Jun 01 Column: 5 charts show why mandatory minimum sentences don’t work By Tanya Golash-Boza, The Conversation Earlier this month Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memo which requires prosecutors to “charge and pursue the most serious” offense when seeking sentences. The memo hearkens back to a failed experiment in mass incarceration in the 1980s and 1990s,… Continue reading
Dec 28 What crimes make immigrants eligible for deportation? By Teresa Wiltz, Stateline While the federal government says it targets noncitizens who are serious or repeat offenders, immigrants with minor offenses often are deported. Continue reading
Oct 15 Watch 8:28 Getting prisoners life-ready to prevent a return to crime By PBS News Hour How do you make sure prisoners who are released back into society won't commit more crimes? Meet three people living behind bars who are part of a pilot program that tries to prevent recidivism. William Brangham reports. Continue watching
Oct 14 Watch 7:34 Ta-Nehisi Coates: ‘We made that decision’ to have mass incarceration By PBS News Hour Ta-Nehisi Coates, newly named MacArthur fellow who has been shortlisted for the National Book Award, speaks to Gwen Ifill about his writings on the “gray waste” of mass incarceration and racial inequality, and why he makes the case for reparations… Continue watching
Oct 08 Watch 8:08 U.S. at a unique time in history for justice reform, says Attorney General Lynch By PBS News Hour As attorney general, Loretta Lynch leads the Justice Department amid a spike in violent crime in several major U.S. cities, as well as national outcry over police-involved shootings. Gwen Ifill sits down with Lynch to discuss better transparency on law… Continue watching
Oct 06 Watch 5:17 Justice Department aims to release 6,000 nonviolent drug offenders from prison By PBS News Hour The Justice Department announced a plan for the largest ever one-time release of federal prisoners. Jeffrey Brown speaks to Maurice Chammah of The Marshall Project about the decision to set free some 6,000 inmates, part of a broader push to… Continue watching
Dec 15 Watch 6:24 Artist Ai Weiwei explores definition of freedom at Alcatraz By PBS News Hour Most people who take the ferry to Alcatraz are going to tour the legendary former prison in San Francisco Bay. They may be surprised to find seven new works by Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei, who was detained by… Continue watching
Nov 06 An artist sent prisoners blank postcards — look at what he got back By Ariel Min A man sits at his desk in an empty classroom. Sunlight shines through the bars on the window. He is completely alone -- there is no teacher, no other students and the chalkboard is impeccably clean. Still, the man is… Continue reading