COVID-19

We’re still overcrowded and set up for disaster.

Patrick Stephens, a formerly incarcerated writer, explains how arbitrary, byzantine, and punitive visiting rules tear apart the families of the incarcerated—especially after the pandemic.

In June, a judge ended an emergency order to slow the spread of COVID-19 in LA’s jails, enraging civil-rights advocates.

The ban had helped the Broome County Sheriff rake in hundreds of thousands of dollars in profits from detainee video and phone call fees.

One incarcerated author used skills from an HIV/AIDS group to push imprisoned people and prison guards to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Billions of dollars of federal COVID relief aid are flowing to police, prisons, and jails in jurisdictions across the nation.

Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, “prison warehousing”—which used to be a derogatory term—would look like an upgrade. At least warehouses care about the value of the goods they store.

Less than two years after racial justice protests sparked calls to “defund the police,” states and jurisdictions are using pandemic aid to pad already bloated law enforcement budgets.

Every Thursday morning, the Philly Homes 4 Youth (PH4Y) Coalition hosts a weekly virtual workspace for its members. The coalition of young advocates, youth workers, and non-profit administrators have been strategizing together since at least 2016 to improve care for young people experiencing homelessness in Philadelphia. But lately, the group’s meetings have taken on a more urgent tone: Tens of millions in federal COVID-19 relief funding is currently up for grabs in Philadelphia, and the coalition wants to ensure at least 20 percent of the money goes to youth services.

A cycle of hopelessness is taking its toll in prisons across the country, amid continued restrictions on the things that make life more bearable.

It’s been quite a year for us, to say the least. In May, we unionized. Then our former bosses shut The Appeal down. But we, the workers, resolved to save The Appeal and continue the important work we do covering the criminal legal system.  Since then, we succeeded in becoming a worker-led nonprofit newsroom. We […]

If you missed it last week, we’ve officially kicked off our year-end fundraising campaign through NewsMatch, an industry-wide program to sustain journalism through matching gifts on the local and national level. Through Dec. 31, NewsMatch will match your new monthly donation (at 12 times the value), or double your one-time gift, all up to $1,000. […]

Leaving prison often hinges on completing rehabilitative programming. The pandemic caused many of these required courses to be put on hold.

There has been a ‘parabolic increase’ in cities and states giving tenants a right to counsel to help fight evictions.

Only 7 percent of tenants in the state have legal representation in eviction proceedings. A bill in the Connecticut house is trying to change that.

A Department of Justice memo from January could have a devastating effect on many federal prisoners who have been released on home confinement.

Activists are calling for a number of new policies to expand the reach of community land trusts.

One of the leading candidates for Anchorage’s mayoral race is backed by a far-right Facebook group tied to the U.S. Capitol riot.

Biden’s American Rescue Plan is a start, but more public investment is needed to address racial inequality in the labor market.

After more than a year in office—and despite pushback—the San Francisco DA’s policies have kept people out of jails and prisons.

Ensuring renters have representation in housing court would help close a “justice gap” and be a life-saving intervention for those at risk of losing their homes.

It’s time for congressional Republicans to listen.

In many of America’s major cities, the early efforts to reduce incarceration during the pandemic have been reversed.

Policies that helped keep people in their homes—and keep the utilities on—reduced COVID-19 deaths and infections.

The attorney general could pick a new head of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. That person should have public health experience, formerly incarcerated activists say.

On Tuesday, Harris County Commissioners will decide if the D.A. and Sheriff will get more money to continue their neglect in the face of a public-health crisis.

The percentage of people held pretrial for six months or longer is up six percent from January of last year, according to a UCLA School of Law report.

The move is part of a broader criminal justice reform bill that also ends prison gerrymandering, and mandates body cameras for all police departments.

In Granite City, Illinois, landlords have been penalized for refusing to evict tenants who have criminal records or are simply living with someone who does.

Decades of exploitation, abuse, and racism in medicine have cost many Black Americans their lives during the pandemic. Now the government can act to prevent further harm.

In the new year, every prosecutor’s office should commit to protecting victims and workers, holding police accountable, and keeping families together.

The Philadelphia Community Bail Fund, which recorded and published the complaints, paid for the release of some incarcerated women on Saturday.

The report found that spread inside correctional facilities contributed to community spread, particularly in California, Florida and Texas.

The Court’s willingness to infer discrimination against Judeo-Christian religions from poorly articulated remarks that accompanied a public health response to COVID-19 may make other laws and policies vulnerable to claims of religious discrimination as well.

The coronavirus has ripped through our prison and jail populations, infecting and killing hundreds of thousands of people most vulnerable to COVID-19.

New York City’s jail population is close to reaching pre-pandemic levels. Advocates say dishonest fearmongering about bail reform—and the politicians who capitulated to it—have created a very real safety crisis.

In addition to the releases he has already ordered, the New York governor can grant commutations to free more incarcerated people to protect them from the disease. He has issued only three since the pandemic began.

The governor has rolled back bail reform, not released enough prisoners during the pandemic, and failed to rein in police abuses, advocates and prisoners say.

The Rittenhouse case raises particularly pointed questions about what we are really talking about when we talk about bail.

Grown adults have voted their way into the current morass in this country. Now is the time for a younger generation to lead the way.