Josh Page

Jane Goodall’s influence behind bars: The legendary primatologist Jane Goodall, who died last week at 91, helped inspire incarcerated people to learn more about wildlife and the environment by opening Roots & Shoots chapters inside jails in the U.S. and Italy, with some participants going on to launch careers in conservation post-incarceration. In 2015, Bolts' Alex Burness spent a day with her at the county jail in Boulder, Colorado, where she spoke to folks held there about all that people can learn from animals.

something i learned this week! mailchi.mp/boltsmag/new...

Amazing!

Introducing Collateral Damage | Collateral Damage from The Intercept The Intercept is launching a new podcast series reported and hosted by investigative journalist Radley Balko.

I've been writing about the war on drugs for more than 20 years. There are some cases that have stuck with me -- names that have never left my head. For the last couple years, I've been working with The Intercept on a podcast to tell their stories. It launches in a week.

Cover of legal plunder: the predatory dimensions of criminal justice

Excited to read this! Thanks @joesoss.bsky.social & @joshuapage.bsky.social

Thanks, Don!

So exhausting..

Prison Money Diaries: What People Really Make (and Spend) Behind Bars We asked people in prison to track their earning and spending — and bartering and side hustles — for 30 days. Their accounts reveal a thriving underground economy behind bars.

In prisons across the U.S., basics such as deodorant, shampoo, sneakers, thermal clothes for winter are often only available to people who can afford them.

But earning enough in jobs behind bars is nearly impossible.

If they had a right-wing, “tough-on-crime” coded mayor there would be endless national profiles about him and how he finally brought sanity back to Chicago.

This is what is happening when the cameras are running

Congrats! I'm looking forward to reading the essays.

Study Finds Federal Restitution Benefits Few, Including Victims Restitution was meant to restore victims of their losses and punish those responsible ... a new paper shows that neither goal is being met and changes are necessary.

Thanks to Walter Pavlo & @forbes.com for highlighting my new report with @nacdl.org on the failures of criminal restitution. Rather than satisfactorily compensating crime victims, it enmeshes people owing restitution debt in the criminal legal system long past…1/2

www.forbes.com/sites/walter...

It is, and pairs well with Legal Plunder ;)

The Black Tax Revealing a history that is deep, broad, and infuriating, The Black Tax casts a bold light on the racist practices long hidden in the shadows of America’s tax regimes.   American taxation is unfair, a...

press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...

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The California Sheriffs Association does not believe the incarcerated firefighters who helped save Los Angeles should be paid for their life saving labor.

Despite our bill receiving bipartisan unanimous support in the legislature

"The state is just capitalizing on people who can’t really do anything about it."

Time and time again, prisons & telecom companies have shown that they can get away with exploiting incarcerated people and their loved ones.

oklahomawatch.org/2025/09/12/w...

Toward Labor Unions for Incarcerated Workers: An Organizing Strategy Incarcerated workers are deeply embedded in the U.S. economy, yet they are excluded from basic labor protections and organizing rights. Traditional labor unions can and should bring these workers into...

Today, Andrew Bilodeau argues that traditional labor unions can and should bring incarcerated workers into the fold by including them in their organizing drives at fast food restaurants, factories, and other workplaces.

U.S. map showing that in 25 states and D.C., federal agencies like ICE and the U.S. Marshals only detain people using local jails. In other states, jails play a part in the detention network alongside federal or private facilities. In Arizona, Delaware, and Hawaii no local jails provide substantial detention space to these agencies.

Thousands of people detained by ICE are actually held in local, publicly operated jails

These facilities–run by elected sheriffs–are making money off of the incarceration of people who are mostly accused of no more serious offense than crossing the border without permission

Huge congrats to the workers of @teamsters.bsky.social Local 320 on their big win. Proof again that workers win when they stand together.

Thanks too to @farmaid.org, Willie Nelson, farmers & community for supporting labor and holding firm. Proof again that standing in solidarity with workers works.

Please pay for your news and understand why paywalls exist, and also, maybe question why some news sources and comment operations are able to be free.

Enormous feature via @laurengill.bsky.social. Sharing to read later!

Trump Admin to Financially Reward Police Agencies For Working with ICE DHS announced a new program that pays law enforcement agencies that help carry out its anti-immigrant agenda.

DHS announced that it will financially reward local law enforcement agencies that carry out its anti-immigrant agenda, effectively creating an incentive system in which the more people wanted by ICE that an agency abducts, the more money it stands to make. truthout.org/articles/tru...

Haha!

Are you wearing sandals?

👇 Indeed. Prison labor is FORCED labor. #LegalPlunder

Congratulations!

Graph showing that 39% of incarcerated worker are paid nothing for their work.

Nearly 40% of incarcerated workers are paid *nothing* for their work. And the rest are paid at abysmally low wages.

This is not a system built on "justice" for all.

Great editorial! Thanks for writing and sharing it.

Chicago’s Public Defender on Why Illinois Should Fight Trump's Threats on Cashless Bail - Bolts President Trump on Monday issued an executive order that purports to block federal funds from state and local governments that have moved away from cash bail in an effort to... Read More

NEW: Trump this week issued an order to withhold federal funds from cities & states that restrict the use of cash bail.

Illinois has fully ended cash bail, & Chicago's public defender responds to Trump: 'this is tyranny 101."

He explains why cash bail was a disaster. Well worth reading:

YouTube video by MSNBC Hayes blasts Trump: ‘Most pro-criminal president of my lifetime’

Excellent summary of this administration's moral vacuousness when it comes to crime. We must imprison every shoplifter and homeless person, but if you can flatter, donate to, socialize with, or do a favor for Trump -- or if you remind Trump of himself -- you can crime with impunity.

The cover for Legal Plunder: The Predatory Dimensions of Criminal Justice, by Joshua Page and Joe Soss

Just finished the intro to this book (Legal Plunder) and I can already tell it’s gonna be a good one. @joshpage.bsky.social & @joesoss.bsky.social are diving deep into how the government and businesses use policing, punishment, and immigrant detention to extract revenues from communities.