Many issues that are primary drivers of mass incarceration cannot be remedied through government solutions alone. Issues such as broken families and mental health, both forever altered by over criminalization, cannot be simply be repaired through legislation. Civil Society has the unique capability to address certain social issues that government cannot, or to address them more effectively than government can. This section also addresses issues in which over-policing attempts to fix issues that should be handled through the community.
“Newsom’s comments follow a yearlong investigation by McClatchy and ProPublica that exposed how county jails have struggled to handle an influx of inmates serving longer sentences after realignment, the 2011 series of reforms that diverted inmates from the state’s unconstitutionally overcrowded prisons to local facilities.“
ProPublica
November 14, 2019
Read More"Initially, The Last Mile was a six-month program intended to help participants create a business that included a technology angle and a social cause. By 2014, it launched the first coding program inside a US prison and now aims to have 500 classrooms within the next 10 years."
PC Magazine
August 13, 2018
Read More"The week-long program allows incarcerated fathers to spend each day with their children. They do more than just play games, do arts and crafts and sit down for meals together, though. They throw a party for all the birthdays missed and hold nightly discussions on the pain of having incarcerated loved ones, said Karen McDaniel, executive director of Place4Grace, which organizes Camp Grace."
The Californian
July 31, 2018
Read More"Stockton is one of six American cities taking part in a new experiment funded by the Department of Justice. (The others are Birmingham, Ala.; Pittsburgh; Gary, Ind.; Fort Worth; and Minneapolis.) The cities are beginning programs to promote racial reconciliation; to address the racial biases all of us carry; and to gain the community’s trust using an idea known as procedural justice."
New York Times
July 26, 2018
Read More"Over the past three years, Freeman has been developing a low-sodium ramen that will soon be sold at correctional institution commissaries across the country. Along with honey buns, ramen noodles — typically the kind that comes in a plastic wrapper, made by the brands Maruchan or Nissin — are the most popular items at prison commissaries, filling the gap left by nutritionally inadequate and, at times, inedible correctional meals."
The Outline
June 29, 2018
Read More"The programs we met with can serve as examples of innovative, results- and technology-driven approaches to reducing recidivism."
American Enterprise Institute
July 5, 2016
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