prison reform
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A Thank-You Letter to Kim Kardashian for Proving White Privilege Is Real
Dear Kim Kardashian West: As you bask in the adoration and applause for the part you played in Alice Marie Johnson’s freedom, I’m sure I’m the last person you want to hear from (not that you even know I exist). But I’d like to thank you for proving to the world that white privilege is…
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NYC’s First Lady Is Addressing the Intersection Between Incarcerated Women and Mental Illness
We want people to recognize that [the state of] our jails, our prisons, our emergency rooms—these are the results of untreated mental illness. So said New York City’s first lady, Chirlane McCray, during a recent visit to Chicago, telling her audience that she hopes to “disrupt” the link between mental illness and incarceration. To do…
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The Bizarre Case of Meek Mill’s Incarceration, Explained
Let me make this clear: I’m not team #FreeMeekMill, but I am team #FreeRobertRihmeekWilliams. There is a difference. Meek Mill is a highly touted street dude-turned-rapper from Philly. Robert Rihmeek Williams is a Philadelphia man who many believe has been wrongly incarcerated by an overzealous judge who is using her influence and judicial power to…
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Appolition Is the App That Takes Spare Change and Turns It Into Bail Money
When it comes to incarceration, being able to be granted bail and then to come up with the bail money are two of main components that keep people locked up. According to National Bail Out, on a daily basis, 700,000 people are behind bars simply because they cannot afford bail. But social engineer Kortney Ziegler…
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#FreeMeekMill: Judge Ordered to Rule on Rapper’s Petition for Bail ‘Without Further Delay’
The Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas judge presiding over the case of rapper Meek Mill was ordered by the Pennsylvania Superior Court on Tuesday to make a decision on the rapper’s application for bail “without further delay.” Meek, 30, whose real name is Robert Rihmeek Williams, is currently a few weeks into serving a two-…
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Transgender Woman Spent 10 Years Inside Men’s Prisons and Is Fighting to Make Sure That Never Happens to Another Woman
A few weeks ago, in the buildup of the travesty-shamockery that was the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-vs.-Conor McGregor fight, the great boxing analyst Teddy Atlas was forced to vamp on ESPN as cameras showed a McGregor workout. Although I could listen to Teddy Atlas read a phone book or, even worse, Taylor Swift lyrics, he left…
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La. Sheriff Furious at New Laws Allowing for Release of ‘Good,’ Nonviolent Inmates Because ‘We Use Them to Wash Cars’
In case you ever wondered about the way (some) correctional officers see their inmates, I lead you no further than to Caddo Parish, La., Sheriff Steve Prator, who is ranting and raging mad about new criminal-justice reform laws that will go into effect next month—because it will mean getting rid of cheap labor. But don’t…
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How 1 Black Woman Goes Inside Fla.’s Toughest Prisons to Help Inmates Get ‘Free on the Inside’
Facing a decade and a half in prison couldn’t stop her. Losing a loved one to suicide didn’t destroy her. Battling loss and pain while raising three children was not enough to make her quit. “Black Girl Magic” is a beautiful phrase. It summons up the image of some supernatural divination that has been arbitrarily…
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NYC Will Pay $380,000 to Family of Rikers Island Inmate Who Hanged Himself Days After Being Taken Off Suicide Watch
In more terrible news for the embattled Rikers Island jail, New York City (really, taxpayers who live or work in New York) has agreed to pay out $380,000 to the family of a 24-year-old housed at the jail who hanged himself shortly after being taken off of suicide watch. The New York Daily News reports…