prisons

WA Prisons Clear All Guards to Carry Narcan. Not All Intend to Do So.

Washington State Department of Corrections (WDOC) staff are now permitted to carry Narcan while on duty. Though the change is…

October 4, 2023

Amid the Trauma of Prison, an Unexpected Oasis: Crochet Club

Travis learned to crochet from his grandmother. He was 10 when she showed him his first stitch, in 1986, and…

October 3, 2023

Trans Health Care, Medicaid and the Shortfalls of Prison Re-Entry Services

For about three weeks, I'd been communicating smoothly with the clinic where I'm scheduled to undergo breast augmentation surgery and…

September 25, 2023

Re-Entry Isn’t the Same as Recovery, No Matter What SAMHSA Thinks

A decade ago, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration determined that having two separate definitions of recovery—one for…

September 11, 2023

Sex Offender Registry Reform Is a Harm Reduction Issue

In the United States, anyone convicted of a sex offense is punished with two criminal sentences. The first is the…

September 7, 2023

How Wound Care Works in Prison, Without Doctors or Running Water

Most wound-care guidance in the United States is premised on access to potable water. Even for first aid in outdoor…

August 10, 2023

Receiver Could Soon Take Over Rikers Island, After New Damning Report

The political and legal battle over the future of New York City’s Rikers Island jail complex has reignited after publication…

August 9, 2023

COVID Testing in Our Prison Has Been Used to Harm, Not Help

In early July, for the first time since COVID-19 protocols were lifted in April, a general-population prisoner at Washington Corrections…

July 27, 2023

The Only Openly LGBTQ Prisoner-Led Community in Tennessee

I thought I was too old to have to worry about being raped in prison. But as his sweat dripped…

July 26, 2023

Violence Harm Reduction: How Peer De-Escalation Works Inside Prisons

In 1992, the year I learned I had HIV, a friend got me a dishwasher job at a restaurant in…

July 18, 2023