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.
"A former Baltimore cop questions how a department with a nearly half-billion-dollar budget that is riven by rampant corruption and brutality, bloated overtime spending, and unaccounted for patrol officers can continue to justify its existence"
The Appeal
August 15, 2018
Read More"When prisons close, prison guards lose jobs. Law enforcement unions have for decades weaponized consistently racist narratives of criminal threats — threats that require management and punishment — to support policies that uphold mass incarceration."
The Intercept
August 14, 2018
Read More"A recent nationwide Barna Group survey, commissioned by Prison Fellowship, found that 74 percent of practicing Christians say that a candidate’s criminal justice platform influences their vote. Seventy-seven percent say their beliefs compel them to advocate in support of criminal justice reforms to make the system more fair, safe, and humane."
Memphis Commercial Appeal
August 13, 2018
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"In the short term, courts and correction systems should be required to inform people when their voting rights are taken away and how to regain those rights. Few jurisdictions currently do so."
New York Times
August 12, 2018
Read More"The national murder clearance rate – the calculation of cases that end with an arrest or identification of a suspect who can’t be apprehended – fell to 59.4 percent in 2016, the lowest since the FBI has tracked the issue."
USA Today
August 10, 2018
Read More"What would justice look like if we recognized that violence is contextual often attaching to conditions of poverty and that victimization haunts those who have hurt other people? The anger that drips from our harshest sanctions — the death penalty, life without parole and lengthy enhancements for third-strike felonies — might be softened by mercy and compassion"
USA Today
August 9, 2018
Read More"She said her daughter admitted to taking the snacks, but that police should have handled the situation differently. 'If you can't restrain these little kids, you need to find a different job,' Gowdy said. 'She should have never got tased'."
Cincinnati Enquirer
August 9, 2018
Read More"Journalism education can help create a bridge between those incarcerated and the world outside. For those incarcerated, the study of journalism can provide tangible skills, such as writing, critical thinking, social skills, and a foundation in ethics that are invaluable on the outside, regardless of profession."
Nieman Reports
August 9, 2018
Read More"The league claims its goal is to create 'positive relationships between law enforcement officers and the youth of our community through educational, athletic and leadership programs.' Borisade said her son's opinion of police officers is anything but positive now."
News 4 Jacksonville
August 8, 2018
Read More"Chicago’s clearance rate – the calculation of cases that end with an arrest or identification of a suspect who can’t be apprehended – dipped to 26 percent in 2016 from 46 percent in 2013, according to the University of Chicago Crime Lab. Most of the killings, largely fueled by gang violence, take place in a smattering of low-income, predominantly black and Latino neighborhoods on the South and West sides of the city."
USA Today
August 7, 2018
Read More"Puppies Behind Bars (PBB), a nonprofit founded in 1997, trains prisoners to raise both service dogs and explosive detection dogs. The future K9 officers enter prison at the age of eight weeks and live with their prisoner-trainer for about two years. According to the PBB’s website, the program 'gives inmates the opportunity to contribute to society rather than take from it, and lets law enforcement see that inmates are capable of doing something positive for the community'."
Prison Legal News
August 7, 2018
Read More"The collaboration between the NBA family and organizations of the Innocence Network began in 2014 when representatives from NBCA and the Innocence Project met to learn about the issue of innocent people in prison. Inspired by the exonerees he met at the 2016 Innocence Network Conference, Coach Popovich recorded a PSA along with Coach Rick Carlisle, Coach Steve Kerr and several NBA players in honor of Wrongful Conviction Day."
Innocence Project
August 7, 2018
Read More"Julian Adler, co-author of Start Here, and Judge Victoria Pratt discuss alternatives to jail, including community service, social services and even personal essays."
NPR's Fresh Air
August 6, 2018
Read More"Inside prisons, e-messaging companies are quietly building a money-making machine virtually unhindered by competition—a monopoly that would be intolerable in the outside world. It’s based in a simple formula: Whatever it costs to send a message, prisoners and their loved ones will find a way to pay it. And, the more ways prisoners are cut off from communicating with their families, the better it is for business."
Wired
August 3, 2018
Read More"Can a prison novel set in the age of mass incarceration have a successful escape? Rachel Kushner’s answer is at once hopeless and transformative."
Dissent Magazine
August 2, 2018
Read More"Mass incarceration, solitary confinement, maximum penalties, domestic violence, and sexual assault—these topics are regularly analyzed, discussed and contemplated at John Jay. But to really feel the impact of the criminal justice system in America, Associate Professor Amy S. Green in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies worked for three years developing and then directing the play whatdoesfreemean?, which recently finished showing at Nora’s Playhouse in Manhattan. To learn more about the play, her process and her hopes for change, we sat down and chatted with professor Green. "
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
August 1, 2018
Read More"Pew analyzed publicly accessible data from the 23 states that reported reliable prison admissions and release data to BJS from 2005 through 2015. Among prisoners released in 2005, 48 percent returned to prison by the end of 2008. By comparison, among those released in those states in 2012, 37 percent had at least one new prison admission by the end of 2015."
Pew Charitable Trusts
August 1, 2018
Read More"The practice of abolitionism, therefore, is about a lot more than the bars themselves. It’s about addressing community tensions, understanding why people turn to the police, and trying to break the self-perpetuating cycle of violence and imprisonment."
The Nation
July 31, 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
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