Wilder Youth Development & Wayne Halfway House will also partner with Persevere on the program By Kathryn Rickmeyer From TennBEAT For many troubled teens, a sentence to juvie feels like a sentence to fail. Statistically speaking — it is. 80-percent of juvenile offenders end up back behind bars within three years, less than 2-percent ever enroll […]
From The Hill On Jan. 25, Alabama’s governor approved killing Kenneth Smith by nitrogen gas — something the United Nations said ”will likely violate the prohibition on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment” in violation of International Human Rights Law. Alabama’s use of an experimental method of execution is an outrage. But what is more
In 2024, executions ‘in the heart of Dixie’ still rely on Jim Crow Read More »
Help me free this man. https://www.change.org/p/free-84-yr-old-mr-george Mr. Robert George is 84. He’s been in prison over 30 years for an accidental death… convicted of manslaughter in 1993. The mother of the victim wants him freed. Please sign the petition & share this link with as many people as possible: click here Please share this link
Help Free This Man Read More »
From: Bay Nature Environmental Justice BY Lia Keener “Nobody’s got our kind of re-entry program that mixes soil, reentry, healing, and good pay,” says operations director Lynn Vidal. The nonprofit, founded in 2009, has employed more than 40 people transitioning from prison so far, many at the nursery. So far, the organization has seen a 2
Inside the East Oakland Plant Nursery That’s Breaking the Incarceration Cycle Read More »
The Democratic governor wants to remake San Quentin, where the state performed executions, into a model for preparing people for life on the outside — a shift from the state’s decades-long focus on punishment. And he wants it all complete by December 2025, just before he leaves office. Read the article here.
San Quentin Advisory Panel Meets In Secret Read More »
By BETTY MÁRQUEZ ROSALES and DANIEL J. WILLIS of EdSource In California’s youth justice system, many high schoolers graduate with grade-school reading skills Nearly a third of all assessments given were for grade levels K-6, though not a single student during those five years was below eighth grade. Many teenagers who’ve spent time in California’s juvenile detention
California’s Reading Dilemma Read More »
From: Washington Post: Opinion By Robert Bentley and Don Siegelman (Washington Post staff illustration; iStock) Robert Bentley, a Republican, served as governor of Alabama from 2011 to 2017. Don Siegelman, a Democrat, was governor of Alabama from 1999 to 2003. Alabama has 167 people on death row, a greater number per capita than in any other state.
We oversaw executions as governor. We regret it. Read More »
By Avocet Enterprises Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, long known as an advocate for treatment of the mentally ill who are involved with the justice system, has recently written a piece for the Chicago Tribune which highlights a key point: the cycle of violent crime is perpetuated in part by an inability to efficiently administer justice. Sheriff
A View on Dysfunction in the Justice System Read More »
From: Napa Valley Register What happens when kids can’t read? One in five Americans can’t read English. And California is at the bottom, with almost one quarter of its adults English illiterate. Best guess: this state of affairs costs the US about $2.2 trillion per year. And our country is a global leader in incarceration.
Illiteracy and incarceration in the US Read More »
By Governor Gavin Newsom Reimagined facility will be renamed “San Quentin Rehabilitation Center” and will prioritize rehabilitation and education programs to strengthen public safety World-renowned experts to serve on new advisory group to steer transformation SAN QUENTIN – Today, Governor Gavin Newsom, alongside state legislators, survivors of crime and victim advocates, and civil rights leaders,
Governor Newsom Announces Historic Transformation of San Quentin State Prison Read More »
From Napa Valley Register By AARON MORRISON Associated Press Mar 5, 2023 Updated Apr 10, 2023 CHOWCHILLA — Joseph Sena has spent nearly half of his 27 years in prison for manslaughter. For almost as long, he’s been striving to make himself a better man than when he arrived. He has taken courses in creative
Rehab on hold: COVID-19 devastated prison learning programs Read More »
Alabama currently has 166 people on Death Row. 146 wouldn’t be on Death Row in any other state for two reasons: 1.) Alabama is the only state that allows a person to be sentenced to death by a non-unanimous jury. 2.) Alabama is the only state with people on Death Row because a judge overrode
Death Row in Alabama Read More »
By Kathryn Rickmeyer From TennBEAT It’s not right or left. It’s right or wrong. Five years after the Civil War’s end, the Tennessee Constitution was amended to prohibit slavery — but one exception remained: “That slavery and involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, are forever
Slavery is on the ballot in Tennessee Read More »
From: ProPublica The Data Newsletter BY ANNIE WALDMAN AND ALIYYA SWABY For people who struggle to read, the electoral process can become its own form of literacy test — creating impenetrable barriers at every step, from registration to casting a ballot…. Read the article.
Literacy and Voting Read More »
Dig Deep Farms, a nonprofit run through Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, tackles food insecurity, grows local produce and provides on-the-job training for parolees. BY: By DYLAN BOUSCHER | Bay Area News Group Read the article.
In the East Bay, a fresh start for the formerly incarcerated Read More »
From Prison Policy Initiative by Leah Wang, September 2, 2022 The state prison experience: Too much drudgery, not enough opportunity An underutilized government dataset goes deep into daily life in state prisons — including work assignments, programming, and discipline — revealing lost opportunities for rehabilitation, education, and hope… Read the article.
Jobs & educational opportunities behind bars? Not so much… Read More »
From The Marshall Project – Life Inside series Rahsaan “New York” Thomas was proud to finally earn his associate’s degree in San Quentin State Prison. But repeated COVID-19 lockdowns turned his graduation ceremony into a two-year ordeal. Read the article.
My Wild and Winding Path to a College Degree Behind Bars Read More »
From: Governor’s Early Literacy Foundation Illiteracy and crime are connected. The Department of Justice states, “The link between academic failure and delinquency, violence, and crime is welded to reading failure. Over 70% of inmates in America’s prisons cannot read above a fourth grade level.” Read the article.
Early Literacy Connection to Incarceration Read More »
By Kathryn Rickmeyer From TennBEAT Inmate participants will earn a full-stack developer certification at the end of the 12-month program Nearly half of all people released from prison in Tennessee are back behind bars within three years. But training programs like Persevere help break that cycle and prepare people for successful lives outside of prison… Read
Convicts to Coders: Tennessee Women’s Prison to launch inmate coding bootcamp this month Read More »
This article originally appeared in the Napa Valley Register Napa County probation program graduates get a fresh start Jul 21, 2022 Updated Aug 26, 2022 Barry Eberling Here’s a graduation ceremony with a twist, one that for 11 people honored not only their achievements, but also raised hope for a radical change in how they lead their
Napa County probation program graduates get a fresh start Read More »
