Louisiana's Angola Prison: Where Rehabilitation Includes a Rodeo
They wear black-and-white striped shirts in a Western style, and compete for cash prizes in the "convict poker tournament." But the men participating in Louisiana Staten Prison's annual rodeo are...
View ArticleNew Program in Oklahoma Tires to Offset High Rate of Female Incarceration
As states across the country are dealing with a budget crisis, some in Oklahoma are pointing to what has become a financial nightmare: the rate of female incarceration. Oklahoma puts more women behind...
View ArticleIs Flogging Better Than Prison?
The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that California's overcrowded prison system violates the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The Court ordered California to transfer or release...
View ArticleThe State of Marital Unions in the African-American Community
Throughout the course of American history, a lot has been said about marriage in the African-American community. From scientific racism to the Moynihan Report to Tyler Perry, the way we discuss...
View ArticleTwo New York Prisons for Female Inmates Facing Final Lockup
As the number of people incarcerated in New York continues to decline, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed closing two women's prisons to save money.Beacon in Duchess County and Bayview Correctional...
View ArticleRethinking Prisons Through Digital Technology
In 2011, the Supreme Court ruled that overcrowding had become such a problem in California prisons, the state system violated the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment. That case...
View ArticleFormer Inmates Struggle to Learn New Technologies
Tech-savviness is a must-have for even low-skilled workers in today's job market and former inmates coming out of prison are on the wrong side of the digital divide."They've just missed out on so...
View ArticleTwo New York Prisons for Female Inmates Facing Final Lockup
As the number of people incarcerated in New York continues to decline, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed closing two women's prisons to save money.Beacon in Duchess County and Bayview Correctional...
View ArticleLibraries: Rikers Island
Nick Higgins, associate director for outreach services at the NYPL, talks about NYPL's programs at local jails, including Daddy & Me a program that keeps incarcerated fathers in touch with their...
View ArticleDrug Crimes and Mandatory Minimums: A Federal Judge's Take
For decades, U.S. law forced federal judges to impose severe prison sentences on nonviolent drug offenders.Under the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, Congress mandated a minimum sentence of five years...
View ArticleGabfest Radio: The Summer Strut 2013 Edition
On this week’s episode of Gabfest Radio from Slate and WNYC, Political Gabfest panelists David Plotz and Emily Bazelon are joined by very special guest Paul Sabin, an associate professor of history at...
View ArticleNYCHA Pilots Reintegration Program for Former Inmates
The New York City Housing Authority is launching a pilot program that'll allow a limited number of former inmates to move back in with their families in public housing. The authority's chairman, John...
View ArticleThe Future of Pharmacies & Lethal Injections in Missouri
The State of Missouri has a new protocol for executions, put in place only last month, and about to be put into practice for the first time this week.On Wednesday, a man on death row is set to be...
View ArticleSpike in Violence at Rikers Island—But Why?
Violence is on the rise at Rikers Island, according to an investigation by The New York Times. Reporter Michael Schwirtz found that at least a dozen inmates have been slashed or stabbed this year...
View Article'The Divide': A Startling Portrait of U.S. Inequality
The idea of “two Americas” is hardly new. Even before John Edwards made “two Americas” the catchphrase of his 2004 presidential campaign, the idea that deep fissures were dividing America's wealthiest...
View ArticleThe Necessity Defense
It’s odd to think cannibals, cannabis-growers, Vietnam War protesters, and prison escapees all have something in common. But they do: the necessity defense. We explore the origins and uses of this rare...
View ArticleGrowing Up in The System
Shirley Diaz’s life has been shaped by the tragedy of her mother’s murder, and the difficulty of growing up in six different foster homes, separated from her six younger siblings. To avoid being...
View ArticleIncarcerated Parents
15-year-old Keith Tingman remembers his tenth birthday better than any other birthday before or since: that was the day he watched his mom get arrested after being falsely accused of stealing someone's...
View ArticleStoryCorps 374: Voices Behind Bars
When StoryCorps visited Danville Correctional Center in Illinois, one of the inmates who told his story was Carlos Rocha.
View ArticleReport: NY, NJ See Drop in Crime Rate, Prison Population
For decades, common political wisdom when discussing ways to fight crime has been to toughen sanctions, develop three-strikes-and-you're-out policies for repeat offenders, and dole out longer...
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