The Crime Report (https://thecrimereport.org/category/corrections/prison-writing/)
An anti-terrorism measure passed by Congress in 1996 to block some defendants seeking to overturn their convictions has proved as fatal as the maneuver used against George Floyd, writes a Texas inmate. It’s called the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act.
With national recidivism rates hovering above 80 percent, successful reintegration seems an elusive goal. Why can’t communities recognize those who achieve it with a “certificate of acceptance?,” suggests an inmate in Washington State.
Everyone agrees that inmates and corrections officers alike should protect themselves with masks and other precautions against the spread of coronavirus. But it doesn’t always work that way.
Correctional facilities around the U.S. have experienced unrest among inmates angry over what they perceive is a lack of concern for their safety. A Washington state inmate says the pandemic exposes society’s deep-rooted fears and prejudices towards the incarcerated.
The national health crisis has put prisoners and correctional officers equally at risk. That offers a rare opportunity to work together for everyone’s safety—even if it means rethinking traditional security concerns, writes a Washington state inmate.
The solution is simple, writes a Washington State inmate: Provide humane facilities for isolation so prisoners won’t dread reporting when they show symptoms.
Prisoners in Washington State have filed a lawsuit against Gov. Jay Inslee and state corrections chief Steven Sinclair asking for the release of elderly inmates to halt the spread of the coronavirus. This and similar actions elsewhere are adding long-needed momentum to the movement to reduce mass incarceration, writes an inmate.
When an employee at the Monroe Correctional Complex in Washington state tested positive for COVID-19, prison administrators swiftly instituted safety precautions. An inmate reports that the measures have left the entire facility bracing for the worst.
An emotional telephone call with her 13-year-old daughter inspires an Ohio prison inmate to take stock of her life—and to resolve that the future won’t repeat the mistakes of her past.
Jeremiah Bourgeois was convicted of murder at age 14, with every expectation he would spend the remainder of his life in prison. A collection of his writings for The Crime Report, published by Amazon this month, tells an extraordinary story of how one man found a path back to redemption—and freedom— after spending 27 years inside America’s carceral state.