Prisoners Are Front And Center At Historic Legislative Hearing “It has been proven that these life without parole sentences aren’t improving anything in our communities and continue to cause harm to families as people are incarcerated.” The packed room at the State House on Tuesday, July 25, was not unusual. Nor was the fact that […]
UNLOCKING HIGHER ED
Experts Make The Case For More College Behind Bars College classes cost less than half of what Mass pays to incarcerate people. So why aren’t we educating more prisoners? “Knowledge of the power structure that runs society has made the biggest difference in my life.” John Yang was released from MCI Concord in 2020, and […]
WILL RACE MATTER …
As Mass Reconsiders Life Without Parole For 18 To 20-Year-Olds? “Late adolescents are particularly likely to be sentenced based on systemic racism and implicit biases in policing, prosecution, and sentencing.” A potential history-making hearing was held before the seven justices at the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) on Feb. 6, as two linked cases called for […]
ON THE WAY HOME
A New Beginning For Formerly Incarcerated Women “Stepping into this house made me feel better … She has a way of transforming pain into passion.” When Stacey Borden exited MCI-Framingham for the final time in 2010, she was done with more than three decades of jail stints and drug use due to untreated trauma. She […]
STILL WAITING
Tainted Drug Evidence Victims Still Waiting For Settlement Payments “We’ve got a system in place where it’s just, grab this money from mostly poor people, but don’t have mechanisms in place to really account for what’s taken.” It may be a new year, but tens of thousands of individuals wrongfully convicted on drug charges in […]
