Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • Meet the scientists building a prison-to-STEM pipeline

    April 19, 2021 |

    PBS NOVA |

    Text |

    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: United States

    The movement to promote science education and careers among people who are currently or formerly incarcerated is making slow but real progress. Programs like the National Science Foundation's STEM Opportunities in Prison Settings, and the restoration of Pell Grants in prisons, provide institutional support. But progress can be seen in smaller programs like the Prison Mathematics Project, begun by an incarcerated math whiz whose Italian mathematician mentor inspired him to overcome barriers to education. Another sign of progress: More states are "banning the box" in college applications.

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  • Restorative Justice in Indian Country

    April 16, 2021 |

    Dissent Magazine |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Penobscot Indian Island Reservation, Maine

    Like standard drug courts, the Penobscot Nation's Healing to Wellness Court refers people facing drug-related criminal charges to substance abuse counseling as an alternative to punishment. But this court and other tribal wellness courts are steeped in indigenous customs, blended with restorative justice approaches, to emphasize rehabilitation based on trust, support, and native traditions. The threat of punishment looms over participants should they fail in their counseling program. But no one has been jailed in the past two years in the Penobscot program.

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  • Charlotte is taking a new approach to drug cases. It could change lives.

    April 13, 2021 |

    The Charlotte Observer |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Charlotte, North Carolina

    The Mecklenburg County district attorney stopped prosecuting non-violent, low-level drug cases to free up resources to handle a backlog of more serious cases that built up during the pandemic. The policy had the effect of freeing people from the permanent stain of a criminal conviction and offering them drug treatment as an alternative to punishment.

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  • Inside stories

    April 05, 2021 |

    Columbia Journalism Review |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, San Quentin, California

    The Empowerment Avenue Writer's Cohort pairs incarcerated writers with volunteer journalists on the outside who mentor, edit, and help the writers pitch their stories to publications. By publishing more incarcerated writers' viewpoints and first-hand reporting, and by getting those writers paid for their work, the project better informs the public about experiences inside prisons, gives free-world journalists more inside sources, and helps set up incarcerated writers for a career once they are free.

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  • Libraries Are Key Tools For People Getting Out Of Prison, Even During A Pandemic

    March 28, 2021 |

    NPR |

    Radio |

    3-5 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, New Jersey

    When people leave prison, they often gravitate to public libraries as a free place to get computer access and help in looking for work and navigating other aspects of life outside. New Jersey Public Libraries' Fresh Start program adds a layer of help by providing social workers and extra technology resources and training for the formerly incarcerated. Covid disruptions in libraries forced the program to conduct much of its work on the phone or in public, outdoor spaces, but that has posed other problems. Even so, the help some receive has put them on a path toward self-sufficiency.

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  • Newark-based violence prevention group seeks to bridge gap between police, social services

    March 28, 2021 |

    NJ Advance Media |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Newark, New Jersey

    Newark's Community Street Team hires and trains formerly incarcerated people and people who have been victims of violence to mediate disputes before they turn violent. Street outreach interventions have been associated with large declines in homicides and assaults, although the programs can overlap with others seeking the same goal. Newark's team will now serve as the hub for a national effort, the Community Based Public Safety Association, to professionalize such work nationwide. The group will seek more public funding and try to raise the visibility of such policing alternatives.

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  • Prison Renaissance program at San Quentin uses art to end cycles of incarceration

    March 26, 2021 |

    KGO-TV |

    Broadcast TV News |

    5-15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, San Quentin, California

    Three men currently or formerly incarcerated at San Quentin Prison founded Prison Renaissance to connect artists and writers inside prison to audiences and potential funders outside. They produced an art exhibit that was shown digitally at the Museum of the African Diaspora. By creating a rehabilitative program on their own without prison administration involvement, the men demonstrate their humanity and talents, while also generating income for the artists.

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  • How a Colorado town is untangling behavioral health care from the criminal justice system

    March 22, 2021 |

    Coloradoan |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Fort Collins, Colorado

    Acting on a recognition that police and the criminal justice system are too involved in responses to mental health and substance abuse crises, UCHealth formed mental health response teams that partner with Fort Collins police on such calls. In about 80% of calls the teams handled, no arrests were made while people received treatment or were referred to needed services. This program plus one that diverts certain criminal cases into treatment, which can result in dismissal of charges, have built-in drawbacks but have begun de-emphasizing criminal-justice remedies when people need other help.

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  • Hot Trash

    March 17, 2021 |

    Ear Hustle |

    Podcast |

    Over 15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, San Quentin, California

    Prison visiting rooms provide an irreplaceable connection between incarcerated people and their family and friends from outside prison. The in-person visits, despite the many rules that complicate the simple act of conversation, offer a grounding in what's happening in the lives they left behind, along with opportunities to have an intense dialogue about past mistakes and regrets. Interviews produced inside San Quentin Prison reveal the mixed blessing of video visits, the only form of contact for a year during the pandemic.

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  • New legal clinic concentrates on cases of women languishing in the system for crimes against alleged abusers

    March 16, 2021 |

    Chicago Tribune |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Illinois

    The Women and Survivors Project provides legal representation to women imprisoned for crimes that stemmed from histories of abuse. Nearly all incarcerated women have suffered violent abuse. Many end up punished for fighting back or when their abuser forces them to participate in his crimes, but their defenses often get overlooked in court. The project so far has helped free five women by getting judges or parole officials to reconsider their cases, including one woman convicted of first-degree murder. It has dozens more cases in the pipeline.

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