Truthout
The Road to Abolition
Exploring abolition — both in imagination and in practice — and the movement toward a more liberated future.
Series Introduction
Amid this galvanizing moment of uprisings and calls to defund the police, Truthout has gathered together some of our most important work on the abolition of policing and prisons. For a decade, we’ve been documenting this work and the ideas behind it. In this feature, we’ve gathered together some recent and past pieces that can help us to envision abolition — both the imagination and the practice of it — and move together toward a more liberated future.
Dispatch From Missouri: Mourners Decry Execution of Marcellus Williams
Bearing witness to Missouri’s latest state-sponsored killing, mourners spoke out at a vigil outside the execution room.
In Vermont, Abolitionists Are Fighting a Prison-Building Boom
Why is “progressive haven” Vermont spending millions on new prisons? Abolitionists like Jayna Ahsaf are fighting back.
Illinois Aims to Spend $900 Million Revamping Prisons. Let’s Close Them Instead.
Rebuilding decaying prisons isn’t the answer -- shuttering them is.
Viral TikTok Videos Erase Kamala Harris’s Record as California’s “Top Cop”
From the drug war to the death penalty, Kamala Harris's past as a prosecutor deserves scrutiny.
J.D. Vance Is Using Lies About the Overdose Crisis to Justify State Violence
The pain of families like mine should not be exploited to push policies that drive more deadly violence.
Massachusetts’ Proposed Prison Moratorium Is a First Step Toward Abolition
A bill to halt the construction of new prisons and jails provides a way forward for decarceration.
I Watched My Neighbor Die a Preventable Death Due to Scorching Heat in Prison
Breathing was hard for all of us in the heat. I screamed for help when he collapsed but it didn’t come soon enough.
“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.
We Can’t Trade a Path to Legalization in Exchange for More Border Militarization
Author Silky Shah says immigration enforcement and the prison-industrial complex are intertwined systems of oppression.
Prison Notorious for Rape Is Slated for Closure But Not Releasing Survivors
The Bureau of Prisons initially planned to empty FCI Dublin by April 19. Those inside fear being sent far from family.