| Apr 6, 2016 | Rights / DemocracyYou might not guess it from the Republican governor or GOP-dominated legislature, but Ohio is proving itself the most progressive state in the union when it comes to youth prison reform. The Buckeye State has shifted away from punishing kids who get ensnared in the...
| Mar 30, 2016 | Rights / DemocracyOver the past three decades, judges and juries have filled America’s prisons with non-violent offenders. Many are serving draconian sentences for first-time offenses. Indeed, while only about 5 percent of the world’s people live in the United States, our country...
| Feb 24, 2016 | Rights / DemocracyI get a lot of letters from people who’ve been incarcerated, or are now behind bars. Legally I can’t respond directly, because I’m an ex-con myself: I was locked up after blowing the whistle on the CIA’s illegal and immoral torture program. Direct contact with current...
| Feb 17, 2016 | Rights / DemocracyThe day before I started high school, my father took me up to the park around the corner from our house to have “the talk.” It’s the talk black families had when Trayvon Martin was shot and killed in Florida. It’s the talk we had when Michael Brown was shot and killed...
| Feb 3, 2016 | Rights / DemocracySolitary confinement is exactly what it sounds like. A prisoner is kept in a small cell — usually 6 feet by 10 — alone, for 23 hours a day. For one hour a day, he or she may be taken into a small cage outside, with the opportunity to walk in circles before being taken...
