I’m Queer and I’ve Been in Solitary. Ellen Isn’t Experiencing What I Did.

Trans people and LGBTQ people of color are disproportionately impacted by our criminal justice system. These experiences are not comparable to social isolation.

An empty solitary confinement cell at New York's Rikers Island jail.

San Diego Police Stop Black People at a Rate 219 Percent Higher Than White People.

A recent Campaign Zero report on disparities in police stops in San Diego shines a light on the racist policing prevalent throughout the country.

White SFPD officers interrogating Black men in San Francisco.

Are Our Prisons and Jails Ready for COVID-19?

People in prisons and jails are uniquely vulnerable to coronavirus. Officials must act quickly to pull together a plan to ensure the safety of incarcerated people, medical staff, and correctional officers.

An image of empty prison cells. Are prisons ready for the ensuing COVID-19 pandemic?

“Do Not Kill in My Name” – How Colorado Finally Repealed the Death Penalty

Colorado is about to become the 22nd state in the nation to repeal the death penalty. Its path to get there highlights the power of community-led organizing.

Protestors holding a banner that reads "Stop the Death Penalty" in front on Georgia's State Capital on a sunny day in 2017. Colorado just won a major feat for anti-death penalty movement with its decision to repeal the death penalty in the state.

Racist Drug Laws Lead to Racist Enforcement in Cities Across the Country

Across the country law enforcement selectively targets Black and brown people for stops, arrests, prosecution, and imprisonment at wildly disproportionate rates.

Two San Francisco police officers interrogating and standing over two Black American men seated on the sidewalk. Overall, Black Americans are arrested at 2.6 times the per-capita rate of all other Americans.

Coercive Plea Bargaining Has Poisoned the Criminal Justice System. It’s Time to Suck the Venom Out.

The vast number of cases brought under our system of mass incarceration means that plea bargaining is the only way for courts to get through the sheer number of cases in their dockets. This system lacks process, fairness, and often even rule of law.

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“Clemency:” Exposing the Machinery of Death

The emotional and psychological toll of the death penalty on the people forced to carry it out too often goes unmentioned. Chinonye Chukwu's new film addresses it head on.

Protest of the execution of Troy Davis

Increasing Good-Behavior Releases Would Reduce Prison Population

Bills to be introduced in 2020 would lower that to 65 percent for those prisoners who qualify for the credits, creating greater incentive for good behavior and rehabilitation.

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Across the Country Harsh Sentencing Laws are Tearing Apart Families and Communities

How one single mother lost everything, including her son because of Michigan’s outdated tough on crime sentencing laws.

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