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.
“States’ criminal codes are three to ten times longer than the Model Penal Code promulgated by the august collection of scholars and practitioners at the American Law Institute. More than 77 percent of new crimes are codified outside the criminal code. And a large fraction of state crimes are never voted on by elected representatives, because criminal-lawmaking power is regularly delegated to bureaucrats or even private licensing boards.“
National Review
October 11, 2018
Read More“Shank’s incarceration not only altered her life, but that of her family, including her husband, parents, the three little girls who would grow up without her, and her brother, Rudy Valdez, a teacher whose initial plan to shoot home video of his nieces to send to Shank transformed him into a documentary filmmaker and prison reform activist.“
The Marshall Project
October 11, 2018
Read More“What does incarceration do for the member of a family that views prison as a rite of passage? A New York Times reporter takes a close look at intergenerational criminality.“
Longreads
October 10, 2018
Read More“The second sentence of the formerly incarcerated is a stigma that each of us contributes to. It begins the moment a returning citizen is released. Sometimes the second sentence is easy to recognize, like the ‘have you ever been convicted of a crime’ question on an employment application. Other times, it is harder to identify, like when we cross the street to avoid a homeless person asking for spare change.“
Forbes
October 9, 2018
Read More“‘What I did was wrong and I’m deeply sorry for being responsible for the death of another person,” Perkins wrote. ‘I was a kid and I did not know anything about the importance of another person’s life, nor was I a responsible individual. But Sir, I want you to know that I am someone that can be a productive citizen.’”
The Advocate
October 8, 2018
Read More“We must seriously consider whether society would benefit by letting reformed offenders re-enter their community, and whether it’s economical and humane to punish solely for the sake of retribution. When I hear of all the gun violence on Chicago’s South Side, for instance, I can’t help wondering what would happen if Illinois’s many reformed old-timers, who hail from those neighborhoods, were granted parole with a mission of working to reduce the violence.“
New York Times
October 6, 2018
Read More“Participants will take different classes taught by Northwestern professors each quarter: in the fall, a class on inequality, poverty and race with sociology Prof. Mary Pattillo and a class on policy aimed at reducing systematic violence with School of Law Prof. Sheila Bedi; in the winter, a class on literature and film about the U.S.-Mexico border with English Prof. John Alba Cutler; and in the spring, a class on decision-making and human cognition with psychology Prof. David Smith.“
The Daily Northwestern
October 5, 2018
Read More“At first, his pencil-on-paper portraits of fellow prisoners were meant to be gifts they could give to their parents, wives and children. Eventually, Loughney realized that lining hundreds of them up on a wall would make for a dramatic comment on politics and policy.“
The Marshall Project
October 4, 2018
Read More“Wrongful Conviction Day is an international day to raise awareness of the causes and remedies of wrongful conviction and to recognize the tremendous personal, social, and emotional costs of wrongful conviction for innocent people and their families. Watch Wrongful Conviction Day videos from NBA Coaches and Players.“
The Innocence Project
October 2, 2018
Read More“Republicans are attacking an initiative by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to restore the voting rights of former felons, holding hearings and releasing a new digital advertisement accusing him of prioritizing sex offenders over other voters.“
Wall Street Journal
October 2, 2018
Read More“Fourteen years after Tim Junkin recounted Kirk Bloodsworth's decades-long legal saga, his ‘creative nonfiction’ book ‘Bloodsworth: The True Story of the First Death Row Inmate Exonerated by DNA Evidence’ is reaching new audiences. ‘Bloodsworth’ was picked to be part of Maryland Humanities' 2018 ‘One Maryland, One Book’ tour representing the theme of justice.“
Herald-Mail Media
October 2, 2018
Read More“Professors, formerly incarcerated individuals, lawyers, and students crowded together in the Barker Center for several hours Friday afternoon for ‘Belonging: The Challenges of Reentry,’ a conference dedicated to discussing the experiences of individuals who reenter society after serving time in prison.“
Harvard Crimson
October 1, 2018
Read More“The National Book Foundation's Literature for Justice program (LFJ) includes five contemporary titles that shed light on mass incarceration in the United States, selected independently by five committee members tasked with elevating the books' visibility. This committee worked alongside the Foundation as part of a three-year campaign that seeks to contextualize and humanize the experiences of incarcerated people through literature of different genres, creating an accessible and visible collection of books crafted for broad public consumption. “
National Book Foundation
September 28, 2018
Read More“While most women admitted to jails are accused of minor crimes, the consequences of pretrial incarceration can be devastating. This report finds that jailed mothers often feel an added, and unique, pressure to plead guilty so that they can return home to parent their children and resume their lives. These mothers face difficulties keeping in touch with their children due to restrictive jail visitation policies and costly telephone and video calls.“
Human Rights Watch
September 26, 2018
Read More“‘Prison is a moral nightmare and the U.S. prison system in particular is arguably the largest single source of human suffering on this planet today,’ Feasley said. ‘We live in a society undergirded by this racist system of oppression and it’s up to us to dismantle it. As Yale students, we have a duty to dismantle this system’.“
September 25, 2018
Yale Daily News
Read More“On display at Burton Barr Phoenix Public Library until Oct. 27, the display contains student research from 20 universities in cities disproportionately affected by mass incarceration. ASU’s panel in the States of Incarceration exhibit explores local stories to promote national awareness and conversations on immigration incarceration.”
Arizona State Press
September 25, 2018
Read More‘‘The latest round of data from the FBI clearly shows that we continue to live in a period of safety that is unprecedented within many of our lifetimes (the last time we saw crime rates this low was in 1967).“
Vera Institute
September 24, 2018
Read More“The owner of Crazy's Claws N Paws, a donation-based animal rescue center, was in the process of converting a warehouse space into a proper animal shelter when she decided to use the building to help keep pets dry. However, her facility was not legally registered as a shelter.“
First Coast News
September 23, 2018
Read More“But one factor, in particular, is often overlooked in this analysis: community groups. Sharkey says that investment into places like the Boys & Girls Club of America and substance abuse organizations started getting more funding and began drastically mobilizing in ways they hadn’t before. And the work they did helped reform often-overlooked areas of cities.“
WGBH Boston
September 21, 2018
Read More“New Jersey is one of just four states that does not license police officers, a basic safeguard used nationwide to ensure bad cops don’t skirt the rules or move from town to town. Licensing is a practice common to dozens of other professions, from doctors to massage therapists, and even other public employees, such as municipal finance officers. Licensing helps ensure professional standards are uniform, upheld and bad actors are banned.“
Asbury Park Press
September 21, 2018
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