This episode's guest is the author of that report, Ashley Nellis, Ph.D. Ashley's background is in analyzing criminal-justice policies and practices, racial disparities, youth justice, and long-term imprisonment. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and on National Public Radio.
College opportunity is one of the most impactful activities that can be offered in prison. Restoring access to college financial aid to help low-income people in prison prepare to re-enter society is a moral imperative and a public good.
The United States has a near-record number of job openings and companies complain they can't find enough help. One solution for employers? Open your doors to people with criminal backgrounds who have historically found themselves unemployed and unable to earn a living. It would be a win-win situation, according to this episode's guest, Jeffrey Abramowitz, the Executive Director of Justice Partnerships at Philadelphia-based JEVS Human Services.
2021 has been a year of significant change within the criminal justice reform movement. In this episode, The Fortune Society’s CEO, JoAnne Page, will participate in “Both Sides of the Bar’s” year-in-review – a look at the year 2021 and a discussion of where we are now and where the criminal legal reform world is heading.
The American criminal justice system holds almost 2.3 million people, an alarming and ever-growing number of whom are aged men and women who cannot readily climb stairs, haul themselves up to their top bunk, or walk long distances to meals or the pill line. Their old bones suffer from thin mattresses and winter’s cold, and many of them need wheelchairs, walkers, canes, portable oxygen, and hearing aids. They cannot get dressed, go to the bathroom, or bathe without help. And they are...
Over 70 million Americans have criminal records which keeps many from accessing basic opportunities, like employment and housing. Due to the prevalence of background checks, many people with past convictions feel they can never move forward with their lives.
Fifty years ago, in 1971, the uprising at the Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York – considered the deadliest in U.S. history – took the lives of 43 people … 10 correctional officers and civilian employees as well as 33 incarcerated people. It lasted for five days. The uprising grew out of long-held grievances over the abhorrent conditions inside the prison. The facilities were overcrowded, and individuals were forced to spend 14-16 hours a day in their cells. Incoming mail was...
Today’s episode of “Both Sides of the Bars” focuses on Jeffery Deskovic, former exoneree and president of the Deskovic Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to the exoneration of the wrongfully convicted, their recovery, and reform of the system that allows these miscarriages of justice to take place. A second guest, Keyon Sprinkle of Boston, was convicted of a crime he did not commit, and he spent 20 years wrongfully imprisoned. He was released in February 2020 after his conviction was...
People with a history of convictions face a toxic combination of factors when seeking and securing housing. Their income challenges make it hard or impossible for most to afford market-rate housing in high-cost markets like New York City, and the supply of affordable housing is sharply limited. Discrimination based on record as well as on race further limits the ability of people and their families to access an already limited supply of affordable housing.
Being transgender in prison is discussed
Equality, equity, justice – these ideas form the American creed. No, we have never lived up to it, but we’ve never stopped trying. This is especially true when it comes to our criminal justice system. Today, too many people are incarcerated in the United States -- and too many of them are black and brown. To build safe and healthy communities, we need to rethink who we’re sending to jail, how we treat those in jail, and how we help them get the healthcare, education, jobs, and housing they...
Joining us today is Stanley Richards, Executive Vice President of The Fortune Society. Stanley is also the Board of Correction vice-chair and he has been appointed by the Mayor to chair the working group made up of three other leaders in the field to eradicate solitary confinement.