prisons

Veterans in Prison, Cut Off From Support, Try to Make It on Their Own

C*, a 39-year-old Army veteran, struggled to adjust to daily life after coming home from Afghanistan and Iraq. When he…

August 20, 2024

The Casualties of the “Passive Drug Exposure” Myth

In early August, 11 New York State corrections officers (COs) were at the scene of a medical emergency involving someone…

August 19, 2024

Good Thing No One Uses Drugs in Prison, or RSAT Might Not Work

Because his conviction involved alcohol, the case plan Alf* was assigned by the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) included a…

August 15, 2024

OK Prisons Privatize Mail, as “Digital Processing Centers” Expand Drug War

Beginning September 1, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODOC) will no longer deliver physical mail to the nearly 23,000 people…

August 13, 2024

When the Prison Grievance Process Is Worth the Risk

For nearly three decades, I've been hearing people scream for help. Screams of people being raped, robbed, stabbed. Screams of…

August 5, 2024

To See the US Prisons Crisis, Look at the Books We’re Trying to Read

The library at South Central Correctional Facility, a Tennessee prison privately operated by CoreCivic, consists of a single wall of…

August 1, 2024

“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

How Prison Tobacco Bans Created a Drug Market No One Wanted

[Part 1 and Part 2 of this story were published earlier in July.] Back in 2004, right before tobacco was…

July 22, 2024

“A Moral Crime”: 22 Years in Solitary, and the Prison System That Watched

At age 18, Frank De Palma entered Nevada Department of Corrections custody on a 10-year sentence for a nonviolent felony.…

July 18, 2024