Mass Incarceration

The Incarcerated are Producing a "Shadow Canon" of Writing on Prisons and Society

Scholars like Doran Larson and Vesla Mae Weaver are working to bring the writings of incarcerated men and women to light as valuable sources of insight not only on prison life but fundamental questions of freedom. 

A Former Inmate Reviews an Oral History of Riker's Island

by John J. Lennon

"Leaving Rikers feels like a better chapter of your life is about to begin—even if that next chapter is a prison sentence."

An Oral History of Riker's Island

An oral history of New York's notorious jail is chaotic and difficult, but could an account of the place be any different and be true? 

NY Mayor's Proposal to Lock Up Mentally Ill Has Long History

by Elliott Young

The impulse to heal the mentally ill has long battled the impulse to lock them up as a threat to the society. Eric Adams is trying to do the latter while claiming to do the former. 

Educational Aid for Prisoners Works. Why Do Politicians Reject It?

by Adrian Cox and Kate L. Flach

Making imprisoned people eligible for federal education grants was shown to be successful, but was ended by the notorious 1994 crime bill. It's time to change course and restore them. 

Sociologist Brittany Friedman on the Rise and Endurance of Political Organizing by Black Prisoners

Although it is often linked to the rise of Black Power movements in the late 1960s, evidence shows that state authorities were working to eliminate civil rights organizing among Black prisoners as early as the 1950s. 

Fighting Incarceration from the Inside: Prison Litigation as Resistance

by Charlotte Rosen

The Prison Litigation Reform Act has cut incarcerated people off from their rights to access the court system to seek personal relief from abuse and cruel punishment and systemic change to the mass incarceration regime. 

Inventing Solitary Confinement

Kali Nicole Gross, Ashley Rubin, Jen Manion and Paul Takagi offer insight into the historical irony of modern incarceration's roots in Philadelphia, the nominal cradle of American liberty. 

Heather Ann Thompson on Mass Incarceration

Karma Chávez guest hosts a wide-ranging conversation with historian Heather Ann Thompson about policing, mass incarceration, and why overhauling the criminal justice system is the civil rights issue of our time.

Introducing “Disciplining The Nation”

by Matt Guariglia and Charlotte Rosen

"Rooted in racial slavery, settler colonialism, and U.S. empire, policing and incarceration in the United States were slowly and meticulously built over time for the purpose of subordinating, punishing, and exploiting populations –and historians have the documents to prove it."

Philadelphia DA: Prosecutors Hid Evidence for Years in a 2003 Murder Case

Prosecutors in Philadelphia are accused of withholding evidence that undermined the credibility of key witnesses in the case, a pattern that critics argue has been widespread.

Let the Punishment Fit the Crime

by Ben Austen and Khalil Gibran Muhammad

Tough-on-crime laws that forbid discretionary parole emerged in the 1970s. A historical perspective suggests they've failed, keeping people in prison long after doing so protects society. 

What Set the Stage for Rebellion and Violence at Attica

Tyrone Larkins, Alhajji Sharif and Akil Shaquan were incarcerated at Attica 50 years ago. Hear their story about conditions in the prison and the events of the riot and its brutal suppression. Also features an interview with historian Heather Ann Thompson.

Honoring Attica After Half a Century

by Heather Ann Thompson

Activists both inside and outside of prisons in the 1960s and 1970s confronted the violence of the state. Accountability for law enforcement is still an unrealized legacy of the 1971 Attica rebellion. 

50 Years Since Attica, Will America Observe the Human Rights of Prisoners?

by Heather Ann Thompson

"The Attica prison uprising was historic because these men spoke directly to the public, and by doing so, they powerfully underscored to the nation that serving time did not make someone less of a human being." 

Daughter of Slain Attica Prison Guard Demands Apology from New York State

After New York State has approved a reparation fund for the surviving prisoners of the 1971 Attica riots, is it time for similar justice for the employees caught in the violence of the state's response? 

The New York Post Would Like You to Get Mad about a Yale Course Comparing Incarceration in the US and Stalinist USSR

Timothy Snyder and Jason Stanley plan to team-teach a course examining the comparative history of mass imprisonment in the two empires. 

Inhumane System of Incarceration in U.S. Poses Special Danger to Women

by Jessica L. Adler

When politicians close single prisons after complaints of abuse, they leave untouched a cruel and dehumanizing system that poses particular risk to women. 

The Emerging Movement for Police and Prison Abolition

by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

Organizer Mariame Kaba is one of the leading public intellectuals behind the movement for the abolition of the institutions of policing and prisons and for a politics that imagines more humane alternatives. 

"Abolition Is...": A Roundtable

Several young scholar/activists reflect on how historical analysis can inform the contemporary prison abolition movement and alternative approaches to justice.