Reentry service providers have acknowledged that digital equity and digital life skills presents formerly incarcerated people with challenges during their reentry. In addition to this, a new phenomenon is emerging. As artificial intelligence and the “Internet of...
In the United States, over 600,000 people transition from prisons back into the community annually. While 82% of middle-skill jobs in the country demand digital proficiency, many incarcerated individuals struggle with digital literacy due to limited access to...
Providing incarcerated people with a college education has equipped them with the critical thinking skills, political awareness, and advocacy tools that have increased their civic engagement post-incarceration. Considering that Black and Brown people are...
Given the recent and abrupt erosion of anti-discrimination protections at the federal level, advocates say it is more important than ever to continue the fight for local-level laws to prevent discrimination against people with conviction records. This episode features...
The recent increase in incarceration rates among women within the federal prison system means unique challenges the women face upon their release. In this episode, guest Tanya Pierce, the executive director of Life Unbolted, discusses what reform measures are needed...
Not only do various public health issues disproportionately affect the Black community, but they are exacerbated by criminal legal system involvement. Those issues include infectious diseases, substance use, mental health, homelessness, and violence. In today’s...
Universally acclaimed by critics -- and nominated for numerous awards -- last year's film "Sing Sing" is based on the "rehabilitation through the arts" program at New York State's maximum security prison. The film focuses on a group of incarcerated men who create...
In this year-end wrap-up report, an expert in sentencing reform, voting rights, and confronting racial disparities in the criminal legal system looks back at 2024 and explores key changes formerly incarcerated activists, lawmakers, and advocates took to challenge mass...
In the last decade, nearly all 50 U.S. states have declined in both crime and mass incarceration rates, but according to a recent report by The Sentencing Project (TSP), there's a startling disconnect between the two. This report exposes the limited impact of...
Dr. Ronald F. Day, senior VP of The Fortune Society, is joined by two voting advocates: Dana Vickers Shelley, Executive Director of the ACLU of Maryland; and Bonifacio Aleman, a lead organizer at Kentuckians for the Commonwealth. They discuss what are the efforts in...
Compelling research finds that incarcerating or detaining young people is not necessary or effective. Rather, removing young people from their homes, schools, and communities, and placing them in institutions increases the likelihood that youth will return to the...
The period immediately following release from prison is a time of intense vulnerability for far too many people who are otherwise ready to start rebuilding their lives. Without the ability to pay for necessities like housing and transportation, or to contribute to...
The arrest of a parent can be traumatic for many children. The removal of a mother or father from a child’s life forces that child to confront emotional, social, and economic consequences that may trigger behavior problems, poor outcomes in school, and a disruption or...
Spotlighting the ongoing struggle to keep members of the LGBTQ+ community safe, advocates from across the country unite to challenge narratives and craft impactful solutions. Amidst rising anti-trans and anti-queer rhetoric, transformative organizations and groups...
There is widespread evidence that mandatory minimum sentences produce substantial harm with no overall benefit to crime control, according to a recent report by The Sentencing Project (TSP). Mandatory minimums are legal provisions in each state and the federal...
The United States alone locks up a quarter of the world’s incarcerated people. And yet, apart from clichés – “paying a debt to society” … “you do the crime, you do the time” – there is little sense collectively in America regarding what constitutes retribution or...
Andrea James, executive director and founder of the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, and Serena Martin-Liguori, executive director of New Hour -- share insights into the challenges faced by incarcerated women and the...
In this episode of BSOTB, host Rob DeLeon – deputy CEO of The Fortune Society – and his two guests discuss the importance of the Clean Slate Act. They are Katie Schaffer, director of organizing and advocacy at Center for Community Alternatives (CCA), and Ismael Diaz...
In this episode of BSOTB, two members of 13th Forward – Jacalyn Goldzweig, leader of the 13th Forward Coalition for The Legal Aid Society, and Wilfredo Laracuente, 13th Forward leader, educator, and formerly incarcerated advocate, discuss their current legislative...
JoAnn Page, president of The Fortune Society, is retiring. She led Fortune for 34 years, growing the non-profit from a staff of 20 and a budget of $700,000 to a staff of over 500 and an annual budget of more than $60 million. With that growth, she transformed the...
People returning home from incarceration continue to be punished in so many ways: they struggle to find work, secure loans, gain an education, acquire needed social service benefits, and many times are denied housing.
With 2023 marking 50 years of mass incarceration in the U.S. -- the prison population has expanded by 500% since 1973 -- there is a clear need to reimagine the country's public safety infrastructure, according to a new report by The Sentencing Project (TSP) which...
In this episode, Sheila discusses her marriage to a man who spent 28 years behind bars which lead to "unimaginable turns of events" and psychological issues in both their lives.
This episode's guest is Mr. Myrick, who is now president and CEO of People For The American Way (PFAW), a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit progressive advocacy group, focuses on the three steps public officials need to take to end today's public safety crisis.