mass incarceration

“Like Two Cavalries”: After TN Prison Standoff, Fear of What Comes Next

On the evening of July 24, South Central Correctional Facility, a medium-security private prison in Tennessee, gave notice that 128…

July 29, 2024

“Soups Will Cook There”: How Prisons Became Heat Traps by Design

Before the days of modern air-conditioning, homes and businesses in the Southeastern United States were built with 10- to 14-foot…

July 24, 2024

NIDA Leadership Calls for “All Three” OUD Medications in Prisons and Jails

A top federal drug official is calling for the government to move “away from criminalization” under the drug war, saying…

July 16, 2024

Medicaid in Five States Will Cover MOUD for Prisoners Nearing Release

On July 2, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) more than doubled the number of states authorized to provide…

July 3, 2024

“Preventable Security Lapses”—Gun Violence Comes to Georgia Prisons

At around 4 am on June 16, Smith State Prison became the site of the only fatal shooting in recent…

June 25, 2024

CA Mandates Extreme Heat Workplace Safety, Except in Forced Labor Camps

On June 20, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA) approved the state’s first regulation protecting indoor workers…

June 24, 2024

Decades After It Set Meth Sentencing by Purity, USSC Surveys the Damage

Almost all controlled substances in the United States are criminalized by weight. There are thresholds that legally separate possession from…

June 20, 2024

As Waupun Correctional Staff Arrested for Abuse, Lockdown Drags On

After Dean Hoffman was transferred to Waupun Correctional Institution in April 2023, his daughter noticed a difference right away. Somehow…

June 14, 2024

Prison Call Center Jobs Pay Minimum Wage, Which for Us Seems to Be $1.30

I work at a prison call center. My job is to read from a script about various kinds of debt…

June 13, 2024

Wellpath, Fleeing GA Prisons Contract, Fails One Last Bid at Extortion

On July 1, three years into its nine-year contract, private health care provider Wellpath will leave behind its 50,000-plus patients…

June 6, 2024