On July 25, EA artist Orlando Smith, better known as O. Smith, will become the first currently incarcerated visual artist to headline a solo exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art! Celebrate Orlando by coming to SFMOMA and witnessing his stunning work from July 25 to June 20, 2027.

O. Smith: Artivist

A self-described “artivist” — both artist and activist — Orlando Smith uses pencil and paper to chronicle the senselessness of the criminal legal system and to indict abuses of power in the United Sta...

sfmoma.org

URGENT: Tennessee plans to execute Tony Carruthers TOMORROW, May 21. Supporters are calling for a Stay + review of FBI file #938188EA7 tied to misconduct concerns. 📞 Gov. Bill Lee: 615-412-3133 before NOON CST. #StayTheExecution #JusticeForTonyCarruthers

We’re excited to invite you to the launch of our physical space, inStudio, and the opening reception of our inaugural exhibition, The Distance Between: Traveling Beyond Count Time. inStudio showcases the work of currently incarcerated artists from across the country. We hope to see you there!

🧵 Congratulations to all of the EA writers who won Stillwater Awards from @prisonjournalism.bsky.social and @spj-posts.bsky.social tonight! Prison journalism is essential to a free, thriving, independent press, and we are glad these writers were rightfully honored:

In an op-ed for @latimes.com, created in partnership with @solitarywatch.bsky.social, Edwin Chavez writes about why he is safer in San Quentin than he would be if he was paroled.

Contributor: As an immigrant, I'm safer in San Quentin than if paroled

Under California law, I would be handed over to ICE and probably sent to El Salvador to face life in CECOT. And so I have stopped seeking parole.

latimes.com

Join our movement! If you’re a storyteller, editor, or journalist committed to justice, your skills can have a real impact on our Editorial Council. Editorial Council members partner with incarcerated writers to move their stories into public conversation. Apply here: bit.ly/EAeditorialcouncil

Join our movement! If you’re a storyteller, editor, or journalist committed to justice, your skills can have a real impact on our Editorial Council. Editorial Council members partner with incarcerated writers to move their stories into public conversation. Apply here: bit.ly/EAeditorialcouncil

In recognition of MLK Day, EA writer @kwanetaharris.bsky.social imagines how Dr. King would react to the state of his legacy and the movement he helped lead.

A Letter from Dr. King

In recognition of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Kwaneta imagines how Dr. King would react to the state of his legacy—and his movement

open.substack.com

EA writer, Demetrius Buckley, writes about his experience of holding on to holiday joy while being incarcerated for Vera.

Holiday Funk: What Christmas is Like in Prison

Facing my 17th holiday behind bars, here’s how I connect and seek joy.

vera.org

“In my 20 years of incarceration, I’ve been strip-searched at least 500 times,” writes Carla J. Simmons in this powerful essay for @prismreports.org. “Early on, I found that in order to endure strip searches, it was necessary for me to detach myself from what was happening to my body.”

How ‘routine’ strip searches traumatize people in U.S. prisons

In my 20 years of incarceration, I’ve been strip-searched at least 500 times. Each was an act of humiliation and sexual violence

prismreports.org

In 2024, Sierra Dickey reported a story for @prismreports.org in which an official from VT Department of Corrections claimed the agency supports abolition. Sierra came through with this follow-up, reporting on how VT DOC is actually trying to expand the state's carceral system to ensnare more women

Vermont Department of Corrections once claimed to support abolition and is now pursuing new prison

The “pinkwashing” of prisons ramps up in Vermont, where local officials are pushing for the construction of a “gender-responsive” facility

prismreports.org

More than 80% of children charged as adults in state court are not white, data shows. Some Washington lawmakers would like to pass a law that would retroactively remove "juvenile points" that can lengthen sentences, but such proposals face stiff opposition. www.investigatewest.org/most-childre...

In Washington, youth of color face harsher sentences

More than 80% of children charged as adults in state court are not white, data shows

investigatewest.org

WATCH: Innocence Project presents its new short film “What I Didn’t Know.” Three exonerees speak about the inner strength that carried them through years of wrongful incarceration, and how they navigate their newfound freedom. Watch here: youtu.be/Mt_prlNPCbM

Thanks to our friends @empowermentave.bsky.social for bringing attention to this article from @inquest.bsky.social about the retaliationJeremy and other incarcerated journalists face for speaking the truth.

Empowerment Avenue@empowermentave.bsky.social · 9mo ago

One of our writers, @joinjeremy.org, spoke to @inquest.bsky.social, about the obstacles he and other incarcerated journalists encounter when trying to share what is really happening inside our prisons, jails, and detention centers—the most secluded public institutions in the United States.

I visited Lang'ata women's max security prison in Nairobi, Kenya to meet Ruth Kamande - convicted of murdering her boyfriend. She studied for a law degree in prison and helps other incarcerated women. I wrote about her for @theguardian.com Women in prison series www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

How Kenya’s jailhouse lawyer turned a life sentence into a legal career behind bars

After being incarcerated for murdering her partner, Ruth Kamande studied the legal system to understand her own case. Now she is fighting to reform Kenya’s laws

theguardian.com

From Victims to Offenders: How the Justice System Fails Traumatized Children open.substack.com/pub/bruceles... It is long past time we stop treating these children as invisible and disposable.

From Victims to Offenders: How the Justice System Fails Traumatized Children

A new report exposes the devastating truth: America is prosecuting the most abused and neglected children in adult courts and locking them up instead of healing their trauma.

open.substack.com

“There is a very clear and distinct caste system in prison.” Aaron Edward Olson reports for @thenation.com and @typeinvestigations.org about how prisons in Washington State intentionally discriminate against incarcerated immigrants.

How Washington State Discriminates Against Incarcerated Immigrants - Type Investigations

typeinvestigations.org

Thrilled to share that Chris Duncan, whose conviction was vacated in April, was just granted bail today, after spending over 25 years on Louisiana's death row. It's so rare to get good news when you're covering capital punishment, but this is one very real light in the darkness

Piper French@psfrench.bsky.social · last yr.

In January 2024 I got a one-line email from a woman I didn't know: "Jimmie Duncan an innocent man on death row is looking to get into contact with you." I've been working on the story ever since. Here it is, finally - a @motherjones.com / @bolts.bsky.social feature: boltsmag.org/the-human-co...

You can read about it in the New York Times today, as leading scholars of law and technology from around the country sound the alarm about what happens if the courts permit prosecutors to ignore basic conventions of truth and support on which we all rely. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/u...

THREAD. Over many years, we became the national experts in fighting unconstitutional pretrial detention--all the more urgent because authoritarians need detention without process. But something wild just happened in one of our habeas cases: a DA used made up cases and citations.

In a beautifully illustrated piece for the @nytimes.com, Robert Lee Williams writes about how he came to embrace trees as a symbol of freedom.

Opinion | Finding Beauty in a Prison Yard

These trees were the only living beings that I could touch without fear.

nytimes.com

“Until reproductive justice and climate movements truly center incarcerated voices ... their work remains incomplete.” EA writer @kwanetaharris.bsky.social joined @omisadeburneyscott.bsky.social for a @scalawagmagazine.bsky.social piece about menopause, incarceration, and the climate crisis.

Cool the Cell, Feed the Spirit: Abolition as Reproductive and Climate Justice – Scalawag

This convergence of carceral violence, climate violence, and authoritarian detention regimes deepens the harm against aging bodies.

scalawagmagazine.org

Pregnant women who are jailed, often for petty crimes, are miscarrying or giving birth in excruciating pain and into cell toilets or on filthy jail floors, according to an investigation from @bloomberglaw.com and NBC News.

'Why won't you help me?' Pregnant women and their babies endure inhumane conditions in jails

Dozens of pregnant women locked up in county jails described excruciating pain, saying their cries for help were ignored as they miscarried or gave birth into cell toilets or on filthy jail floors.

nbcnews.to

One of our writers, @joinjeremy.org, spoke to @inquest.bsky.social, about the obstacles he and other incarcerated journalists encounter when trying to share what is really happening inside our prisons, jails, and detention centers—the most secluded public institutions in the United States.

When Reporting Is a Crime - Corinne Shanahan & Andrew Crespo - Inquest

States have restricted, surveilled, and punished prison journalism for decades, with dire consequences—for incarcerated people and for democracy.

inquest.org

November is Native American Heritage Month. Sadly, Native people are consistently overrepresented in the US criminal legal system, accounting for only 1% of the total population but 3% of the incarcerated population.

As the U.S. continues to criminalize substance use disorder, jails & prisons are often thought of as de facto treatment facilities – but the reality couldn't be further from the truth Communities must prioritize public health, not punishment

Kenneth “Swift Justice” Traywick began his protest days after allegedly being pepper-sprayed by an officer in retaliation for his advocacy.

Prison reform advocate goes on hunger strike in response to alleged assault by ADOC staff

Kenneth “Swift Justice” Traywick began his protest days after allegedly being pepper-sprayed by an officer in retaliation for his advocacy.

alreporter.com

Gov. Jeff Landry eliminated parole for prisoners arrested after Aug. 1, 2024, and tightened eligibility rules for those already in prison. Then he set all of that aside for one group: undocumented immigrants. Why? To have them deported. By @richardawebster.bsky.social & Bobbi-Jeanne Misick

Louisiana Made It Nearly Impossible to Get Parole. Now It’s Releasing Prisoners to Deport Them.

Gov. Jeff Landry eliminated parole for prisoners arrested after Aug. 1, 2024, and tightened eligibility rules for those already in prison. Then he set all of that aside for one group: undocumented imm...

propublica.org

“Thousands of incarcerated people in #Connecticut want to enroll in higher education ... but limited space & resources ... have prevented the programs from expanding.” Read more: https://apnews.com/article/colleges-and-universities-prisons-connecticut-general-news-7025a7bac41590a2e6c0adebcd43298a

Connecticut prisons offer college courses, but a lack of space, resources is limiting enrollment

Thousands of incarcerated people in Connecticut want to enroll in higher education — and financial aid is available — but limited space and resources in the state’s prison system have prevented the programs from expanding to meet the demand.

apnews.com