prison system
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Man Convicted of Double Murder 25 Years Ago Is Free After New Evidence Emerges
It’s an unfortunate reality that failings in the American judicial system often result in people being imprisoned who don’t deserve to be. These failings more often than not affect black men. While it’s long overdue, justice has finally been served to a man wrongfully convicted by the system. CBS News reports that after 25 years,…
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Justice Department to Investigate Conditions in Four Mississippi Prisons
Each week it feels like yet another story comes out about a prisoner being killed in a Mississippi prison. Hopefully,tonight’s news means that meaningful change is on the way. CNN reports that the Justice Department has begun an investigation into four Mississippi prisons. The investigation is being spearheaded by the departments Civil Rights Division and…
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Changes Are Coming to Mississippi Prisons Amid Rising Violence and Lack of Inmate Care
Lately, the Mississippi prison system has been doing a lot to challenge my assumption that HBO’s Oz was a complete work of fiction. The sheer violence and harsh living conditions inmates suffer alone is enough for Mississippi prison stories to inspire another season or two of the show. Earlier this month, The Root reported that…
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Free Your Mind: 10 Missouri Eastern Prison Inmates Graduate College
If you didn’t know the ceremony was taking place in a state prison, you might think it was just another joyful celebration of newly credentialed scholars. But the 10 members of this graduating class are all convicted felons—and inmates at the Missouri Eastern Correctional Center. And on Wednesday they became the first graduates of Washington…
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Ayanna Pressley Tells Pundits 'Don't Dare' Make Inmate Voting Rights About the Boston Marathon Bomber
Democratic Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley ain’t here to play: “Don’t dare invoke one of the darkest days of terrorism in MY city to stoke fear and derail a meaningful conversation,” she said. Pressley is calling out “pundits,” media reporters and social influencers who are misleading discussions about restoring voting rights to convicts, Boston.com reports. Sen.…
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‘Feeling Cute, Might Shoot Your Baby Daddy Today’: Corrections Officers Show Their Collective Asses in Social Media Challenge
There’s something about the power of euphemism: you call someone a “prisoner” or an “inmate” and, suddenly, all sorts of dehumanizing, terrible, violent things that would be unfathomable to subject a “regular” person to become possible. Become necessary. You call someone a police officer, guard, or a “corrections officer,” and suddenly the power to humiliate…
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Exclusive: ACLU Threatens Legal Action if North Carolina Doesn't Transfer Trans Inmate to Women's Prison
Despite numerous requests to be transferred, North Carolina continues to hold Kanautica Zayre-Brown, a trans woman, behind bars at a men’s correctional facility, a choice that imperils Zayre-Brown’s safety daily, she and her advocates say. On Monday night, the American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter (pdf) to North Carolina’s Department of Public Safety, demanding…