Empowerment Avenue

How Kenya’s jailhouse lawyer turned a life sentence into a legal career behind bars After being incarcerated for murdering her partner, Ruth Kamande studied the legal system to understand her own case. Now she is fighting to reform Kenya’s laws

I visited Lang'ata women's max security prison in Nairobi, Kenya to meet Ruth Kamande - convicted of murdering her boyfriend. She studied for a law degree in prison and helps other incarcerated women. I wrote about her for @theguardian.com Women in prison series www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

From Victims to Offenders: How the Justice System Fails Traumatized Children A new report exposes the devastating truth: America is prosecuting the most abused and neglected children in adult courts and locking them up instead of healing their trauma.

From Victims to Offenders: How the Justice System Fails Traumatized Children
open.substack.com/pub/bruceles...

It is long past time we stop treating these children as invisible and disposable.

How Washington State Discriminates Against Incarcerated Immigrants - Type Investigations

“There is a very clear and distinct caste system in prison.” Aaron Edward Olson reports for @thenation.com and @typeinvestigations.org about how prisons in Washington State intentionally discriminate against incarcerated immigrants.

Thrilled to share that Chris Duncan, whose conviction was vacated in April, was just granted bail today, after spending over 25 years on Louisiana's death row.

It's so rare to get good news when you're covering capital punishment, but this is one very real light in the darkness

You can read about it in the New York Times today, as leading scholars of law and technology from around the country sound the alarm about what happens if the courts permit prosecutors to ignore basic conventions of truth and support on which we all rely. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/u...

THREAD. Over many years, we became the national experts in fighting unconstitutional pretrial detention--all the more urgent because authoritarians need detention without process. But something wild just happened in one of our habeas cases: a DA used made up cases and citations.

Opinion | Finding Beauty in a Prison Yard These trees were the only living beings that I could touch without fear.

In a beautifully illustrated piece for the @nytimes.com, Robert Lee Williams writes about how he came to embrace trees as a symbol of freedom.

Cool the Cell, Feed the Spirit: Abolition as Reproductive and Climate Justice – Scalawag This convergence of carceral violence, climate violence, and authoritarian detention regimes deepens the harm against aging bodies.

“Until reproductive justice and climate movements truly center incarcerated voices ... their work remains incomplete.”

EA writer @kwanetaharris.bsky.social joined @omisadeburneyscott.bsky.social for a @scalawagmagazine.bsky.social piece about menopause, incarceration, and the climate crisis.

'Why won't you help me?' Pregnant women and their babies endure inhumane conditions in jails Dozens of pregnant women locked up in county jails described excruciating pain, saying their cries for help were ignored as they miscarried or gave birth into cell toilets or on filthy jail floors.

Pregnant women who are jailed, often for petty crimes, are miscarrying or giving birth in excruciating pain and into cell toilets or on filthy jail floors, according to an investigation from @bloomberglaw.com and NBC News.

When Reporting Is a Crime - Corinne Shanahan & Andrew Crespo - Inquest States have restricted, surveilled, and punished prison journalism for decades, with dire consequences—for incarcerated people and for democracy.

One of our writers, @joinjeremy.org, spoke to @inquest.bsky.social, about the obstacles he and other incarcerated journalists encounter when trying to share what is really happening inside our prisons, jails, and detention centers—the most secluded public institutions in the United States.

November is Native American Heritage Month.

Sadly, Native people are consistently overrepresented in the US criminal legal system, accounting for only 1% of the total population but 3% of the incarcerated population.

Infographic with text: 50% of people in state prisons have a substance use disorder, but only 10% have received treatment. Prisons and jails are not meant to treat addiction.

As the U.S. continues to criminalize substance use disorder, jails & prisons are often thought of as de facto treatment facilities – but the reality couldn't be further from the truth

Communities must prioritize public health, not punishment

Prison reform advocate goes on hunger strike in response to alleged assault by ADOC staff Kenneth “Swift Justice” Traywick began his protest days after allegedly being pepper-sprayed by an officer in retaliation for his advocacy.

Kenneth “Swift Justice” Traywick began his protest days after allegedly being pepper-sprayed by an officer in retaliation for his advocacy.

Louisiana Made It Nearly Impossible to Get Parole. Now It’s Releasing Prisoners to Deport Them. Gov. Jeff Landry eliminated parole for prisoners arrested after Aug. 1, 2024, and tightened eligibility rules for those already in prison. Then he set all of that aside for one group: undocumented imm...

Gov. Jeff Landry eliminated parole for prisoners arrested after Aug. 1, 2024, and tightened eligibility rules for those already in prison. Then he set all of that aside for one group: undocumented immigrants. Why? To have them deported.

By @richardawebster.bsky.social & Bobbi-Jeanne Misick

Death Row Prisoners Granted Clemency by Biden Brace for "Living Hell" Under Trump - Bolts Trump officials are retaliating by imposing the harshest conditions in the entire federal prison system, including near total isolation.

I always recommend anything by @laurengill.bsky.social, who really cares about the people she writes about.
boltsmag.org/death-row-cl...

Connecticut prisons offer college courses, but a lack of space, resources is limiting enrollment Thousands of incarcerated people in Connecticut want to enroll in higher education — and financial aid is available — but limited space and resources in the state’s prison system have prevented the programs from expanding to meet the demand.

“Thousands of incarcerated people in #Connecticut want to enroll in higher education ... but limited space & resources ... have prevented the programs from expanding.”

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/colleges-and-universities-prisons-connecticut-general-news-7025a7bac41590a2e6c0adebcd43298a

Prison Heat - Columns - AIA Dallas Prison Heat by Xandan Gulley I sit in a 6’ x 9’ concrete and steel cell, 24 hours a day, in solitary confinement. The heat drains me physically, leaving me exhausted, dehydrated, and petrified. The ve...

For Columns, a quarterly publication produced by the Dallas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, Xandan Gulley writes with Ben Reavis about unbearable heat inside Texas prisons.

www.aiadallas.org/columns/pris...

Experiencing Canadian Wildfire Smoke in a Michigan Prison June 3, 2025. I can’t breathe. I wake up in an eight-man cube at JCS Correctional Facility in Jackson, Michigan. I pull the air inside my lungs and heave. “You OK?” An inmate says in the cube, holding...

For The Media Co-op, Demetrius Buckley writes about experiencing wildfires from Canada at his Michigan prison.

"June 3, 2025. I can’t breathe. I wake up in an eight-man cube at JCS Correctional Facility in Jackson, Michigan. I pull the air inside my lungs and heave."

mediacoop.ca/node/119308

Thinking Beyond the Bars | The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education How higher education helped a prison inmate develop confidence and rediscover his humanity.

For The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, Darrell Jackson writes from Washington State prison:

"While incarcerated, I became a “better late than never” enthusiast for higher education," his essay states.

jbhe.com/2025/09/thin...

When Isolation Became the Supreme Punishment - Solitary Watch SW editor-in-chief Juan Haines reviews Pete Earley's book about the unbearable conditions of isolation at the infamous federal ADX supermax.

For @solitarywatch.bsky.social, EIC Juan Haines reviews and reflects on "No Human Contact: Solitary Confinement, Maximum Security, and Two Inmates Who Changed the System,” by Pete Earley.

solitarywatch.org/2025/09/02/w...

State Property Kimberly Hricko entered prison in 1999, when inmates still wore street clothes and ordered from JCPenney. In 2025, a piece of cardboard is contraband.

The latest in our partnership with Black Lipstick, where we highlight essays from women and queer incarcerated writers, is STATE PROPERTY by Kim Hricko:

"In 2025, a piece of cardboard is contraband."

blacklipstick.substack.com/p/state-prop...

From Dropout to Journalist…In Prison How I found my voice as a storyteller while incarcerated and now help others become prison journalists

For Open Secrets Magazine, @chriswblackwell.bsky.social starts his essay with: "How did I end up a prison journalist? That is a question I’ve asked myself many times."

substack.com/home/post/p-...

Inside an Everglades Prison Without Air Conditioning Only about 25 percent of housing units in Florida's prisons are equipped with AC.

Only about 25 percent of housing units in Florida's prisons are equipped with AC. Incarcerated writer Anthony Cobb and Alex DeLuca of @miaminewtimes.com write what this summer was like in Florida prisons:

www.miaminewtimes.com/news/life-in...

Eagles Fandom Builds Unlikely Friendships Being an Eagles fan is about more than just rooting for a team. It's a bond that can build friendships between outwardly unalike people

For the @thephilacitizen.bsky.social, @chriswblackwell.bsky.social and Deborah Zalesne share how their love of the Eagles bonded them across difference and prison walls:

thephiladelphiacitizen.org/eagles-fando...

Latest from Tony Vick, incarcerated in Tennessee:

ZEKE Magazine: Special Summer 2025 Issue The Solitary Confinement Issue. Window into Solitary Stories of solitary confinement by 17 formerly 
incarcerated

In conjunction with @chriswblackwell.bsky.social + Deborah Zalesne's upcoming book release of ENDING ISOLATION, Zeke Magazine has a dedicated print issue about solitary confinement.

View it here: www.yumpu.com/en/document/...

Opinion | Finding Beauty in a Prison Yard These trees were the only living beings that I could touch without fear.

Big congrats to Robert Lee Williams, who has a moving story about the power of trees in prison for the @nytimes.com.

"Beyond the chain-link fence that separates the yard from the rest of the prison, I saw not one but three towering, majestic black walnut trees..."

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Fixing restitution laws: Has paying one's debt to society gone too far? California's REPAIR Act shows there's a better way to manage restitution, for both incarcerated people and survivors.

"California’s REPAIR Act shows there’s a better way to manage restitution, for both incarcerated people and survivors."

Steve Brooks for @fastcompany.com:

www.fastcompany.com/91388476/fix...

The reality of mental health care in prison – Scalawag Mental health needs are prevalent in prisons. One incarcerated writer shares their experience with the mental health care system in a Texas prison.

In another contribution to @scalawagmagazine.bsky.social Abolition Week, Lanae Tipton writes about the grim reality of receiving mental healthcare in Texas prisons:

scalawagmagazine.org/2025/08/the-...

The Gauntlet: Fight Night in a Texas Prison – Scalawag In Texas women’s prisons, there is a "Fight Night" custom, where the officers choose inmates to fight each other in what they call "the gauntlet."

Continuing our contributions for @scalawagmagazine.bsky.social's Abolition Week, Xandan Gulley writes about Texas fight night:

scalawagmagazine.org/2025/08/the-...