prisons

Why Allowing Only Prison-Issue Cell Phones Hurts Our Reentry Prospects

The Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) is no longer allowing prisoners on work release to acquire their own cell phones.…

May 26, 2022

Tobacco Bans in Our Prisons Are Rich Pickings for Me—and the COs

The first time the Georgia Department of Corrections tried to go tobacco-free was 1994. In the mid-'90s it was trendy…

May 5, 2022

One Drug Dominates Our Prison’s Supply. We Don’t Know What It Is.

During the pandemic, the Michigan Department of Corrections suspended all Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, “substance abuse” classes and support groups, many…

April 27, 2022

CO Fentanyl Bill Would Fund—But Not Require—MOUD in County Jails

On April 13, the Colorado House Judiciary Committee approved a bill to re-impose felony penalties on fentanyl—and by extension, any…

April 14, 2022

How Exactly Are Tablets Supposed to Solve Georgia’s Prisons Crisis?

On January 19, Georgia Department of Corrections Commissioner Timothy Ward deflected questions from the public about the department's understaffing crisis…

April 6, 2022

Georgia Prisons Are in Crisis—and Punishing Trans Women for It

The Georgia Department of Corrections is in freefall. By the time the US Department of Justice opened an investigation in…

March 28, 2022

Pressure on Massachusetts to Ban Building of New Jails and Prisons

Families of incarcerated people are pressuring Massachusetts state lawmakers to pass a bill to rule out building any new jails…

March 8, 2022

WA Prisons Expanded Gradual Reentry. COVID Is an Excuse to Block Us.

In 2018, the Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC) implemented a Graduated Reentry (GRE) program, allowing eligible prisoners to serve…

February 25, 2022

Prisoner Who Sued for Access to OUD Meds Is in Solitary as “Retaliation”

The man at the center of a pivotal legal battle over access to methadone while incarcerated has been held in…

February 15, 2022

Federal Prisons Director to Resign Amid Staff Corruption, COVID Failures

Federal Bureau of Prisons Director Michael Carvajal is resigning in the wake of highly publicized allegations against BOP staff, including…

January 7, 2022