prison reform
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NYC Correctional Facilities Struggle With Crowded Jails, Officials Urge City to Release More Inmates
On Friday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio authorized the release of 40 of the city’s inmates who were convicted of minor, nonviolent offenses in order to lessen the burden on NYC prisons and jails affected by the coronavirus outbreak. After the city’s Board of Corrections declared in a letter (pdf) to NYC’s criminal…
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WNBA Star Maya Moore Will Sit This Season Out to Advocate for Prisoner
Minnesota Lynx star and four-time WNBA champion Maya Moore is widely considered one of the most elite players in the game. Which makes her decision to sit out for a second season all the more noteworthy. The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Moore will continue her sabbatical from the sport to focus on…
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Jay-Z, Roc Nation File Federal Lawsuit Against Mississippi Prison Officials for Violent Conditions, 'Failure to Meet Basic Human Rights'
I’ve never spent a day of my life in prison, but after a recent rash of stabbings and violent attacks led to the deaths of five inmates housed at the Mississippi State Penitentiary, I’m pretty sure there’s a blatant disregard for the safety of those being kept behind bars. Evidently, Jay-Z feels the same way,…
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West Virginia Is Charging Its Inmates $0.03 Cents a Minute to Read Free E-Books. Here's Why That Matters
On its face, it’s a welcome proposition: people incarcerated in West Virginia prisons will be given access to electronic tablets, allowing them to read books and articles, listen to music, write emails, and send photos and video chat with their friends and family. But it will cost them: $0.03-$0.05 a minute if they want to…
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Felony, but Make It Fashion: After His Release From Swedish Prison, A$AP Rocky Has Designed Swedish Prison Uniforms
In a full-circle moment no one saw coming, A$AP Rocky is giving back to the Swedish jail that held him for several weeks this summer. Using his influence and style-savvy, the entertainer has reportedly designed new uniforms for the detainees of Kronoberg prison, which he once described as “walking into a toilet” (h/t BBC). The…
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Everyone Knows Why Inmates Are Dying in Alabama Prisons. No One Knows How to Fix It
Alabama runs the most violent prison system in America. Inmates in Alabama’s prisons are killed at nearly nine times the national rate. Families have been devastated. The state doesn’t seem to have answers. A study by a criminal justice and civil rights organization concluded that money won’t fix it. Even Donald Trump’s Justice Department called…
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She’s Married Now: Cyntoia Brown Got Hitched to Christian Rapper J. Long Behind Bars—Via a Stand-In
Cyntoia Brown came home after spending 15 years in prison for killing a man to a brand new life of freedom—and a new husband. Tennessee prison officials confirm that Brown got married while still behind bars to Christian rapper J. Long, the Tennessean reports. Not surprisingly, theirs was no conventional ceremony. The bride was married…
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Cyntoia Brown Is Finally Free
After serving 15 years behind bars, Cyntoia Brown is finally free. CNN reports that Brown, who has spent almost half of her life incarcerated, was released from the Tennessee Prison for Women on Wednesday, according to the Tennessee Department of Corrections. In January, then-Gov. Bill Haslam granted her clemency as one of his final acts in…
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Cyntoia Brown Is Coming Home. Now What?
Seven days into 2019, Cyntoia Brown was granted clemency from her life sentence. On Wednesday, she is coming home. A then-16-year-old victim of sex trafficking, Brown, now 31, served 15 years for killing a man who paid to have sex with her. Petitions supporting her release circulated the internet for the better part of 2018.…
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Innocent Man Released After 21 Years in Prison, Star Witness Confesses to Killing: 'I Can't Live With This on My Conscience'
After 21 years behind bars, one Pennsylvania man will finally resume the life he left behind. CNN reports that 44-year-old John Miller has been released from prison after David Williams, the star witness in a murder case that Miller was charged for, has confessed to committing the act himself. “I’m very happy and excited that…