Portside

With a bipartisan consensus in Congress, President Obama seeks an overhaul of the nation’s crowded, costly prison system.

Jails admit nearly 12 million people every year. Yet they are largely off the radar of critics of mass incarceration. However, as a new report by Vera Institute and actions by activists around the country demonstrate, jails matter.

Public defenders know that the trouble with our justice system extends far beyond abusive policing.

On Wednesday, a judge threw out the conviction of George Stinney, who at 14, was the youngest person to be executed in the United States in 1944. In the span of three months he was arrested, convicted of murdering two young girls, and sent to the electric chair.

Prisoners’ advocates call the reforms a step forward, but they don’t address discrimination in presidential pardons or apply to everyone serving harsh sentences from outdated guidelines.

There are more than 80,000 people, including thousands of juveniles 14 and 15 years old, being held in solitary confinement in this country right now. Hopefully this film will draw even more activists to the cause of ending this inhumane and harsh punishment.