Interrupting Cycles of Harm, Inside and Outside Prison Walls
Formerly incarcerated mental health care providers are supplementing traditional resources for those still in prison—with mutually beneficial results.
Criminal justice reform
Why Is Breonna Taylor’s Father Still in Prison After Decades?
Everette Taylor has been as good a father as the prison system has allowed. He’s one of millions of Americans who remains incarcerated for far too long.
Why Everette Taylor Is a Victim of Our War on Drugs
Breonna Taylor's father, who remained close to all six children, including Breonna while she was alive, is being held in a Michigan prison. An incarcerated writer makes the case for Everette’s freedom.
In Conversation with Everette Taylor, Breonna Taylor’s Father
Everette Taylor didn’t get to say goodbye to his daughter. Stuck behind prison walls, Taylor speaks with YES! about how he remains connected to his surviving children despite decades of incarceration.
A Chicago Neighborhood Is Redefining Toxicity in Pursuit of Environmental Justice
Since 2000, toxic tours in this community have evolved from talking about pollution, to now include systemic racism, policing, and mass incarceration.
Reforming Laws From Behind Bars
Prison reformists—many of whom are serving long sentences—have united to change the cruel and arbitrary carceral system.
Preventing Prison and Recidivism
These three activists are working to support people at risk of either going to prison for the first time or returning to prison after release.
Activists Working to Defund Baltimore’s Police Face Roadblocks
The city’s activists have seen varying levels of success in housing and food justice. But justice for police abuse remains elusive. Here’s why.
Incarcerated Seniors Deserve a Chance to Come Home for the Holidays
Years of “tough-on-crime” policies have resulted in growing numbers of elderly people remaining in prison for decades. It’s past time to enact policies that help them come home.
A New Podcast Aims to Shift the Narrative on Police Abolition by Centering Movement Voices
The podcast, produced by the Detroit Justice Center, highlights how organizers are engaged in the hard work of abolishing police and prisons, and offers a counter-narrative to mainstream media reports.
Abolition Through the Ages: Reform Versus Transformation, Then and Now
Just as slavery couldn’t be reformed and had to be ended, policing can’t be reformed and has to be abolished, say leaders of modern-day abolitionist movements.
Planting a Life—and a Future—After Prison
The residential and employment program on a North Carolina organic farm helps formerly incarcerated women find a new path.
How Capital Punishment Fell Out of Favor
Changes in public attitudes toward the death penalty include factors like technological change and urbanization. But strategic actions by impassioned advocates can appeal to the public’s compassion.
How “Solitary Gardens” Help Envision a World Without Prisons
Volunteers team up with people currently held in solitary confinement to build empathy, compassion, and advocacy for a world without prisons.
What Does Accountability Look Like Without Punishment?
It’s not easy, but it is possible.
Formerly Incarcerated People in West Virginia Find Community Support
A network of government agencies and community service organizations have created a program to help formerly incarcerated people navigate life outside prison.
Is Justice on the Horizon for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People?
Indigenous activists see Deb Haaland’s leadership as an opportunity to re-imagine justice and safety in the U.S.
We Don’t Need Prisons to Make Us Safer
To the statement that prisons provide safety, we should ask, “Safety for whom? And from what?”
A World Without the Death Penalty
A veteran activist describes the international movement to abolish capital punishment.
Where Incarceration Isn’t the Answer
Frustrations with the U.S. prison system have prompted a global search for alternatives. Yet the solution might not be as simple as “be like Scandinavia.”
How Formerly Incarcerated Firefighters Are Getting the Jobs and Pay They Deserve
In California’s most catastrophic wildfire season yet, an organization is challenging the state to hire firefighters who were previously incarcerated to help meet public safety needs.
Police Encounters During Mental Health Crises Don’t Have to Be Violent
In the wake of another police killing of an unarmed Black man struggling with a mental health disability, I asked what cops—and everyone—can do to help.
Rochester Police Killed an Unarmed Black Man Having a Mental Health Crisis
“I placed the phone call for my brother to get help, not for my brother to get lynched," says Joseph Prude.
Why Police Reform Is Not Enough
The focus on reforms like improved training doesn’t solve racially biased policing. That’s because of the nature of policing itself.
How a Community Rallied to Change Prison Rules During COVID-19
There’s a mentality in prisons that places more value on power than protecting human life and we need to talk about that.
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