for abuse.