book review
Serving City Time
A new book doubles as a detailed chronicle of, and guidebook to, surviving incarceration on New York’s Rikers Island.
jail incarceration
13 posts in ‘jail incarceration’
excerpt
A Nation of Imprisoned Immigrants
Jails have been foundational to immigration enforcement for over a century—and have always operated with a staggering absence of oversight and public awareness.
Local jails
Reforming Sheriffs
Electing progressive sheriffs only goes so far toward curbing the structural forces that sustain mass incarceration.
book review
Outsmarting a Monster
Jails are everywhere, trapping people and resources belonging to communities. And everywhere, there are organizers contesting that reality.
campaigns
Renewing New Orleans
Anti-jail organizers scored important wins in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. But their fight isn’t over.
public health
Beware the Healthier Cage
In Atlanta politicians are pushing for a bigger jail they claim will be more humane. But health-care workers are pushing back.
first person
No Leaving Rikers
For the scores of people who have suffered on Rikers Island, their experiences, and scars, of living through it remain long after release.
Local jails
Pretrial Injustice
Incarceration ahead of trial is fundamentally unjust—a form of punishment that makes it virtually impossible to fight for your freedom.
Reflections
Goodnight Jail
Based on 'Goodnight Moon', the 1947 bedtime classic by Margaret Wise Brown.
public health
Monkeypox and Decarceration
Urgent action in our nation’s jails and prisons can prevent the kind of mass suffering seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.
campaigns
A New Sheriff in Town
New Orleans’ newest jailer won’t get us out of our crisis of mass incarceration. But her election still matters as we build a safer, healthier community.
A closer look
Community Spread
People in counties with higher jail populations are getting sicker and dying younger. The data shows that mass incarceration is playing a role.
Local jails
Radicalized at the Workhouse
The criminal legal system almost took my life from me. The anger that came after now fuels my life’s work.