Access to Outside World — Jail and Prison Conditions — Galsworthy Criminal Justice Reform Program

Galsworthy Criminal Justice Reform Program

Jail and Prison Conditions

Even if an inmate's sentence is not oppressively long, their treatment while incarcerated can still constitute subhuman treatment. Prisons are not medical facilities, but they regularly are forced to deal with mental health problems and care for elderly and terminally ill inmates. Food, if it's even edible, usually lacks enough nutrition for inmates' health to not deteriorate. Plus, with a lack of opportunities to see family, read, or gain skill sets, inmates are placed in buildings which lack any resemblance of the civilized world.

Posts in Access to Outside World

Human Rights Defense Center: Kansas still unfairly bans books in prisons

“A watchdog group says the Kansas prison system unfairly censors publications despite new policy and the elimination of a banned book list. The Human Rights Defense Center has produced a list of more than 200 books and magazines that have been intercepted by administrators in recent months, including the Pulitzer Prize winner “The Overstory,” by Richard Powers, and books by John Grisham, Neil Gaiman, Toni Morrison, Nora Roberts and other popular authors. Seattle-based HRDC in May revealed the Kansas Department of Corrections maintained a list of banned books for easy reference by mailroom staff. Corrections secretary Jeff Zmuda eliminated the list amid widespread criticism when he arrived July 1.“

Topeka Capital-Journal

December 2, 2019

Access to Outside World, EducationPhillip ReevesDecember 2, 2019Topeka Capital Journal, Kansas, Human Rights Defense CenterComment

Why I Started a Book Club in the Harris County Jail

“The book clubs Drew and I started demonstrate that people in every pod in the jail have the capacity for education and enrichment, and they have an interest in learning. The clubs also improved the disciplinary climate in the pod. A high security classification should not bar participation in GED classes or other rehabilitative services. We know these programs make jails safer and reduce rates of recidivism when people reenter society. A 2018 RAND analysis found that prisoners participating in correctional education programs were 28 percent less likely to reoffend. Almost everyone locked in a cage in Harris County will someday be back in our community. We must stop purposely throwing away the key to their rehabilitation.“

Texas Observer

December 2, 2019

Education, Access to Outside WorldPhillip ReevesDecember 2, 2019Texas Observer, Harris County, HoustonComment

How This Prison Collaborated on a Larger-Than-Life Work of Art

“For three days in October, giant faces were visible from the air over the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, California. They were portraits of 48 currently or formerly incarcerated people, correctional officers and victims of crimes, assembled in a large-scale mural made up of paper strips. A few days later the mural was gone, disintegrated by the Southern California wind and sun and carefully taken apart by the prisoners who live there. In collaboration with the men depicted in the artwork, the French artist JR created an ephemeral window into the lives of those affected by the U.S. prison system.“

The Marshall Project

November 25, 2019

Access to Outside WorldPhillip ReevesNovember 25, 2019The Marshall Project, California, California Correctional Institution, Tehachapi, JRComment

GQ, Nat Geo and Cosmo are banned in Arizona prisons. A judge said the rules need to explain why.

“Wright said the banning of Prison Legal News is another way some penal institutions try to prevent inmates from knowing their rights. Under Silver’s directive, the state of Arizona and its corrections department can no longer violate prisoners’ First Amendment rights, which include the right to read — something that also impacts non-incarcerated people once prisoners are released, Fathi said.“

Washington Post

November 12, 2019

Education, Access to Outside WorldPhillip ReevesNovember 12, 2019Washington Post, Prison Legal News, ArizonaComment

Incarcerated Artists, Seen Through the Lens of Their Creativity

“This direct observation of life inside — a documentary expression of lived experience, common throughout art history but here suffocated by the walls of imprisonment — is a constant trope in the show. Bear’s Heart (Nokkoist) was a Southern Cheyenne artist captured by the U.S. Army and taken to Fort Marion in St. Augustine, Florida, following the Red River War. His work often recorded the forced journey and a ledger drawing attributed to him depicts the train used to transport him and other captives, a conflicted, colorful construction that is part whimsical and part ominous.“

Hyperallergic

November 4, 2019

Access to Outside WorldPhillip ReevesNovember 4, 2019HyperallergicComment

Prisons Are the Hardest Places to Read About Mass Incarceration

“The report details how U.S. prisons arbitrarily apply book bans in the name of institutional security. Texas, for example, bans The Color Purple but not Mein Kampf. Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow was banned in prisons in North Carolina, Florida, Michigan, and New Jersey, although those bans were reversed after they received media attention. A New York prison tried to ban a book of maps of the moon, claiming it presented an escape risk.“

Reason Magazine

September 27, 2019

Access to Outside World, EducationPhillip ReevesSeptember 27, 2019Reason MagazineComment

Literature Locked Up: How Prison Book Restriction Policies Constitute the Nation’s Largest Book Ban

“With over two million Americans incarcerated, the book-restriction regulations within the United States carceral system represent the largest book ban policy in the United States. The reality of book banning in American prisons is systematic and comprehensive. State and federal prison authorities censor content with little oversight or public scrutiny. Often the ultimate decision-maker about a person’s right to read is housed in the prison mailroom.“

Pen America

September 26, 2019

Access to Outside WorldPhillip ReevesSeptember 26, 2019Pen AmericaComment

I Host a Popular Podcast. I’m Also in Prison.

“Ear Hustle is the award-winning podcast about life inside prison—specifically my prison, San Quentin—that has around 30 million downloads in total. It's the brainchild of Nigel Poor, a professor who taught for years at San Quentin, Earlonne Woods, a man who was serving a life sentence for attempted robbery under California’s three-strikes law, and Antwan “Banks” Williams. The original plan was to circulate the show only inside the prison, but then they got permission to enter a Radiotopia “Podquest” contest.“

The Marshall Project

September 26, 2019

Access to Outside WorldPhillip ReevesSeptember 26, 2019The Marshall Project, EarhustleComment

A visit with my (incarcerated) mother

“Women endure many of the most abusive and humiliating practices associated with jail visitation. Working in the New York City jail system, one of us (HV) would see long lines with their children waiting to visit every day, and patients would relate stories of sexual harassment suffered by their loved ones during visitation. Verbal harassment was typical and illegal strip searches were conducted with little accountability or oversight.“

The Hill

September 24, 2019

Access to Outside WorldPhillip ReevesSeptember 24, 2019The HillComment

San Quentin prisoners reframe photos to share their stories

“In a photography course that she still teaches through the not-for-profit initiative Prison University Project, Poor engaged her students – incarcerated at San Quentin – with visual mapping exercises encouraging them to write and draw directly on to the found photos. Adding poetic musings, facts and speculative theories to the works, the students interpreted a range of scenes – from visiting-room weddings and ice sculpture-carving contests to family visits and attempted escapes. Presented without context, the diagrammed images are time capsules that chart how the culture of San Quentin has evolved from the 60s to the present.“

The Guardian

September 10, 2019

Access to Outside WorldPhillip ReevesSeptember 10, 2019The Guardian, San Quentin, CaliforniaComment

What Gate Money Can (And Cannot) Buy

“Roughly 600,000 people are released from federal and state prison each year, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Experts often say the first 72 hours after release are critical to determining whether a former inmate’s path will lead away from prison or make a sharp U-turn. But what resources prisons provide to help people navigate those first moments on the outside varies widely from state to state.“

The Marshall Project

September 10, 2019

Access to Outside WorldPhillip ReevesSeptember 10, 2019The Marshall ProjectComment

Want to Time Travel Back to the 80s? Visit a Prison “Typing Room”

“But the most striking anachronism in the legal library is the electric typewriter, a true icon and state-of-the-art staple of the 1980s. It's always fun to watch the faces of criminal justice students touring the prison, wide-eyed and fearful. We are the wild beasts in the zoo that they've been told about and here we are in our natural habitat, here in the legal library fighting our cases on typewriters. They're probably thinking, Good Lord! How do you edit? How do you copy/paste? How do you spell-check?“

The Marshall Project

September 5, 2019

Access to Outside WorldPhillip ReevesSeptember 5, 2019The Marshall ProjectComment

Cuomo supportive of minimum wage hike for prison inmates

“In New York prisons, inmates are required to pay for phone calls, stamps and items from the commissary. The last pay raise in New York was approved by then-Gov. Mario Cuomo more than 25 years ago. The legislative sponsors are also calling for a commission to conduct a study examining the cost as well as any benefits of increasing the minimum wage for inmates.“

Albany Times Union

August 27, 2019

Access to Outside WorldPhillip ReevesAugust 27, 2019Albany Times Union, New York, Cuomo, Andrew CuomoComment

New Bill Educates Illinois Prisoners on Voting Rights After Release

“The bill, which takes effect in January 2020, will add mandatory workshops at both adult and juvenile prison facilities to instruct inmates that their voting rights are restored as soon as they finish out their prison sentences. Prisoners entering the last 12 months of their sentence already go through similar lessons informing them how to find housing or set up health care once they’re released. This new workshop will operate similarly, but will instead focus on civics and voting.“

WTTW Chicago

August 21, 2019

Access to Outside World, EducationPhillip ReevesAugust 21, 2019WTTW Chicago, IllinoisComment

Each night, Philly jails release scores of inmates without returning their IDs, cash or phones

“According to data obtained and analyzed by The Inquirer, 73% of all inmates released from Philadelphia jails from April 2017 to April 2018 — more than 16,000 prisoners — were discharged after the cashier’s offices had closed, leaving them without any identification, cash, phone or other possessions for hours or even days. The offices are closed on weekends.“

Philadelphia Inquirer

August 12, 2019

Access to Outside WorldPhillip ReevesAugust 12, 2019Philadelphia Inquirer, PhiladelphiaComment

Chess Tournament At Cook County Jail Seeks To Teach Inmates Critical Thinking; ‘It Makes My Mind Move’

“Chess players from all over the world were facing off in a first of its kind tournament on Tuesday, in a place you might not expect: jail. Inmates at Cook County Jail have been taking part in a round-robin chess tournament online, competing against inmates from six other countries: Armenia, Belarus, Brazil, England, Italy, and Russia. The Cook County Sheriff’s office said it’s the first international prisoner chess tournament of its kind. For the inmates, it’s about a lot more than chess. Some said playing chess is teaching them how to make better life decisions.“

CBS 2 Chicago

August 6, 2019

Access to Outside World, Prison ProgramsPhillip ReevesAugust 6, 2019CBS 2 Chicago, Cook County, Chicago, ChessComment

Getting Out of Jail After Dark Can Be Dangerous—and Sometimes Deadly

“It’s not unusual for jails large and small to release inmates after dark or in the early hours of the morning. For many people released before daybreak, the hours that follow are difficult, dangerous, and sometimes deadly. Many hit the streets without phones, money, a ride, or knowledge of local public transportation, if it’s still running. They may be struggling with addiction or mental health issues; some have no place to go.“

Mother Jones

July 31, 2019

Access to Outside World, Drug AddictionPhillip ReevesJuly 31, 2019Mother JonesComment

(Can't) book 'em! Florida's banned reading list

“Prominent on the list of censored publications are titles with relevance to the experience and needs of people who are incarcerated in Florida. As this list demonstrates, prisons improperly broaden the use of “threats to security” to include information that could help prisoners understand their experiences with incarceration or seek political or legal help. Moreover, books that discuss or criticize brutality, corruption, misconduct and racism in the criminal justice system in general and prisons in particular are singled out for censorship.“

The Arcadian

July 25, 2019

Access to Outside WorldPhillip ReevesJuly 25, 2019The Arcadian, FloridaComment

Michigan prison inmates need job skills, but technology books are banned

“Inmates in Michigan state prisons who want to learn how to design a website, code a computer program or wire a house may find themselves a little light on reading material. At least 60 books related to computers, electronics and other technology are banned from state prisons for security reasons.“

Bridge Magazine

July 18, 2019

Access to Outside World, EducationPhillip ReevesJuly 18, 2019Bridge Magazine, MichiganComment

Stillwater prison newspaper sheds light on life behind bars

“Since 1887, the paper has acted as a vehicle for criminal justice reform, an outlet for prisoners to air grievances and rally against injustices — both real and perceived. Over the last 132 years, contributors have covered labor strikes, deadly prison riots and technological advancement. Now, the longest continuously running prison newspaper in the United States is thriving among a dying breed of penal periodicals.“

Minnesota Star Tribune

July 15, 2019

Access to Outside WorldPhillip ReevesJuly 15, 2019Minnesota, Minnesota Star Tribune, Stillwater prison, Prison MirrorComment