“When I became a lawyer, I thought the criminal justice system would meet people’s needs,” says Jon, a facilitator at a restorative justice clinic in North Carolina. “But it doesn’t. Offenders aren’t helped, they’re punished.” This is what happens in the United States’ punitive system: it is a process designed to determine guilt and impose … read more
Can Alternative Emergency Response Programs Save Lives?
By Katie Sims An elderly woman is suicidal after receiving a stage IV cancer diagnosis and feels like a burden to her family. A mother calls the police concerning her 13-year-old son with autism, who is having a mental health crisis. Someone calls 911 on their paranoid neighbor, who is too scared to speak to … read more
Returning Home: Mountain City, TN and Chicago, IL
Imagine this: You just got released from prison. You have no money and no place to stay. You do not have a phone or a means of transportation. You do not even have a valid form of identification. On top of that, there is a whole world of professions and opportunities that are not open … read more
Learning Behind Bars: The Growing Role of Prison Education Programs
There are nearly 2 million people incarcerated in the United States, with most of them being in state prisons. Additionally, among the almost 600,000 people released from prison each year, approximately 60% of those are likely to be arrested and 50% incarcerated again. According to the Northwestern Prison Education Program, “Incarcerated individuals who participate in … read more
Breaking the Cycle: California’s Fight Against the School-to-Prison Pipeline
“Walk into any classroom in California, and you’ll see so many kids filled with promise,” says a public school teacher in the Oakland school district. But for too many students, especially “Black, Brown, disabled, homeless, and foster youth,” that promise is derailed by a system that treats misbehavior as a criminal offense instead of a … read more
Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Illness and Incarceration
What does it mean to be ill? Going by Dr. Peter Eisenberg’s definition, it means to lose your freedom. Working as an oncologist with prisoners from San Quentin Rehabilitation Center for many years, he noticed one thread that connected all of them: they were confined in multiple ways. While being incarcerated is obviously physically constraining, … read more
Carrying the System: The Cost of Being a Public Defender
By 9 a.m., she’s already met two new clients, each facing felony charges. By noon, she’s given her case in front of a judge, scrambled to finalize paperwork, and returned half a dozen voicemails from frantic family members. “Sometimes it feels like my client’s freedom depends on my fifth cup of coffee,” she said, chuckling. … read more
Kayla’s Act Gives Hope for Victims of Domestic Violence
Kayla’s Act Gives Hope for Victims of Domestic Violence In the week of Thanksgiving 2022, Kayla Hammonds was brutally stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend in a grocery store parking lot in Lumberton, NC. The ex-boyfriend, Desmond Sampson, had a significant prior history of violence, with Hammonds having filed multiple protective orders against him, including … read more
Bias Behind the Badge: How Officer Demographics Affect Arrest Escalation
Kemonte Hampton walked out of a gas station in Tulsa, Oklahoma and was told to get on the ground; he was being arrested for jaywalking. He complied, but was pushed over on his way down and handcuffed. In the arresting officer’s haste to get out of the car and apprehend Hampton, he forgot to put … read more
Waiting and Decision Making
The Mental Competency Process On December 24, 2009, 24-year old Victor Carrero ran into two people on the corner of Central and Jefferson Avenues in Brooklyn. He proceeded to knock one of them to the ground, stabbing them in their head and shoulder before running away. Al Jazeera America reported that Carrero was later charged … read more
The Fight to Stop Solitary Confinement in Connecticut
The fight to end solitary confinement in Connecticut has taken decades. The PROTECT Act passed in 2022, but still awaits full implementation. We examine the progress that’s been made, and how much further there is to go.
Fiscal Mismanagement, Natural Disasters Push Puerto Rico’s Prison System to the Brink
Fiscal mismanagement by Puerto Rico’s government, followed by a pair of devastating natural disasters in Hurricanes Irma and Maria have pushed the island’s prisons to the brink. A debt crisis, exacerbated by FEMA shortfalls and bills passed by the US congress, continues to impact living conditions for inmates, and any kind of prison reform.
Prisoner Education Offers a Way Out
The power of education programs for prisoners is illustrated by the story of Juan Lopez, a teacher in Argentine prisons, and contrasted with the struggle to fund and implement consistent prison education in America.
Prisoner Reintegration: Lessons From Norway
Norway’s focus on successful prisoner reentry to society, rather than solely punishment results in dramatically better outcomes for everyone. Improved public safety, world’s lowest recidivism rates, higher rates of employment on release are just a few of the beneficial lessons America can learn from Norway’s success.
Where North Carolina Stands on Reforms proposed by the North Carolina Task Force for Racial Equity and Justice
Late last year, partly in response to the protests that rocked the nation after the murder of George Floyd, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed a sweeping criminal justice reform bill that was passed with bipartisan support. The bill, Senate Bill 300, creates requirements for police departments to share recordings of the death of serious … read more
