Poorly trained police. Underpaid defense attorneys. No support for the wrongly convicted. How did the state’s criminal justice system fail so profoundly? By Lara Bazelon In 1991, the Philadelphia district attorney’s office indicted a 20-year-old black man named Anthony Wright on … Continued
Posted at http://www.dailyitem.com/opinion/columns/my-turn-end-torture-at-lewisburg-federal-penitentiary/article_5cff8512-9a73-50e0-937c-1d5a4bef9ff3.html The Rev. Sandra L. Strauss/My Turn The U.S. Penitentiary at Lewisburg in a Aug. 2014 file photo The recent NPR/Marshall Project reports of torture at the Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary may have been a revelation for many Americans, … Continued
Posted at http://www.chn.org/2016/11/02/breaking-cycle-re-incarceration-education/#.WBpDStIrJdg By Ana-Elisa Gentle November 2, 2016 Last week the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) hosted an event covering an important and often overlooked topic: reintegration to society after incarceration. Many attended in person or tuned in … Continued
From the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (http://www.nrcat.org): This week, NPR and The Marshall Project published a series of stories uncovering the harrowing use of torture at the Lewisburg federal penitentiary in central Pennsylvania, where incarcerated people are routinely forced … Continued
From Families Against Mandatory Minimums (http://famm.org/): Today marks the 30th anniversary of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986. And at FAMM, we’re not celebrating. This law established our current federal mandatory minimum drug sentencing laws, which we are working to … Continued
Posted at http://www.publicnewsservice.org/2016-10-24/juvenile-justice/report-calls-for-closing-juvenile-prisons/a54616-1 October 24, 2016 – Andrea Sears, Public News Service (PA) Play Audio in Browser Window Report says locking up youths has high costs and hurts children. (Unsplash/Pixabay.com) PHILADELPHIA — The number of young people in juvenile detention … Continued
By Wallace McKelvey Published: October 04, 2016 Pennsylvanians will soon be able to put nonviolent offenses in their rear-view mirror. A new law taking effect Nov. 14 would allow residents with certain second- and third-degree misdemeanors to petition the court to limit … Continued
Posted at http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/10/12/denouncing-colossal-waste-drug-war-report-makes-case-decriminalization Published on Wednesday, October 12, 2016 by Common Dreams ‘Locking people up for using drugs causes tremendous harm, while doing nothing to help those who need and want treatment’ By Nadia Prupis, staff writer There were 574,640 … Continued
From Decarcerate PA (http://www.decarceratepa.info/): October 18th was the Day of Action to Death By Incarceration. Many were in Harrisburg rallying and meeting with legislators. You can become part of the action by calling your Representatives and asking them to abolish … Continued
From the Sentencing Project (http://www.sentencingproject.org): I’m pleased to share with you a new study on felony disenfranchisement by The Sentencing Project. In 6 Million Lost Voters: State-Level Estimates of Felony Disenfranchisement, 2016, researchers Christopher Uggen, Ryan Larson, and Sarah Shannon … Continued