I’d Never Owned a Computer. After 17 Years in Prison, I Finally Have One of My Own
A currently incarcerated student at California State University writes about the transformative effect of receiving a laptop for the first time.
About half of Michigan's "juvenile lifers" now free from prison
In accordance with the 2012 US Supreme Court ruling, nearly half of the folks previously sentenced to life without parole as juveniles in Michigan have been re-sentenced, providing a vital renewal of hope for the future.
Justice Department Making Historic Investment in Prison and Jail Reform
The Justice Department will award $10 million to projects that aim to "transform prison cultures, climates, and spaces" in an attempt to ameliorate the conditions within carceral facilities that have led to poor outcomes for both incarcerated people and correctional staff.
How Philadelphia Disrupted the School-to-Prison Pipeline
Since its inception in 2014, the Philadelphia Police School Diversion Program has resulted in a 91% reduction in school based arrests in Philadelphia; the successful program is soon to be replicated across Pennsylvania.
Women coming home from prison get little help rebuilding
A glimpse into the challenges faced by Boston women, particularly those with children, returning from incarceration, and the nonprofit programs attempting to help them.
Education needs to be part of prison reform
Ed Gaskin, Executive Director of Greater Grove Hall Main Streets in Boston, makes a case for treating formerly incarcerated individuals not as "perpetrators who should be paying back a debt to society" but rather as "victims" of an systemically unjust incarceration system.
The Beacon Prison Books Project Provides Free Books to Those Behind Bars
Mark Trecka (Binnacle Books) and Laurie Dick (Beacon Prison Rides Project) collaborated to create a volunteer project connecting book requests from incarcerated people in New York to readers outside who are willing to purchase copies.
3 Classics Novels That Have Made Prison Life More Bearable
Eulis Campbell, a currently incarcerated reader and writer, reflects on 3 books—Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, and Albert Camus' The Plague-–that changed his life during his 18 years in prison.
After 20 years in and out of prison, a degree gave him a second chance. Now he's helping others do the same
An interview with James Monteiro, founder of the Reentry Campus Program, a program helping incarcerated people finish their higher education and certification programs.
'Escape to another world': Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe on reading in prison
Naszanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe gives the keynote speech at the Booker Prize 2023 Award ceremony in London.
My students in prison have complex pasts but are now creating new stories
Prison educator Mary Pattillo reflects on the achievements of her students, the first 16 men to earn their bachelor's degrees from Northwestern University while incarcerated.
These Missouri inmates run their own corner of the prison. The warden is OK with that
A new program introduced by a warden in Bowling Green, Missouri offers incarcerated people who have demonstrated exceptional long-term behavior increased levels of autonomy and freedom as inspired by a Norwegian prison reintegration model.