Aug 25 Higher education is proven to help people in prison. New Pell grants aim to boost enrollment. By Kathleen Hobson “The ability to complete a college diploma is a way to have a counter-narrative and say that you've done some work that allows you to prove yourself as someone who is trying to do good,” Rob Scott, executive director of… Continue reading
Aug 10 Watch 6:54 California prison inmates become a critical resource for fighting wildfires By William Brangham, Sam Lane, Lena I. Jackson The Dixie Fire, now the second-largest in California history, continues to burn northern parts of the state. It comes as California faces a shortage of firefighters, a scenario that's bringing new attention to a critical firefighting resource: prison inmates. William… Continue watching
Jul 26 50-year war on drugs imprisoned millions of Black Americans By Aaron Morrison, Associated Press Fifty years ago this summer, President Richard Nixon declared a war on drugs. Decades later harsh penalties continue to feed a prison industrial complex that has millions of mostly Black and brown people locked up. Continue reading
Jul 21 Watch 9:16 For girls with mothers in prison, a summer camp offers much-needed support By Amna Nawaz, Mike Fritz Estimates show that over five million children in the U.S. have had an incarcerated parent. As the number of women in American prison soars, little is known about the impact on children they leave behind. Amna Nawaz went to Texas… Continue watching
Jul 15 Why more women are dying in jails By Candice Norwood, The 19th Many jails are struggling to provide adequate physical and mental health care for women. Continue reading
Jul 14 Watch 3:12 A formerly incarcerated artist’s Brief But Spectacular take on rehabilitation through art John Zoccoli is a visual artist who spent 25 years in prison until his release in June, 2020. During his incarceration, he became involved in a program called Rehabilitation Through The Arts (RTA) — which he says transformed his life. Continue watching
Jun 30 Watch 5:36 Deaths from drug overdoses surge in some Black communities amid COVID-19 By Amna Nawaz, David Coles, Mike Fritz As the pandemic filled American hospitals and brought life to a near standstill in 2020, the longstanding opioids epidemic was only intensifying, essentially out of sight. As Amna Nawaz reports, the death toll from that epidemic, once centered on rural,… Continue watching
Jun 18 Lawmakers revive calls to end forced labor for felons to mark Juneteenth By Terry Tang, Associated Press As the nation this week made Juneteenth a federal holiday, lawmakers are reviving calls to end a loophole in the Constitution that has allowed another form of slavery to endure. National lawmakers told The Associated Press they will reintroduce… Continue reading
Jun 10 Watch 5:53 Student activists help divert millions in funding away from law enforcement in schools The role of police officers in schools has come under increasing scrutiny, as communities across the U.S. respond to calls for racial justice and re-evaluate student safety. In Los Angeles, student activists played a major role in getting the school… Continue watching
Apr 07 The U.S. spends billions to lock people up, but very little to help them once they’re released By Casey Kuhn “600,000 people are released from correctional facilities every year, but it’s a part of the criminal justice system that’s being funded at no guarantee,” said Jennifer Ortiz, an assistant professor of criminal justice at Indiana University Southeast who studies reentry… Continue reading