Mass incarceration is slavery. Abolition is a vision for the future.
No system designed to make money by subjugating people intends to rid us of those harms. Abolition is a vision for the future.
Olayemi Olurin Feb 22, 2023
The Truth About Marijuana and the Criminal Legal System
We’re celebrating 4/20 by tackling some popular myths about marijuana and the criminal legal system.
Katie Jane Fernelius Apr 20, 2022
How Chesa Boudin Is Pursuing His Promise to Reduce Incarceration
After more than a year in office—and despite pushback—the San Francisco DA’s policies have kept people out of jails and prisons.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Mar 18, 2021
The Dissenter
Former Louisiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Bernette Johnson’s fiery dissents on mass incarceration and sentencing in America’s most carceral state garnered international attention. But the rise of the first Black woman on the court was characterized by one battle after another with the Deep South’s white power structure.
Elon Green Mar 02, 2021
‘No Choice But To Do It’
Many of the 230,000 women and girls in U.S. jails and prisons were abuse survivors before they entered the system. Research for The Appeal shows that at least 30 percent of those serving time on murder or manslaughter charges were protecting themselves or a loved one from physical or sexual violence.
Justine van der Leun Dec 17, 2020
Researchers Estimate Mass Incarceration Contributed To More Than Half A Million Additional Cases Of COVID-19 Over The Summer
The report found that spread inside correctional facilities contributed to community spread, particularly in California, Florida and Texas.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg, Ethan Corey Dec 15, 2020
Prisoners Face ‘Undue Punishment’ As The IRS Claws Back Their Stimulus Checks
Legal experts say the IRS is illegally denying CARES Act payments to incarcerated people.
Jordan Michael Smith Jul 08, 2020
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Funds Clean Slate Policy. So Why Won’t Facebook Take Down Mugshots?
Mark Zuckerberg could engage in criminal legal reform by bringing Facebook’s policies in line with CZI’s mission and allow people to request that their mugshot be taken down.
Sarah Esther Lageson Jun 10, 2020
No More ‘COPS’
Under the HEROES Act, the Community Oriented Policing Services program would receive $300 million to fund the hiring of more police. Democratic and Republican leaders alike remain committed to the ideology of increased funding, even under the guise of reform.
Ross Barkan Jun 03, 2020
Two of His Sons Are Incarcerated During the Pandemic. A Third Is Fighting to Get Them Out.
Both incarcerated brothers are at an increased risk of complications from COVID-19—and one has tested positive.
Chris Gelardi May 27, 2020
Jails and Prisons Must Reduce Their Populations Now
We did it in San Francisco. If we are smart about how we respond to COVID-19 in the criminal legal system, then we can simultaneously tackle two crises.
Cristine Soto DeBerry May 12, 2020
Louisiana’s Data On Coronavirus Infections Among Prisoners Is Troubled And Lacks Transparency
The state is sending virus-positive people to Angola prison—but those numbers aren’t reported on the Department of Corrections website.
Jerry Iannelli May 01, 2020
Coronavirus Exposes Precarity of Prison Towns
Towns like Homer, Louisiana, have huge prisons, a tiny populace, and few public health resources—a potentially lethal combination as COVID-19 spreads.
Jonathan Ben-Menachem Apr 21, 2020
Every Public Official With The Power To Decarcerate Must Exercise That Power Now
Doing so will save countless lives, and in the process, they may show us by example how to begin, finally, to dismantle mass incarceration for good.
Sharon Dolovich Apr 10, 2020
As Major Cities Decarcerated During COVID-19’s Spread, Philadelphia’s Jail Population Barely Budged
The city’s DA’s office and its public defender association urged judges to adopt video meetings to speed the release of incarcerated people. But emails obtained by The Appeal show that judges took a much more limited approach to decarceration.
Jerry Iannelli Apr 10, 2020
Massachusetts Prosecutors Should Use Their Power To Dismiss Cases Now
District attorneys in the state could decarcerate quickly by dropping unnecessary cases.
Will Isenberg Apr 08, 2020
Justice in America Episode 26: The Privatization of Prisons
Josie Duffy Rice and guest co-host Donovan Ramsey talk with Bianca Tylek, executive director of Worth Rises, about the privatization of America’s criminal legal system.
Apr 01, 2020
Washington, D.C. Continues Low-level Arrests Amid Pandemic
The Metropolitan Police Department has discussed reducing arrests, but it has not formally announced any policy changes.
Jon Campbell Mar 18, 2020
Kim Foxx Aims To Rewrite An ‘Inequitable’ Legal Justice System As Challengers Fight To Topple Her
With one term under her belt as Chicago’s top prosecutor, Foxx says she has more work to do to right a system that has been “unfair, and totally unjust.”
Mari Cohen Mar 16, 2020
Bail Reform Was Just The Beginning Of What Democrats Were Elected To Do
In November 2018, Democrats won control of the state Senate in New York. And they did so with authority. Vivian Wang of the New York Times reported after the election: “Democrats had needed to flip only one seat to erase the Republicans’ razor-thin majority. They blew past that number, unseating five incumbents and winning three open seats.” […]
Vaidya Gullapalli Feb 14, 2020
Family Separation And ‘A Longer View Of Public Safety’: A Conversation With San Francisco D.A. Chesa Boudin
“We will prioritize family integrity and family unity at every stage of the process to the extent we can do so.”
Vaidya Gullapalli Jan 24, 2020
People Of Color Receive The Harshest Punishments, And The Disparities Are Growing
Racial disparities in incarceration rates are dropping but still remain high. Racial disparities in sentence lengths are growing.
Vaidya Gullapalli Dec 04, 2019
What Does Death By Incarceration Look Like In Pennsylvania? These Elderly, Disabled Men Housed In A State Prison.
More than 5,400 people in the state are sentenced to life without parole. This month, The Appeal went inside one prison that helps provide end-of-life care for men.
Joshua Vaughn Nov 20, 2019
Democrats Should Deliver On Gun Control That Doesn’t Feed Mass Incarceration
After last week’s election victories, will Virginia Democrats address gun violence in ways that don’t rely on criminalization?
Vaidya Gullapalli Nov 13, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: When Criminal Justice Reform Preserves The Status Quo
With Civil Rights Corps founder Alec Karakatsanis
Adam H. Johnson Nov 07, 2019
Louisiana To Build New Prison For Women Displaced By 2016 Storm
More than three years after heavy rains and flooding devastated the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women, officials have reached an agreement to build a new facility.
Lauren Gill Oct 29, 2019
Missouri Executes Russell Bucklew Despite Threat of Botched Execution
His legal team had pushed for clemency, arguing that Bucklew’s previous attorneys mishandled his capital murder case.
Lauren Gill Oct 02, 2019
The 1994 Crime Law Hogs The Legal Reform Spotlight. But A Lesser-Known Law Deserves More Attention.
As the presidential election approaches, reformers should focus on the Prison Litigation Reform Act, which restricts the ability of incarcerated people to protest their conditions of confinement.
John Pfaff Oct 02, 2019
The Media Frenzy Over Chanel Miller Boosts Mass Incarceration
Miller’s victim impact statement was centered in a recent ’60 Minutes’ segment on the Brock Turner case. But such statements do not heal victims, and Miller’s unfavorable comparison of Turner’s sentence to drug offenders only reinforces carceral logic.
Meaghan Ybos Sep 30, 2019
DNA Testing Could Save This Texas Man’s Life. But Prosecutors Are Opposing It.
Rodney Reed, set to be executed on Nov. 20, is innocent of a rape and murder, his lawyers say, and untested evidence will prove it. But prosecutors have pushed back, arguing the evidence is contaminated.
Lauren Gill Sep 26, 2019
This Louisiana Gulf War Veteran Is Serving Life For Selling $30 Worth Of Marijuana
Derek Harris awaits arguments in the state Supreme Court about the sentencing, which one judge called ‘unconscionable.’
Aaron Morrison Sep 24, 2019
Climate movement could radically transform criminal system
Spotlights like this one provide original commentary and analysis on pressing criminal justice issues of the day. You can read them each day in our newsletter, The Daily Appeal. “Environmentalism is now equated with social justice and civil rights,” wrote professors Robert D. Bullard and Glenn S. Johnson in the Journal of Social Issues almost 20 years ago. […]
Sarah Lustbader Sep 20, 2019
Alabama Sex Offender Registry Is Cruel and Unusual Punishment for Teenagers, Lawsuit Argues
Young people convicted as adults face a ‘life sentence’ of registry restrictions, attorneys say.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Sep 19, 2019
In Third Debate, Democratic Presidential Candidates Condemn Mass Incarceration Without Naming Its Main Driver
Candidates offered reforms for people accused of low-level, nonviolent offenses, but more than half of U.S. prisoners have committed a violent crime.
Aaron Morrison Sep 13, 2019
Louisiana Prosecutors Use The ‘Habitual Offender’ Statute To Jail People For Life. Attorneys For Lifers Are Fighting Back.
Henri Lyles is challenging his life sentence under a statute that penalizes people for prior convictions. A favorable decision by the state Supreme Court would mean that he and a dozen people sentenced to life could one day be freed.
Aaron Morrison Sep 12, 2019
Hundreds of Alabama Prisoners See Opportunity For Freedom Delayed After Parole Hearings Canceled
The parole board failed to comply with a new law about notifying victims, the board’s director said.
Lauren Gill Sep 12, 2019
An Indiana Woman’s Long Fight for Justice
In a rare move, a federal court vacated Anastazia Schmid’s murder conviction, saying she’d received ineffective assistance of counsel and had been mentally unfit to stand trial. But Schmid, who’d spent 18 years in prison, remained locked up for three months more.
Victoria Law Sep 06, 2019
Can You Fight Mass Incarceration And Dodge Jury Duty?
Spotlights like this one provide original commentary and analysis on pressing criminal justice issues of the day. You can read them each day in our newsletter, The Daily Appeal. Anyone who has ever done work combating mass incarceration has most likely been approached by family members and friends asking what they can do to join the […]
Sarah Lustbader Sep 05, 2019
Meet the Latinx 19-Year-Old Running for Sheriff in a Majority-White Louisiana Parish
Jose ‘Lil Joe’ Chapa says one way to make Beauregard Parish ‘great again’ is to stop construction of a new jail and divert resources to services that keep people out of lockup altogether.
Aaron Morrison Sep 05, 2019
New York Law Removes ‘Unnecessary’ Step for Children Charged With Felonies
16-year-olds won’t have to reappear in adult criminal court if they’re arrested when youth court isn’t in session.
Lauren Gill Sep 03, 2019