Truthout
Prisons
Challenging the Criminalization of Trauma Survivors
The criminal legal system traumatizes survivors. Noncarceral alternatives are key to breaking the cycle of violence.
Prison Treats Me Like an Animal. I Write to Reclaim My Humanity.
I’ve been confined for 27 years to a concrete box, and prison staff treat me like an animal branded with a number.
I’m Serving 40 Years in Federal Prison. Here’s a Glimpse Into My World.
Every day, the conditions of incarceration work to strip away my humanity.
Prison Closure Divides Abolitionist Community in Washington State
Activists are conflicted about whether the move is a win for incarcerated people and allies — or for the carceral state.
Dems Claim to Oppose Mass Incarceration, But Blue State Commutations Are Falling
Commutations plummeted from 2020 record highs in California and Illinois. Are presidential ambitions to blame?
Report: TX County Lawyers Failed to Provide Basic Services for Death Row Clients
“It is clear that Harris County’s current system of death penalty representation is not working,” the report stated.
McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King and Wendy’s Rely on Alabama Prison “Slavery”
Incarcerated Alabamans “are trapped in this labor trafficking scheme,” a new federal class action lawsuit says.
So-Called “Child Welfare” Tears Families Apart. How Can We Repair This Harm?
Activists are organizing to end punitive family policing policies that unnecessarily separate children from families.
In New York, Inadequate Treatment Is Turning Drug Arrests Into Death Sentences
Deaths related to detoxification at a Syracuse jail show why jail is still not the place to address the opioid crisis.
I Faced Death by Incarceration. The UN Heard My Plea to Abolish Life Sentences.
The United Nations is calling on the U.S. to abolish life without parole prison sentences.