In recent years many people across the political spectrum have come to realize that the so-called "war on drugs" has been a completely futile effort that has destroyed lives, broken apart families, and accomplished nothing other than filling prisons with many Americans who ...read more
by Aaron Cantú At this point, it's hard to be surprised by the extreme punitiveness of America's criminal justice system. One thing that can still shock, though, is how police manhandle actual children. Not only is treatment of children severe (police in Arizona recently mulled ...read more
In the murky swamp waters of Louisiana, there lies an experiment that has been cooking up for the past 20 years. Created and conducted without the public's consent, it is an experiment, which if successful, could serve as the prototype for other states and other countries. ...read more
When you design an economy to be based on short term profit to the benefit of giant corporations, the results over the long term will be a country so hostile to human life that the unreasonable and unthinkable becomes an every day reality. Wealth inequality, mass poverty, a ...read more
In America, it is apparently OK to send 12 year old children to 65 years in prison. Take a guess at how many countries in the world allow children under the age of 18 to go to jail for life. The answer? Four. The US, Tanzania, South Africa, and Israel. And the overwhelming ...read more
By Joaquin Sapien, ProPublica Aug. 16: This story has been updated. The 20-year-old document – labeled the Hotel Custody log by the Brooklyn District Attorney's office – is not easy to decipher. It contains a list of New York City hotels beside columns labeled "Date In" and ...read more
By Christie Thompson In several men's prisons across California, colored signs hang above cell doors: blue for black inmates, white for white, red, green or pink for Hispanic, yellow for everyone else. Though it's not an official policy, at least five California state prisons ...read more
By Suevon Lee: The growth of the private detention industry has long been a subject of scrutiny. A recent eight-part series in the New Orleans Times-Picayune chronicled how more than half of Louisiana's 40,000 inmates are housed in prisons run by sheriffs or private companies ...read more
My good friend Alyona Minkovski interviews Congress Matter Editor David Waldman on the astonishing case of the The Corrections Corporation of America's bid to buy up the nation's prisons. The Corrections Corporation, the nation's largest operator of for-profit prisons, has sent ...read more
