J. Carlee Purdum

Compassion dictates we replace Medicaid with this sort of therapy. Clearly more effective and humane.

And yes, this really is a therapy session, at San Quentin in California.

CA bill would require the DOJ to notify formerly incarcerated firefighters that they can request their criminal records be expunged. This supports their efforts to gain employment as firefighters in the free world. A positive step in addressing exploitation of incarcerated people #massincarceration

State audit says California’s prisons are not prepared for natural disasters The audit from the California Office of the Inspector General warns lives could be lost if prisons don’t improve their emergency and evacuation plans.

Growing attention on the lack of adequate preparedness and planning for prison evacuations. #massincarceration #emergencymanagement #environmentaljustice

www.kvpr.org/government-p...

Trump cuts will increase devastation after disasters, expert warns: ‘It is really scary’ Layoffs and funding cuts to Fema and Noaa will hamstring emergency managers, warns professor Samantha Montano

My interview with @samlmontano.bsky.social
Trump cuts to will increase deaths and from disasters: ‘It is really scary’

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

I realized this morning that whether I'm studying wildfire impacts to healthcare or to how disasters impact incarcerated people... the gap I tend to dwell on is that... all of our fates are tied... Only when every one is safe, are we all safe.

"Imagine a giant penitentiary orbiting the Earth at a height of 22,000 miles. Visionary? Futuristic dream?" Check out this 1981 satirical article, "Sentence them to Orbit" by Russell Baker of the New York Times I came across while doing some archival research.

Forced prison labor in the “Land of the Free”: Rooted in Racism and Economic Exploitation: Spotlight Summary: From fighting wildfires to toiling in the kitchens of some of the country’s most popular food franchises, incarcerated workers perform vital functions across the United States and produce bil...

Forced prison labor in the “Land of the Free”: Rooted in Racism and Economic Exploitation: www.epi.org/publication/...

Texas people, we have something to be excited about!!!

I study how #disasters impact incarcerated people. I started a newsletter to help educate folks in the disaster space about justice-system issues, and folks in the justice-system space about disasters. Help me choose a topic for next month! What questions do folks have about these issues?

If you're a disaster scholar/practioner but would like to learn more about the justice system, check out my latest Punishment & Disaster discussion on the persistent use of the color pink to humiliate/shame incarcerated men and how our ideas of what will make us more safe, actually do the opposite.

The black and white image is of a scanned image from a newspapers showring a young man painting a mural of a scowling teddy bear on the wall of an indoor space in a prison.

I was surprised how some wardens and sheriffs have taken Joe Arpaio's humiliating practices even further, such as one Pennsylvania prison that turned public spaces in the prison into "sissy" rooms with threatening toddler-themed decor.

Writing this 2nd issue on the historic and current practice of using pink uniforms in men's prisons/jails reminded me why it's important to talk about how harming people who we believe have caused harm does not bring safety or healing.

punishment-and-disasters.ghost.io/the-problem-...

An ICE Contractor Is Worth Billions. It’s Still Fighting to Pay Detainees as Little as $1 a Day to Work. GEO Group, whose stock is valued at $4 billion, says that state minimum wage laws don’t apply to the cleaning services that it’s asked detained migrants to perform at facilities where they’re kept.

NEW: GEO Group, whose stock is valued at $4 billion, says that state minimum wage laws don’t apply to the cleaning services that it’s asked detained migrants to perform at facilities where they’re kept. @mckenziefunk.com

U.S. deportees arrive at El Salvador's mega-prison shackled and bent over, forcibly guided by armed guards. Scholars warn of widespread human rights abuses in the country's prison system. Photo: El Salvador Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images
buff.ly/InNoBRi

Thank you to everyone who attended our Her Voice, Her Justice rally at the Texas Capital! Community is our resistance and resilience!

bless you @drtaragoddard.com for pointing out my typo. "Works" is very different from "Workers" in this headline 😆

Incarcerated Works on the Frontline of the Bird Flu (H5N1) Response What you should know about the vulnerability of incarcerated people, especially workers, to the Avian Influenza (H5N1). Front Line Responders When slavery was outlawed in the U.S., the 13th amendment included a loophole to allow for the enslavement and forced labor of persons convicted of a crime. Prisons assign

Hey folks, check out the first issue of my newsletter "Punishment and Disasters" about the vulnerability of incarcerated workers to the Avian Influenza/The Bird Flu. #birdflu #massincarceration #13thamendment #emergencymanagement #publichealth
punishment-and-disasters.ghost.io/incarcerated...

This echoes what happened recently during Helene and Milton, and many disasters before. We could do better, if we chose. My colleagues @jcarleepurdum.bsky.social and Dr Benika Dixon and I wrote about this here:

theconversation.com/jails-and-pr...

It's very telling when a society prioritizes punishment even in a disaster.

Merrick Garland just withdraw the federal execution protocal, saying that a review found the drug they were using might cause "extreme pain."

This is the same drug Texas has been using for years, and is scheduled to use again next month.

These programs are in nearly every US state with wildfire risk. There are no policy requirements to collect/publicize any data that show if participation lowers recidivism risk or that participants are able to get relevant jobs with their training/experience. There needs to be accountability.

Support incarcerated ppl as they experience harm from disasters by amplifying and supporting their platforms. @marcimarie114.bsky.social, Jennifer, and their organization @lionessjiwa.bsky.social often educate about how overlooked incarcerated women/queer ppl experience disasters. Folllow/subscribe!

YouTube video by On the Rec Yard: Women's Prison Podcast On The Recyard Women's Prison Podcast

Take a break from doomscrolling and listen to @marcimarie114.bsky.social and Jennifer Toon talk about the resilience of queer love in the midst of disaster in the latest from On the Rec Yard. In this ep they talk about how incarcerated people experience Winter Storms.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-ue...

Whenever I talk about incarcerated firefighters I point to: 1) pay disparity or total lack of pay ($0), 2) inadequate healthcare and mental health support for trauma 3) no policy's requiring programs to deliver on promises of job opportunity/lowered risk of recidivism or to even keep relevant data.

Disaster work is often carried out by prisoners – who get paid as little as 14 cents an hour despite dangers Relying on incarcerated workers in emergencies such as the wildfires ravaging parts of the US is a cheap alternative for states. But what protections are there for prisoners?

Incarcerated firefighters are in the news (rightly so), and so I want to shout out the excellent work of my colleague @jcarleepurdum.bsky.social who has been on this beat for a while

Disaster work is often carried out by prisoners
theconversation.com/disaster-wor...