Josh Page

Text of the 13th Amendment: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” The clause “except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted” is crossed out.

160 years ago, the 13th Amendment was ratified, ending slavery. But that amendment came with a sinister loophole: a Slavery Clause that allowed for slavery “as punishment for crime.”

We need to pass @repnikema.bsky.social’s and my Abolition Amendment to #EndTheException once and for all!

"Incarcerated trans Americans experience sexual violence at more than 12x the rate of other incarcerated people"

That stat comes from the DOJ itself – and still, the administration wants to tear down the few protections that exist, making prisons & jails even more dangerous for everyone.

Trans people suffer the most violence in prison. PREA was never enough but it’s just disgusting to roll it back.

“My pay has ranged from 40 cents per day as a janitor to as much as 26 cents an hour as a graphic designer in the printing plant when I was at Nash Correctional, where, among other duties, my job entailed proofreading the 2016, 2017, and 2018 annual reports for Correction Enterprises.”

Somali people are my neighbors, students, and friends. These attacks are despicable.

If you're interested in hearing about my new book with @joesoss.bsky.social, Legal Plunder: The Predatory Dimensions of Criminal Justice, join us virtually this Wednesday for a spirited discussion with @finesandfeesjc.bsky.social.

Trump Frees Fraudster Just Days Into Seven-Year Prison Sentence

Trump just commuted the 7-year sentence of David Gentile, a private equity leader who helped defraud thousands of people out of some $1.6 billion, almost as soon as his prison stint began.

"I lost my whole life savings," one person wrote, adding, "I am living from check to check."

Trump Frees Fraudster Just Days Into Seven-Year Prison Sentence

$1.6bln: The amount of his fraud scheme

7: Years of his sentence

10,000: Victims of his fraud

1,000: Letters from victims to the court

13: Days he served

1: Pardon from Trump

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/u...

Doesn't sound half bad. :)

C, all of the above (at the same time)

The spoils of mass deportation! #LegalPlunder

Join FFJC Co-ED Joanna Weiss for a conversation with the authors of Legal Plunder, @joesoss.bsky.social & @joshpage.bsky.social, exploring how our fines & fees system took shape and what it will take to dismantle it.

🗓️ 12/3, 12 PM ET
📍 Online or at New York Law School
🎟️ tinyurl.com/3bnpprvb

Restrained, Beaten, Asphyxiated: New York Prison Guards’ Brutality Grows

The Times identified 120+ instances in which guards were described as having punched, kicked or stomped on inmates, smashed their fingers in cell doors, held their legs apart and struck their genitals with batons, and even waterboarded them — all while they were handcuffed or otherwise restrained.

Quote card from Joshua Page & Joe Soss's article "Indentured Citizens": "Historically, labor exploitation has stood at the center of criminal justice predation in the United States. In the late 20th century, however, the criminal legal field’s predatory operations shifted decisively toward practices that charge prices, create debts, and pursue collections."

This week Inquest covered the growing real estate trend of prison flipping, and the inner workings of extractive capitalism's merger with mass incarceration. Get the full recap: mailchi.mp/inquest.o...

The House has passed H.R. 5214, a bill to return DC to cash bail.

Cash bail creates two tiers of justice, one for people with money and one without. DC abolished it more than 30 years ago and crime has dropped precipitously since.

H.R. 5214 is wrong and we will continue to fight its passage.

Want to Know if Someone Is Worried About Crime? First Ask How They Voted. The sitting president can be a better predictor of how safe someone feels than what the crime data shows.

The United States is experiencing historic drops in crime across almost all categories. But crime statistics don’t necessarily change how safe Americans feel — those beliefs are driven by political preferences.

Very much looking forward to this event in NYC with @finesandfeesjc.bsky.social. Please join us in person or online for a spirited discussion about Legal Plunder. cc/ @joesoss.bsky.social

Thanks @inquest.bsky.social for featuring an excerpt from Legal Plunder: The Predatory Dimensions of Criminal Justice.

In Illinois, a Private Prison Company’s Long Trail of Deaths and High-Dollar Contracts This year, Illinois again picked Wexford Health Services for prison health care despite longstanding claims of neglect. A judge has since extended court monitoring of prisons.

For much of this nation's history, health care for incarcerated people was provided directly by state prison or health authorities. But today, roughly two dozen states use for-profit health care contractors.

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: FFJC Presents: Legal Plunder – A Moderated Discussion with the Authors. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. We are excited to invite you to an informative panel discussion with Joe Soss and Joshua Page, the authors of Legal Plunder: The Predatory Dimensions of Criminal Justice, a book exploring how fines an...

Book talk! @FinesandFeesJC on Legal Plunder – A moderated discussion with Josh Page, Joe Soss, and Joanna Weiss

Dec 3, 2025 11:00 AM CT
Register for the webinar or in-person talk at NYU Law here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

They did an excellent job with this one. I’m always impressed with how LWT communicates the wonkiest things in an engaging way (like how local station funding allocations work, and how this has hurt local rural stations far more than NPR the national org and better funded, usu larger city stations)

strong agree!

What a great team!

Haha!

Yes.

Trump Administration to Drastically Cut Housing Grants

This is far worse than anyone expected.

Trump's HUD plan would cut *two-thirds* of permanent housing and push as many as 170,000 formerly homeless people back onto the street—redirecting funds to work mandates, forced treatment, and encampment sweeps.

All as mass internment camps are being built.

Not Sure How They Deal With Criminals In Your Town, But ’Round Here We Use A Restorative Justice Process Well, well, well. What have we got here? Another city slicker who thinks he can waltz into my town and start causin’ all sorts of trouble. I’d be careful if I was you, fella. Because however they do t...

"Mark my words, one wrong step in this town’ll land you in a whole heap of social services."

I read that as Heartworming stuff.

Thanks for sharing! Wayward Puritans was one of the first books I read on punishment (of course, it was about much more than that). It was the first Durkheimian analysis of the nature and functions of penal rituals I studied (other than Durkheim's own work). RIP

Congrats!