"Since 2002, more than 1,200 counties have invested more than $42 billion to expand their carceral footprints" The U.S.'s commitment to jail construction is an absolute financial and moral failure.

The Scale of Jail Construction Across the United States, 2002–2022

Vera works closely with government and civic leaders to urgently build and improve justice systems that ensure fairness, promote safety, and strengthen…

vera.org

"They never tell you that menopause behind bars is a special kind of hell. That the inferno building inside your chest will meet triple-digit Texas heat and create something that feels like slow torture, designed by people who have forgotten you are human."

Burning Inside: What Prison Heat Does to a Menopausal Body – Scalawag

Incarcerated writer Kwaneta Harris reflects on the tole that prison conditions take on the menopausal body.

scalawagmagazine.org

A historically high number of people in detention, expanded use of local jails, and a lack of transparency. ICE booked more people into detention in July 2026 than it had in any other month since the second Trump administration began. Here are ten things we know from newly released detention data:

Ten Things We Know from the Latest ICE Detention Data

On August 25, 2026, the Deportation Data Project at the University of California, Berkeley posted its latest release of data obtained from U.S.…

vera.org

Private prisons are bad, but they’re a small part of the system. Mass incarceration is driven by public policy & spending — choices made by your elected officials.

There’s a notable exception to California's state heat safety rules: the staff and tens of thousands of incarcerated people who work in California’s prisons that are largely not air-conditioned.

California Eyes Prison Heat Protections That Fall Short of Other Workplaces’

Incarcerated workers often make less than 50 cents an hour; it could take weeks to make enough to buy a personal fan.

buff.ly

Family contact is a critical lifeline for incarcerated people, but behind bars, a single stamp could cost an entire day's worth of wages. That's why we strongly support the Stamps for Staying Connected Act.

Congresswoman Grace Meng@meng.house.gov · 2d ago

A stamp may seem small—but for someone in federal prison earning as little as 12 cents an hour, it can mean the difference between isolation and staying connected to the people they love. (1/3)

Enduring menopause in the free world is hard. And behind bars, it's even worse. Incarcerated people can't be left behind in the fight for expanded menopause & perimenopause research and care.

Kirsten Gillibrand@kirstengillibrand.bsky.social · 4d ago

It's time to talk about menopause. Half of our country will go through it, yet it's one of the most under-researched, undertreated, & underdiagnosed fields of medicine. I'm holding the first-ever congressional hearing on menopause to demand high-quality research & care for women across America.

In a disturbing new investigation by @theguardian.com, ICE does not track of how many people had miscarriages in its custody - even as a it detains a record number of pregnant women and reports of medical neglect have spiked. Learn more & read NIJC client Anabell's story:

Revealed: ICE lost count of miscarriages, while detaining a record number of pregnant women

ICE says it has no updated information on the number of miscarriages after 3 October 2025. Lawmakers, advocates and immigration attorneys have raised alarms that pregnant detainees are not receiving basic prenatal care and screenings

theguardian.com

Yet another example of the system investing in policing & criminalization over community welfare:

Mother Jones@motherjones.com · 3d ago

“Whatever funds you’re spending on a camera, you’re not spending on getting someone into treatment.”

Gas prices are surging, and for the nearly 2 million people locked up, that means fewer visits, fewer care packages, and less contact with their loved ones — all crucial parts of surviving behind bars.

Rising Fuel Prices Are Affecting People in Prison, Too

In Missouri, strapped families are visiting less and sending fewer care packages to their loved ones in prison.

prisonjournalismproject.org

It's National Voter Registration Day A common misconception is that anyone with a past criminal conviction is barred from voting, a myth that creates de facto disenfranchisement for many impacted by the system In reality, it varies from state to state: www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

President Trump has been saying that 2% of the U.S. population accounts for all or almost all crime in the country — and he's using our data to back up the bogus claim. Here's what the data actually shows 🧵

Note to President Trump: No, 2% of the population doesn’t account for all crime

Crime is more complex than the president claims. Pinning blame on a tiny subset of the population is rhetorically useful, but both crime and criminalization ...

prisonpolicy.org

"The alarming conditions inside Delaney Hall and other ICE jails have long been the reality of daily life for nearly 2 million incarcerated people in this country." The entire U.S. carceral system is built on cruelty.

I’ve Seen Prison Conditions Kill. That’s What’s Happening at Delaney Hall.

As a person incarcerated in Texas, I know that rotten food and poor medical care are not unique to Delaney Hall.

theappeal.org

The disproportionate criminalization of Black people starts at a young age. While Black and white kids use drugs at similar rates, Black youth make up 24% of kids confined for drug offenses, despite comprising just 14% of the general youth population.

A call center paid incarcerated people in Oklahoma just $2/hour to do a political party’s bidding. Here's the kicker — that ridiculous wage is still 3,900% higher than the wages of other incarcerated workers in the same state prisons.

Oklahoma prison inmates operated political, insurance calls centers behind bars • Oklahoma Voice

Contracts obtained via an open records request confirm that a company called HBW Leads and the Oklahoma Department of Corrections have established several call centers since January.

oklahomavoice.com

60% of youth in custody are diagnosed with ADD or ADHD – compared to just 11% nationally. Kids need care, not cages.

"Our handwritten letters turned into ones that are expensive, typed, mass-surveilled by private corporations, and held indefinitely by the carceral state to be accessed by anyone in corrections at any time for any reason."

Abandon All Connection, Ye Who Enter Here: Digitized Prison Mail as Repression and Surveillance – Scalawag

Suddenly, prison mail is expensive, typed, mass-surveilled by private corporations, and held indefinitely by the carceral state.

scalawagmagazine.org

The carceral system is a traumatic and deadly place — and it's only gotten worse in recent decades. From 2001 to 2019, deaths by suicide increased in state prisons by 85%. Incarceration is a mental health crisis.

ICE gave police in one PA county more than $1.5 million to carry out its deportation agenda and inflict harm on their own communities. A horrifying misuse of taxpayer dollars that's happening across the country.

In Pa. coal country, local police join with ICE to bring arrests, fear | Will Bunch

Schuylkill County is the new face of Trump’s mass deportation, as local cops, lured by federal cash, bust scores of migrants.

inquirer.com

Arizona prisons conducted nearly 30,000 strip searches over 2 years, and just 1 was reported to result in the discovery of contraband items. Strip searches aren't about safety or combating contraband. They're a dehumanizing tool of abuse & control.

In the Name of Security

An investigation into the everyday violence of prison strip searches, which incarcerated women say are a tool of abuse.

inthesetimes.com

This piece from @prisonpolicy.org explains local/ DHS collaboration very well. www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2026/02...

How is your local government collaborating with ICE? Here’s how to find out — and push back

From the deputization of local police to holding people on behalf of ICE, here are some ways your county might be working with federal agents ...

prisonpolicy.org

A new report out of South Carolina reveals that 3 out of 4 confined youth in the state are Black, despite Black children making up just 28% of its youth population. This jarring disparity exists across the country and is the result of racist policies that fail Black children.

The Attica prison uprising began on September 9, 1971, before being brutally shut down. Incarcerated people released a list of demands ranging from pay raises to better food and parole reform — demands that people in prison are still fighting for over 50 years later. 🧵

Immigration policing & detention now make up 13% of all government spending on the criminal legal system. The U.S.’s commitment to the deportation agenda comes at a steep financial and moral cost.

For Labor Day, we asked three PJP contributors to write about their jobs in an overlooked sector of the U.S. workforce. Here is what they said.

On Working Behind Bars

For the majority of people behind bars, working a job is not optional. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for a crime. In fact, more than 75% of inc...

prisonjournalismproject.org

And this is why the struggle for abolition of the carceral state is inextricably intertwined with the labor struggle!

Prison Policy Initiative@prisonpolicy.org · 2w ago

Nearly 40% of incarcerated workers are paid *nothing* for their work. And the rest are paid at abysmally low wages. This is not a system built on "justice" for all.

The carceral system is a black box, making it hard for students & teachers interested in the criminal legal system to study what’s happening inside the walls of prisons and jails. 📚 This back-to-school season, we put together some resources to fix that:

Mass Incarceration 101: Resources to help students and teachers understand the carceral system

It’s back to school season, so we’ve curated information and tools for students and teachers to use when researching the carceral system.

prisonpolicy.org

So many problems are happening because of the aging of the prison population...everything from what is being mentioned here to dementia and cancer...prisons are not set up for these things and their medical facilities can't handle them

Prison Policy Initiative@prisonpolicy.org · 3w ago

🚨NEW: The percentage of women over the age of 50 has doubled in the last 2 decades, yet prisons still don't have a plan for menopause care. Menopause is inevitable, but behind bars, it's ignored 🧵

This is a powerful and important article. But the last bit is notable. Whether an incarcerated person "feels" coerced isn't as impt as whether the circumstances are fundamentally coercive. Paying 4x normal wages to people in dire poverty IS coercion. Wage info: www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2017/04...

How much do incarcerated people earn in each state?

Prison wages come up again and again in the context of prison conditions and policies. So, we found the most up-to-date information for each state.

prisonpolicy.org

Prison Policy Initiative@prisonpolicy.org · 2w ago

A call center is paying incarcerated people in Oklahoma just $2/hour to do a political party’s bidding. Here's the kicker — that ridiculous wage is still 3,900% higher than the wages of other incarcerated workers in the same state prisons.