As communities across the world are confronting the serious toll of COVID-19..., we at Critical Resistance want to amplify the grave concerns facing the imprisoned population, which is one of the most vulnerable groups in this time.
While only 31% of Maryland residents are black, more than 70% of Maryland’s prison population is black, a percentage that is more than twice the national average. And about 80% of people serving 10 years or more in Maryland prisons are black.
No issue has proved more vexing to this nation than the issue of race, and yet no question is more pressing than how to overcome the politics of white supremacy...that threatens our ability ever to create a truly fair, just and inclusive democracy.
2019 has seen an outpouring of local and state efforts to stem the tide of mass incarceration, from bail reform and mass bailouts, to efforts to close jails and legislation to divert people from lengthy prison sentences.
The history of Rikers is a warning about putting the onus of reform on infrastructure rather than the systems that lead to incarceration. If new prisons are built to replace it, it won't be long before they too will be judged inhumane.
Officials at Danville Correctional Center had removed some 200 books from a prison library and banned for use in the education program “several classic books of African American history"
Kentucky Wants to Break Up with Mitch McConnell. La Bamba | Playing For Change. What If We Ended the Injustice of Bail? Boris Johnson: Last Week Tonight With John Oliver. A Black Lady Sketch Show.
On any given night, more than 450,000 people in the United States are locked up in jail simply because they don't have enough money to pay bail. The sums in question are often around $500: easy for some to pay, impossible for others. Robin Steinberg has a bold idea to change this.
For criminal justice reform to happen, more progressive prosecutor campaigns like Cabán’s are necessary.
The California Institution for Men is an important reminder that the U.S. practiced in the past what prison reformers admire as humanistic punishment elsewhere.
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