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.
"About 17,000 inmates at federal prisons work at more than 50 government factories, farms, and call centers across the country, according to the latest annual report published by the DOJ program Federal Prison Industries, also known as Unicor. Prisoners make air filters, clothes, lamps, and office supplies for wages that range from 23 cents an hour to $1.15 an hour."
Vox
August 24, 2018
Read More"Historically, the number of pardons issued by Georgia has been relatively generous. The 3,449 pardons granted in Georgia since 2013 forgave over 7,000 offenses. But as the board has come under scrutiny for its seemingly unchecked power, the number of pardons granted has declined. About 571 or roughly 13 percent of the more than 4,000 applications that were considered by the board were denied by a vote since 2013."
Atlanta Journal Constitution
August 24, 2018
Read More"We got “broken windows,” not “abandoned property,” and a very different policy response ensued. But what if the authors—and the policymakers who heeded them—had taken another tack? What if vacant property had received the attention that, for thirty years, was instead showered on petty criminals?"
The New Yorker
August 23, 2018
Read More"The United States leads the world in both food waste and mass incarceration. In response, L.A. Kitchen’s founder and president, Robert Egger, developed an organizational model that confronts the overlapping social injustices of both."
KCET
August 22, 2018
Read More"It’s the way that inmates are being treated. As warden of five different correctional facilities, I always told my staff that inmates are incarcerated as punishment, not for punishment. That’s where correctional administration, correctional staff miss the mark at times. "
The Marshall Project
August 22, 2018
Read More"We need not only the change that comes with prison reform but a change in fundamental correctional beliefs. The stigma of prison remains after an offender serves their debt to society and needs to be seen as a debt fulfilled. Presently, we are like a lender that demands payment even after the debt is paid in full. That must change and change quickly if we are to embrace real reform."
Right on Crime
August 22, 2018
Read More"None of the demands, taken individually, is new to the criminal justice movement. Many organizations, including the ACLU, have fought against the rise of mass incarceration and the horrendous conditions of American prisons. Yet this may be the first occasion in which incarcerated leaders have coordinated nationally to list their specific policy agenda to end the system that has imprisoned them."
Detroit News
August 22, 2018
Read More"Releasing people from prison early is particularly risky when it comes to violent offenders. Most of the conversation around clemency – and enthusiasm for it – tends to focus on non-violent offenders, in particular people who are still in prison due to the inequitable, and racist, 100-1 crack-versus-cocaine sentencing disparities handed out during the heyday of the US 'war on drugs'."
The Guardian
August 21, 2018
Read More"The Bentley administration politicized Alabama law enforcement and turned it into a weapon against the only person who dared tell the truth about the governor. They tried to make an example out of Collier as a warning to others."
Birmingham News
August 21, 2018
Read More"The study found that merely seeing militarized units can erode public confidence in law enforcement and give off the impression that a police department is overfunded."
PBS News Hour
August 21, 2018
Read More"Orians is a staff attorney with The First 72 Plus, so named in reference to that first 72 hours after release. The New Orleans-based non-profit was founded by six men who had all previously been incarcerated. Prior to founding the First 72, all of the men had made a habit out of helping others returning home from prison by helping them secure a place to return home to."
Next City
August 20, 2018
Read More"As the country’s participation in formalized religion decreases, the essential messages that churches convey about forgiveness and redemption are lost in favor of starker views of good and evil — ones that spell trouble for advocates of criminal justice reform."
Washington Post
August 20, 2018
Read More"'No kid is seeking anything when they join a gang,' says Father Gregory Boyle, founder and director of Homeboy Industries, the largest gang-intervention and -reintegration organization in the country. 'Every kid is fleeing from something when they join a gang'."
The Nation
August 20, 2018
Read More"'I have seen and heard of things at some of the concerts that would chill the blood of the average citizen,' Cash told the Subcommittee on National Penitentiaries. 'But I think possibly the blood of the average citizen needs to be chilled in order for (change) to come about because right now we have 1972 problems and 1872 jails… People have got to care in order for prison reform to come about'."
Sacramento Bee
August 19, 2018
Read More"Lennon is 41, with a thick chest, tattooed biceps, close-cropped black hair, and blue eyes. For the past five years, he’s worked as a freelance journalist whose pieces have been featured in The Atlantic, The New York Times, Pacific Standard, Esquire, and The Marshall Project."
Columbia Journalism Review
August 17, 2018
Read More"Rules like that aren’t unique—22 other states keep out-of-state visitors on their registries for life, according to a study released last November. It’s one reason state lists misrepresent the actual number of people with sex-crime records living in communities. As already-bloated lists keep ballooning, they feed the impression of a growing population of dangerous people who require ever-more-extreme laws to monitor and control."
Criminal Legal News
August 17, 2018
Read More"When Washington trains police, it teaches them not to see their role only as 'warriors,' but as 'guardians.' That's just one change, along with de-escalation training, to help police more safely interact with people exhibiting signs of mental illness. 'They’re going into communities, not war zones,' says the director."
Christian Science Monitor
August 16, 2018
Read More"The fund's press release says that the latest round of grants "use the power of art to transform hearts and minds and transform the way we think about criminal justice in America." Extending this line of thinking a bit further, I asked Huang about the fund's plans to change the hearts and minds of members from a particularly powerful demographic—the federal and state legislators who can rewrite the laws."
Inside Philanthropy
August 16, 2018
Read More"'We live in a society right now where we are building a lot of jails, but schools aren't getting the funds ... the resources they need,' Smith said. 'You have kids who aren't educated or don't have access to a quality education, and you tend to get in more trouble or not have the resources that they need to deal with their issues, whether that's anger issues or family issues at home, which leads them to make a bad decision'."
Charleston City Paper
August 15, 2018
Read More"The show (produced by Sky Vision and distributed by Netflix) is a documentary series that interviews a different man on death row in each episode. The show represents the crossing of a cultural rubicon, the transformation of something abnormal into ordinary entertainment."
New Republic
August 15, 2018
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