#prison reform

[liberalsarecool]

.0015 recidivism. We need prison reform.

#prison reform

[reasonsforhope]

"The New York City Council voted to ban most uses of solitary confinement in city jails Wednesday [December 20, 2023], passing the measure with enough votes to override a veto from Mayor Eric Adams.

The measure would ban the use of solitary confinement beyond four hours and during certain emergencies. That four hour period would be for "de-escalation" in situations where a detainee has caused someone else physical harm or risks doing so. The resolution would also require the city's jails to allow every person detained to spend at least 14 hours outside of their cells each day.

The bill, which had 38 co-sponsors, was passed 39 to 7. It will now go to the mayor, who can sign the bill or veto it within 30 days. If Mayor Adams vetoes the bill, it will get sent back to the council, which can override the veto with a vote from two-thirds of the members. The 39 votes for the bill today make up 76% of the 51-member council. At a press conference ahead of the vote today [December 20, 2023], Council speaker Adrienne Adams indicated the council would seek [a veto] override if necessary.

For his part, Mayor Adams has signaled he is indeed considering vetoing the bill...

The United Nations has said solitary confinement can amount to torture, and multiple studies suggest its use can have serious consequences on a person's physical and mental health, including an increased risk of PTSD, dying by suicide, and having high blood pressure.

One 2019 study found people who had spent time in solitary confinement in prison were more likely to die in the first year after their release than people who had not spent time in solitary confinement. They were especially likely to die from suicide, homicide and opioid overdose.

Black and Hispanic men have been found to be overrepresented among those placed in solitary confinement – as have gay, lesbian and bisexual people.

The resolution in New York comes amid scrutiny over deaths in the jail complex on Rikers Island. Last month, the federal government joined efforts to wrest control of the facility from the mayor, and give it to an outside authority.

In August 2021, 25-year-old Brandon Rodriguez died while in solitary confinement at Rikers. He had been in pre-trial detention at the jail for less than a week. His mother, Tamara Carter, says his death was ruled a suicide and that he was in a mental health crisis at the time of his confinement.

"I know for Brandon, he should have been put in the infirmary. He should have been seeing a psychiatrist. He should have been being watched," she said.

She says the passage of the bill feels like a form of justice for her.

"Brandon wasn't nothing. He was my son. He was an uncle. A brother. A grandson. And he's very, very missed," she told NPR. "I couldn't save my son. But if I joined this fight, maybe I could save somebody else's son." ...

New York City is not the first U.S. city to limit the use of solitary confinement in its jails, though it is the largest. In 2021, voters in Pennsylvania's Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh, passed a measure to restrict solitary confinement except in cases of lockdowns and emergencies. The sheriff in Illinois' Cook County, which includes Chicago, has said the Cook County jail – one of the country's largest – has also stopped using solitary confinement...

Naila Awan, the interim co-director of policy at the New York Civil Liberties Union, says that New York making this change could have larger influence across the country.

"As folks look at what New York has done, other larger jails that are not quite the size of Rikers will be able to say, 'If New York City is able to do this, then we too can implement similar programs here, that it's within our capacity and capabilities," Awan says. "And to the extent that we are able to get this implemented and folks see the success, I think we could see a real shift in the way that individuals are treated behind bars.""

-via NPR, December 20, 2023

#prison system #prison #jail #criminal justice system #criminal justice reform #prison industrial complex #us news #united states #new york #nyc #new york city #rikers island #eric adams #solitary confinement #us politics #police brutality #cw police brutality #cw death #cw suicide #prison reform #carceral state #good news #hope

[nateconnolly]

WHAT DO ALL OF THESE BOOKS HAVE IN COMMON?

ANSWER UNDER THE CUT

All of them have been banned, or access to them has been restricted, in a prison in America within the last ten years.

In many states, prisons have broad and vague guidelines for book restrictions -- N.J. Admin. Code § 10A:18-4.9 grants prisons the right to ban a book if it "Lacks, as a whole, serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value". In Arizona, "inmates are not permitted to send, receive, or present... Publications that depict nudity," and explicitly states that classical art is not an exception (DO 914: 8.2.1 and 8.2.1.1).

I volunteer at a nonprofit that sends free books to prisoners. From personal experience, I know there are sweeping book restrictions such as "no dictionaries," "no coloring books," or "no manga". While these books are not always strictly banned, inmates are frequently underpaid, or forced to labor without pay. That means many inmates cannot afford to purchase books, and rely on nonprofits for access.

Book bans in public libraries and schools are unconscionable, but they are usually not effective at restricting access. A high school student can usually still see an image of Michelangelo's David even if they cannot learn about it in class. In prison, a book ban on nudity can permanently prevent inmates from accessing great works of art, the shared heritage of humankind.

DONATE TO THE INSIDE BOOKS PROGRAM IF YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY. THEY SEND FREE BOOKS TO PEOPLE IN PRISONS.

Sources:

Found on Marshall Project

1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (banned in California according to Marshall Project

Basic Fundamentals of Modern Tattoo (Illinois)

No role playing games. A Practical Guide to Dragons. Abolish Prison Slavery. “A Multi Denominational Wicca Bible. (Montana)

101 Things to Do With Mac and Cheese (New Jersey)

“But, Didn’t You Kill Malcolm?” and “A Field Guide to Lucid Dreaming” (North Carolina)

“100 Years of Chevrolet” “1000 Dot to Dot Animals” (Oregon)

“San Francisco Bay Newspaper” “Making Everyday Electronics Work” (Rhode Island)

“Marvel Encyclopedia” (South Carolina)

“A Brief History of Manga” (Texas)

“1001 Photographs You Must See in Your Lifetime” (Virginia)

“A Question of Freedom” Reginald Dwayne Betts (Wisconsin)

The Tennessean

A prison in Tennessee restricts access to The Quran, The Torah, The Bhagavad Gita, and books about Norse mythology. (The ban did not apply to the Bible.)

Personal Experience

I am not willing to dox myself, so I cannot name the nonprofit where I volunteer. However, I swear that I have seen book bans on manga, how-to-draw guides, coloring books, electronics books, dictionaries, and composition notebooks.

#book bans #prison #prison reform #anti intellectualism #censorship #original post

[soberscientistlife]

People throwing rocks in glass houses

#prison reform

[thorne1435]

My secret hot take that I harshly judge anyone who disagrees with is that I think literally anyone can be reformed and that punitive justice, while satisfying, is not effective or humane.

I want a massive prison reform not just because of the racism but because of the horrible cruelty of expecting people to stop doing something when you hit them hard enough. Even when it works (which it usually doesn't for various reasons), you cause more harm than good.

#politics #us politics #leftism #prison reform #rehabilitation

[lennielou444]

parents: *worried the schools will turn their kids gay and trans and liberal*

schools: *grooming children to be compliant and conformist and prepared for either prison or factory work*

#capitalism #education reform #prison reform #anarchism #prison industrial complex #schools are jails #anti capitalist #libertarian #punk #socialism #communism

[headspace-hotel]

Essays from incarcerated people in the USA

I made a couple posts a while back about prison abolition but didn't have any sources to point people to, but now I would like to share this: a compendium of essays and writings describing first-hand experiences within the USA prison system.

After reading many of these essays, I can't help but ask others to read and share them, as their writers beg for the horrors to be brought into light. As I said in the previous post it is like some kind of surreal nightmare that this is not even talked about, and that there are no enraged demands for change among the general public.

This, this, this, this, this, this, this, and this I found to be revealing and impactful about conditions and human rights abuses within USA prisons. Trigger warnings for rape, sexual assault, murder, torture and abuse.

#prison abolition #rape tw #abuse tw #usa prison system #prison reform

[woahwanda]

A comic I made about book censorship and how fucked up America’s prisons are

#censorship #banned books #original comic #infographic #social justice #prison reform #my art

[politijohn]

Hey Siri, define slavery

#politics #us politics #abolish prisons #prison industrial complex #current events #criminal justice system #capitalism #prison reform

[metalheadsforblacklivesmatter]

Forensic science is shit and it ruins innocent lives.

(Will reblog the first person to provide captions.)

-fae

#prison reform #prison industrial complex

[luminousfire]

In 2021, my grandfather was murdered. The state calls it manslaughter, but it was murder. Because I live in a death penalty state, I am more happy than not with that definition. I do not want his killers to die by the hand of the state or any hand at all. I have forgiven them.

I am a person with traumatic grief. It may even be classed as post traumatic stress when I go see a psychologist this month. Nevertheless, I am a staunch opposer of the death penalty.

As part of being a Christian, as well as a Quaker, I am called to forgive. Not a day goes by that I don't think about it. Not a day goes by that I don't forgive them all over again. I love them as my fellow man.

#progressive christianity #christian #death penalty #anti death penalty #quaker #quakerism #society of friends #prison abolition #abolish prisons #prison reform #tw death #cw death #tw murder #cw murder

[thevvitchbitch]

#usa news #us politics #leftist #joe biden #social justice #china #prison reform #usa

[socialjusticeinamerica]

No love for this racist murderer but we’re definitely overdue for prison reform in this country. We can’t be desensitized to the way incarcerated people. We should never be uncaring about the most vulnerable in our society. Attitudes like that will spread like a cancer from convicts to the homeless to the poor, the elderly, and all marginalized people.

How we treat the lowest among us is a reflection of our society and right now it isn’t good. We need to be compassionate towards everyone in our society lest we turn into hateful MAGAts. If we had meaningful law enforcement reform we might have been spared all of this. Don’t misunderstand me, they shouldn’t be living a life of comfort but they should be humanely treated and every effort should be made to rehabilitate them before their eventual release. Having prisons create even bigger monsters won’t benefit society when they are released back into the public. Government is not a business and is not meant to run a a shoestring budget or turn a profit like a business. Invest a modest amount now to preserve everyone’s quality of life.

Convicts can have a major negative impact on the poor and often urban communities they will be released into where they can be productive or prey upon the vulnerable. End the hatred and think towards our future.

#prison reform #Derek Chauvin killer cop #republican hypocrisy #corporate greed #racism #George Floyd #prisoner rehabilitation #protect the marginalized #police violence #prison violence #police brutality #law enforcement reform

[reasonsforhope]

The California governor, Gavin Newsom, has announced a plan to transform the state’s oldest prison into a center for rehabilitation, education and training, modeled after Norwegian incarceration systems, which are much less restrictive than US facilities.

Newsom told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday that his goal was “ending San Quentin [prison] as we know it” and working to “completely reimagine what prison means”. San Quentin, located on a peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area and established in 1852, houses nearly 4,000 people, including hundreds on its infamous death row, the largest in the US, which is on track to be dismantled.

The Democratic governor said that by 2025, he plans to transition the massive penitentiary into a final stop of incarceration before individuals are released, with a focus on job training for trades, including plumbers, electricians or truck drivers, the LA Times reported. His recently released budget proposal includes $20m to start the effort.

“The ‘California Model’ the governor is implementing at San Quentin will incorporate programs and best practices from countries like Norway, which has one of the lowest recidivism rates in the world – where approximately three in four formerly incarcerated people don’t return to a life of crime,” the governor’s office said in a statement on Thursday. The prison will be renamed the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center.

Pictured: Instructor Douglas Arnwine hands back papers with comments to his students at San Quentin state prison in April 2022.

The transformation Newsom has described would, at least for San Quentin, mark a fundamental shift from the extremely punitive American system. The US has the highest reported incarceration rate in the world...

Although California is considered a leader in criminal justice reform, the state’s prison system continues to be overcrowded, with thousands of elderly people languishing behind bars and Black residents disproportionately imprisoned for decades due to harsh sentencing laws adopted in the 1990s.

Scandinavian models of incarceration that have garnered increasing attention from some US lawmakers are less focused on punishment and are meant to give imprisoned people support and a sense of normal life behind bars so that they are prepared to reintegrate into society. That can mean access to personal computers, televisions and showers, consistent classes and programming, fresh food, more freedom of movement and stronger connections with the outside world.

“Do you want them coming back with humanity and some normalcy, or do you want them coming back more bitter and more beaten down?” Newsom told the LA Times.

An overhaul of San Quentin would be a huge undertaking, and there are significant unanswered questions about what the transition would mean for its current residents as well as the tens of thousands of others located across the California department of corrections and rehabilitation (CDCR). San Quentin has a long and recent history of scandals involving abuse, overcrowding, guard misconduct and medical neglect. It is also a prison that has significantly more programming than some of the remote and rural CDCR prisons, with a renowned podcast produced by incarcerated San Quentin journalists.

The governor’s office noted research showing that every $1 spent on rehabilitation saves more than $4 on costs of re-incarceration; that people who enroll in education programs behind bars are 43% less likely to return to prison; and that crime survivor groups say victims prefer sentences that include programming designed to prevent recidivism...

Assemblymember Mia Bonta noted that California spends $14.5bn on prisons each year – $106,000 a person – but traditionally puts only about 3.4% toward rehabilitation: “It’s time for a significant paradigm shift.”

One of the reporters in attendance was Steve Brooks, an incarcerated journalist and editor of the San Quentin News paper, who asked the governor how the Scandinavian model would be adopted in a prison where residents remain concerned about overcrowding and the living conditions. Brooks also said people were concerned that those convicted of violent offenses would be excluded from programs under a new system. Newsom responded, “I’m not looking to cherry pick certain offenses. I’m for people who are committed, not passively interested, in changing themselves.”

-via The Guardian, 3/17/23

#california #united states #us politics #prison #prison industrial complex #prison reform #incarceration #san quentin #scandinavian #gavin newsom #good news #hope

[kemetic-dreams]

      What's the most unfair aspect of society?

This boy had his whole life ahead of him, he had good grades, he was the star athlete of his university, until a classmate accused him of rape.

He spent 6 years in jail, and 5 years on probation , he lost his sports scholarship, he lost his chance to graduate, he lost the respect of his peers, but worse, he lost his future.

Now, it turns out that the girl who accused him of rape confessed some time later that she had made everything up . I mean, he never sexually abused her.

This boy was innocent, he spent 6 years in prison for something he didn't commit, his sports career went downhill, and also if he wants to look for a job, nobody hires a person with a criminal record. This guy lost EVERYTHING.

What happened to the girl who falsely accused him?

Any. Absolutely nothing . Not a fine and less, a conviction.

Do you think that is normal? Do you see it fair?

A person who falsely accuses another of rape should AT LEAST be penalized financially. A person who ruined the life of another cannot go unpunished.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/08/movies/brian-banks-review.html

#african #prison reform #kemetic dreams #brian banks

[downloadablecreature]

I am of the (apparently controversial) opinion that a human is a human, and deserves to be treated as such.

#the only way you’d be no longer human is by dying #because then you’re a corpse #trans rights #gay rights #black lives matter #prison reform #immigration #tolerance #if anyone sees this #add more relevant tags #if you have an argument please explain it to me in a calm manner #so that we might have a civil conversation about it #instead of screaming at each other like idiots