Prison Reform - openDemocracy

You can want prison reform and also feel relief at the Proud Boys sentencing

Yes, the US justice system needs radical change, but it’s OK to feel relief when the far-right are held to account

By Chrissy Stroop

/ 13 Sep 2023

You can want prison reform and also feel relief at the Proud Boys sentencing

Pregnant in prison: Why it’s time for change

Pregnancy and birth in prison is to be discussed in parliament this week, with campaigners demanding changes to England and Wales’ new police bill

By Nandini Naira Archer

/ 14 Dec 2021

Pregnant in prison: Why it’s time for change

What’s the point of prison?

Well over half of all prisoners in the UK have personality disorders and other mental health problems. What are we doing?

By Paul Tritschler

/ 28 Sep 2016

They burn clean and leave only ashes: transforming San Quentin

In one of the world’s most infamous institutions, rage and pain are channeled into personal empowerment and the reform of the prison-industrial complex.

By Janis Daddona

/ 2 Jul 2014

Prisoner X and the British Guantanamo Bay

Working as a writer in residence at prisons, I have been advised not to "fight" if an inmate takes me hostage and starts to rape me. At first I loathed wife-murdering "Prisoner X". But if he can teach other prisoners to read and write, some good may come of the bad.

By Laura Bridgeman

/ 15 Jan 2014

American conservatives shift on mass incarceration

When Newt Gingrinch announced last year, “The criminal-justice system is broken, and conservatives must lead the way in fixing it," it may have signaled that those who formerly advocated rapid prison expansion, have shifted gears and begun to distance themselves from private prison corporations an

By James Kilgore

/ 3 Dec 2012

The Prison Policy Initiative

The Prison Policy Initiative was founded in 2001 by Peter Wagner. While they are most famous for their work documenting how mass incarceration skews American democracy, they're also demonstrating how mass incarceration impacts everyone, not just those directly involved in the criminal justice syst

By Charles Shaw

/ 29 Nov 2012

Fewer Americans behind bars?

For the third straight year, fewer Americans were under "correctional supervision"--a catch-all description that includes prisons, jails, probation, and parole--in 2011. Do these slight changes in the numbers from year to year indicate major shifts in the American way of punishment?

By Charles Shaw

/ 29 Nov 2012

oD Drug Policy Forum: Front Line Report - Week of August 8th 2011

This week we lead with news that that Liberal Democrats are expected to call for an independent inquiry into the decriminalisation of possession of all drugs. It would be the first government-sponsored inquiry into decriminalisation, but is unlikely to have the support of David Cameron who has har

By Charles Shaw and Mark Weiss

/ 8 Aug 2011

oD Drug Policy Forum: Front Line Report - Week of July 18th 2011

This week we lead with the Committee for the Prevention of Torture's new Report on Poland - highlighting a serious lack of progress towards the 'care of inmates with drug related problems.' In other news we take a look at the trailer for new film, 'Breaking the Taboo'; explore the ongoing tragedy

By Charles Shaw and Mark Weiss

/ 18 Jul 2011

oD Drug Policy Forum: Front Line Report - Week of May 23rd 2011

We lead this weeks Report with news of a landmark ruling by the US Supreme Court to reduce California's severe prison overcrowding, held to have directly contributed to unconstitutional conditions which are not only unsafe but overly costly ~ MW & CS

By Charles Shaw and Mark Weiss

/ 27 May 2011

oD Drug Policy Forum: Front Line Report - Week of April 25th 2011

With around 80,000 claimants of Incapacity Benefit having a drug or alcohol dependency, we lead this weeks report with DrugScope's caution over the DWP's 'incapacity revolution'. In other news we look at injecting drug use in prisons; calls for drug policy reform in Poland; and Wikileaks reveals t

By Charles Shaw and Mark Weiss

/ 23 Apr 2011