Articles About Prisons
The Marshall Project, the Prison Journalism Project, and the Prison Policy Initiative are among many organizations dedicated to monitoring and reporting on developments affecting the lives of incarcerated people in the US. Visit their sites for up-to-date information.
General
Aging in Prison: Special Series by the Prison Journalism Project, thirteen articles written between January and May 2023.
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Interview—Women in prison: an unquiet minority, May 2009, Real Change
1 in 100 U.S. Adults Behind Bars, New Study Says, NBC News February 2008
Prison Censorship
America’s unseen book bans: the long history of censorship in prisons, The Guardian, 5/9/24
What You Can't Read Behind Bars in New York, New York Focus, 1/24/24
Michigan is Banning Inmates From Reading Totally Normal Books, Vice, 1/17/23
The Books Banned in Your State’s Prisons, The Marshall Project, 2/23/23
Decoding Bureaucracy, The Medium, 7/5/23
How to Report on Banned Books in Prisons in Your State, The Marshall Project, 10/3/23
The Surreal Prison Censorship Regime, Inquest, 10/17/23
Ending Carceral Censorship, Inquest, 10/17/23
Censoring Women’s Health, Inquest, 10/19/23
Misadventures in Mail Censorship, Inquest, 10/19/23
Banned Manga & Explicitness in US Prison Censorship, Dear Readers Beyond Bars, (video) 10/24/23
Reading Between the Bars: An In-Depth Look at Prison Censorship, PEN America, 10/25/23
“Prison Itself Is Censorship”: Mariame Kaba on the Freedom to Read, In These Times, 10/25/23
Ending Censorship Applies to Prison, Too: A Prison Banned Book Week News Roundup, 2023, Book Riot, 10/30/23
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Opinion: Prison systems insist on banning books by Black authors. It’s time to end the censorship. Written by BtP board members Andy Chan and Michelle Dillon. Washington Post, 1/12/22
‘It’s basic human dignity’: Groups work to get books to incarcerated people, NBC News, 1/20/22
"In Prison, Knowledge is Power": How Publications are Restricted in Indiana Prisons, Indiana Daily Student, 3/7/22
Incarcerated people have few ways to fight back against censorship in prisons, Prism, 3/23/22
Michigan prisons ban Spanish and Swahili dictionaries to prevent inmate disruptions, National Public Radio, (audio, transcript) 6/2/22
Reading While Incarcerated Saved Me. So Why Are Prisons Banning Books? NYT, 8/17/22
The American Prison System’s War on Reading, Protean Magazine, 11/21/22
After pushback, Allegheny County Jail makes some changes to their book policy, WESA, 12/12/22 (audio, transcript)
Pittsburgh Prison Book Project: Pittsburgh's People of the Year 2022 in Literature, Pittsburgh City Paper, 12/21/22
Literature Locked Up: How Prison Book Restriction Policies Constiture the Nation's Largest Book Ban, PEN America, 9/24/19
When Did Used Books Become Contraband?, August 2007, Seattle Weekly
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Reading in Prison
Readers’ panel: experiences of books in prison, May 2014, The Guardian
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From Inmate to Mentor, Through Power of Books, Washington Post, 10/2/06
Scan n' Shred Mail
Lost in Transit: Digitization of Mail Expands Surveillance Beyond Prisons, Logic(s) Magazine, Issue 19, 5/23
Mail scanning: A harsh and exploitative new trend in prisons, Prison Policy Initiative Updates, 11/17/22
‘Digitized Love’: How Prison Mail Bans Harm Incarcerated People, Rolling Stone, 11/26/22
Prisons Are Increasingly Banning Physical Mail, Slate, 8/9/21
Federal Prisons’ Switch to Scanning Mail Is a Surveillance Nightmare, The Intercept, 9/26/21
Tablets and other technology for reading
San Francisco Expands Free Jail Communications by Adding Tablet Services, Bolts Magazine, 1/8/24
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Time, Online, Slate, 12/23 - a 9-part series about the good and the bad of electronic devices that have proliferated in prisons since the pandemic.
A virtual lifeline or a digital babysitter? What it’s actually like to use tablets in prison, Open Campus, 9/28/23
What happens when prison tech stops working: Prison messaging apps are a lifeline—until they break. College Inside, 5/10/23
A Notorious Prison Tech Giant Is Poised to Cash In on Pell Grants for Incarcerated People, Mother Jones, 2/8/22
Best Practices for E-Reader Tablets in Carceral Institutions, PEN America, 2/8/22
The Cost of Reading in Prisons: Book Censorship and E-Reader Tablets in Carceral Institutions, PEN America, 3/16/22 (video)
Surveilling Potential Uses and Abuses of Artificial Intelligence in Correctional Spaces, Scholarly Commons@ UNLV Boyd Law, 8/23/22
'A modernized, streamlined incarceration experience.' New prison technology surveils life on both sides of the wall. Scalawag, 9/22
Return to Sender: No More Mailing Books to Inmates in Pennsylvania, Slate, 9/19/18