"I'm very grateful to be part of this little girl's life."
Prison Journalism Project@prisonjournalism.bsky.social · 2d agoMy Only Niece Was Born a Few Months After I Was Arrested for Murder. She Represented Hope for Me.
"[T]he rampant use of forced hospitalizations as a 'solution' to crime ... turns systemic outcomes into individual failings, and disregards the real root of the problem: an unequal society that relies on the carceral system to (poorly) address societal failings."
Involuntary commitment: How forced hospitalization expands the criminal legal system
Civil and criminal courts both mandate the detention of people for extended — and often indefinite — periods of time in state hospitals, essentially extending ...
prisonpolicy.org
Prison Policy Initiative@prisonpolicy.org · 2d agoAs the U.S. expands criminalization, the situation is particularly dire for folks who struggle with mental illness. One study shows that forced hospitalizations double the risk of being charged with a crime and risk of death by suicide/overdose in the 3 months after discharge:
"Far from locking up youth only as a last resort, the juvenile legal system confines large numbers of children and teenagers for ... behaviors that would not warrant confinement except for [the kids'] status on probation or as minors."
Youth Confinement: The Whole Pie 2025
The big picture of youth confinement in America, showing how many kids are entangled in the criminal legal system and why.
prisonpolicy.org
Prison Policy Initiative@prisonpolicy.org · 2d agoHundreds of girls in the US are confined by the juvenile justice system for “status offenses,” like running away or truancy. Confinement for these offenses is particularly troubling because those behaviors tend to be responses to abuse. More care, less confinement.
"When PAC money from labor overwhelmingly flows to incumbents, unions become another conservative institution seeking access instead of using power to challenge the status quo and benefit members. ... [L]abor PACs are rewarding institutional ties over platform substance."
In These Times@inthesetimes.com · 1h agoA former union organizer just won one of Michigan’s highest-profile House primaries. Donavan McKinney’s victory adds weight to Jake Triola’s argument: Voters trust candidates from labor. So why aren’t unions running more of them?
"If [parole commissioners] can always have the seriousness of the crime as [thei]r hook to keep people in prison, that's what [they]'ll do. This is particularly true if there's political pressure ... [Parole] commissioners are really risk-averse if they are up for reappointment."
The Marshall Project@themarshallproject.org · 2h agoBetween the grueling schedule, copious paperwork, abrupt hearings and risk-averse colleagues, prison reformer Carol Shapiro realized the New York parole system was dysfunctional by design.
"Our cell phones have saved lives ... We all need somebody who's an anchor[.]"
The Marshall Project@themarshallproject.org · 2h agoDespite the security concerns of administrators, incarcerated people use phones to hustle, make TikToks or publicize prison conditions.
"In Utah, ['Shark Tank' investor Kevin] O'Leary's proposed [10,000-acre hyperscale AI] data center [estimated to raise Utah's carbon emissions by 64%] would require vast amounts of water to cool. The heat ... would devastate the local ecosystem, including the rapidly shrinking Great Salt Lake."
Prism@prismreports.org · 1h ago“We typically have access to large tracts of land. We’re the perfect target.” Indigenous nations weigh whether to invite data centers onto tribal lands, Demi Guo reports. For some historians, AI data centers echo the extraction of native lands that paved the way for the Transcontinental Railroad.
"We all knew they were going to spend their money. We didn't know they were going to spend $70 million of their money. We didn't know that they were going to outspend us $11 to $1 ... And yet we're still standing."
Truthout@truthout.org · 2h agoFormer public health official Abdul El-Sayed has achieved a dominant win in Michigan’s Democratic primary for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, winning by a narrow margin over Rep. Haley Stevens in a ground-shaking triumph over the $60 million spent by AIPAC and corporations to oppose him.
[E]ven as ICE makes local law enforcement look comparatively restrained, police ... kill more than 1,300 people a year. These killings should reignite momentum for state- and local-level policies to reform traffic enforcement. And at the federal level, lawmakers must demand more[.]"
Prison Policy Initiative@prisonpolicy.org · 22h ago"Traffic stops as a whole cause extensive psychological and economic harm, with Black and Latino drivers disproportionately stopped, searched, and subjected to use of force."
"[60-year-old Yvonne Walker] is currently 16 years into a mandatory sentence of 45 years for murder. ... Her conviction stemmed from a domestic violence incident. She continues to fight her case in the courts with hopes of someday receiving a lesser sentence."
Prison Journalism Project@prisonjournalism.bsky.social · 17h agoHow One Woman’s Grandson Inspired Her to Get a College Degree in Prison
"[I]t seems you have to choose between staying silent or speaking ... knowing it might mean a one-way bus ride[.]"
Prison Journalism Project@prisonjournalism.bsky.social · yesterdayI Advocated for a Return of My Prison’s Recreation Programs. Then I Was Transferred.
"[W]hile people were attending the funeral of a Gaza resident killed by the Israeli military ... the funeral site was struck, killing [8] Palestinians and injuring others. We no longer know how to make sense of the life we are living. Each day leaves us with new questions and growing uncertainty[.]"
Truthout@truthout.org · yesterdayWhen we heard about the ceasefire, we believed we would sleep in peace. We thought the nightmare was over, that life was finally giving us a chance to breathe again. But we soon tragically realized that our city had lost its sense of security entirely, as the bombings never truly stopped.
"According to a Trevor Project survey from [2025], nearly 6 in 10 LGBTQ students (59[%]) experienced bullying over the last school year. Those who were bullied 'reported significantly higher rates of attempting suicide' ... Of trans and nonbinary young people, 4 in 10 (40[%]) attempted suicide."
Truthout@truthout.org · yesterdayThe United States Department of Education will no longer collect data measuring harassment, bullying, or assaults of transgender or nonbinary students. “OCR determined that its costs outweighed its benefits,” the Education Department said in a statement.
"[P]olice unions across the country coalesced around [the infamous 1994 crime bill] to push through Congress. Then-Senator Joseph Biden ... explained to fellow lawmakers that, to construct the legislation, he had simply 'called the cops.'"
Inquest@inquest.bsky.social · 5h ago"Police almost never express solidarity with other workers and expect their own labor to be treated preferentially." Sandeep on the democratic stakes of cop's anti-union unions
"Interior [Department] documents showed that the chipped blue paint had ... come loose as a result of work performed by the company Trump had hired to make repairs."
Truthout@truthout.org · 22h agoThe U.S. Attorney’s Office for Washington, D.C. has dropped all charges against individuals it had previously claimed engaged in acts of “vandalism” at the reflecting pool, despite Trump’s continued insistence — without evidence — that they were responsible for the damage.
"[Eric] Adams's time in office was plagued with corruption scandals, including federal charges for conspiracy, wire fraud, bribery, and soliciting illegal campaign contributions ... A federal judge ended up dropping the charges after the Trump administration lobbied on Adams's behalf."
Truthout@truthout.org · 21h agoNew York’s Hell Gate reported that Eric Adams gave a talk in the town of Wisconsin Rapids to try to convince residents to accept the construction of a data center as part of his new job as a “pitchman” for real estate technology companies. Local residents were furious.
"[T]he EPA don't always retest yards. Sabrina, a north Omaha resident whose soil we tested, said doctors found lead in three of her children. ... In 2020, after her daughter's blood-lead test, the city and a nonprofit replaced windows that contained lead-based paint. But they didn't test the yard."
ProPublica@propublica.org · 5h agoNEW: After our tests showed many Omaha yards still contain toxic lead after remediation, the city’s response to residents has been inconsistent. Some received additional testing and cleanup, while others were denied. with @flatwaterfreep.bsky.social
"That first marker was shot, defaced with acid and thrown into the Tallahatchie River ... The second marker was shot 317 times. And the third marker had the same fate. One of the markers is in the Smithsonian today. The fourth marker, which was erected recently, is deliberately bulletproof[.]"
Truthout@truthout.org · 21h agoMore than 70 years after the kidnapping, torture and lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till in Mississippi, a major new photography exhibit asks how the world would be different “If Emmett Till Lived.” If Till had lived, he would be just over 85 years old today.