From Felon to Fighter: The Redemption of Jose Santana

Tyler Hayden

October 14, 2021 |

Santa Barbara Independent |

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Response Location: United States, Santa Barbara, California

When California adopted a new law in 2020 allowing formerly incarcerated firefighters to petition to have their criminal records expunged and parole waived, the law excluded people with the most serious, violent offenses. But it left others with violent offenses in a gray area, subject to objections that could deny them a chance to become professional firefighters, using the skills they learned at one of the state's 43 prison fire camps. This story profiles the first man from Santa Barbara County to win this right, and the obstacles he faced in the process.

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He befriended his brother's murderer. In each other, they found healing

Leila Miller

October 11, 2021 |

Los Angeles Times |

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Response Location: United States, California

Since the 1990s, California prisons' victim-aid office has arranged for crime victims to meet with the incarcerated people who harmed them or their family members. These victim-offender dialogues, a restorative-justice method offering alternative forms of accountability, have helped survivors heal by providing information they could not glean from the traditional justice process. Some have also experienced reconciliation and forgiveness. Only victims can initiate the process, and most incarcerated people are deemed ineligible after screening and preparation for the face-to-face dialogues.

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Prison reform curbs some solitary confinement, but how much?

Rachel Riley

October 10, 2021 |

The Everett Daily Herald (HeraldNet) |

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Response Location: United States, Washington

Washington state prison officials say they have tried for years to reduce their use of solitary confinement. They made some progress toward that goal until the pandemic. Despite that complication, hundreds still live for months or even years in near-total isolation, which critics liken to torture and blame for psychological damage to incarcerated people. Advocates for strict limits or abolishing the practice say the state has maintained the use of solitary under a variety of euphemisms. Pending legislation would impose stricter limits, which prison officials oppose on safety grounds.

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Planting a Life—and a Future—After Prison at Benevolence Farm

Stephanie Parker

September 30, 2021 |

Civil Eats |

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Response Location: United States, Graham, North Carolina

Benevolence Farm hosts a small number of formerly incarcerated women as live-in laborers growing herbs that end up in body-care products. The farming experience teaches marketable skills, as the women learn the finer points of horticulture. It also provides outdoor, hands-on experiences that are therapeutic to women after they spent months or years locked up in a sterile prison. The rural location poses some challenges, but the dozens of women who have spent 12-18 months living and working there have shown much lower-than-average rates of recidivism.

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Reducing Recidivism and Building Green Industry Skills in Detroit

Nina Ignaczak

September 10, 2021 |

Belt Magazine |

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Response Location: United States, Michigan

Between 2012 and 2017, the rate of recidivism, the number of people who return to prison after being released, was 71 percent across 34 states. An industrial recycling program called Greenworks is aimed at job training, access to resources, and jobs to formerly incarcerated people. Part of the green economy, these programs offer jobs to people most impacted by climate change, and Greenworks could be a model for other similar programs. The recidivism rate of Greenworks hovers around four and ten percent each year.

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Eagle County problem-solving courts offer new hope to repeat offenders battling substance abuse

Kelli Duncan

September 09, 2021 |

Vail Daily |

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Response Location: United States, Eagle, Colorado

Eagle County's two problem-solving courts put treatment ahead of punishment when addressing crimes committed by people with substance abuse problems. Originally set up as one court, they now function separately to address drunken driving and drugs and serve people "teetering on the edge of serious prison time" for repeat offenses. More than 90 percent of participants in 2020 maintained sobriety and more than 80 percent avoided new legal troubles. While the threat of punishment is used to win compliance with rules, prosecutors say they're more interested in permanently curing the underlying disease.

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University degree awarded to student behind bars: his thesis on autoethnography is a survival story

Francesco Ciampa

September 07, 2021 |

News48 |

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Response Location: Italy, Catanzaro, Calabria

Magna Graecia University partnered with prison administrators in Catanzaro, Italy, to help two incarcerated men find a form of rehabilitation by writing their own lives' stories. In a process called autoethnography, the men, who are serving life sentences, focus on describing without moral judgment "the psychological and creative resources they used for survival before prison and during their time behind bars." This helps them see the traits that led them into crime might also lead them out of it. Both men tell of extraordinary personal growth through the experience, which others now seek to duplicate.

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A push to change Colorado's prison culture and perceptions — one art piece at a time

Moe Clark

August 23, 2021 |

Colorado Newsline |

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Response Location: United States, Colorado

The Prison Arts Initiative program, jointly run by the Colorado prison system and University of Denver, puts personal expression through visual and performing arts at the heart of the prisons' mission to become less punitive and more rehabilitative. With exhibits like "Chained Voices," featuring paintings by incarcerated people, the program aims to give hope to people by making them feel seen and valued as fully human. Formerly incarcerated artists say they valued not only the personal growth they experienced, but also the knowledge that their art could change public perceptions of the people in prison.

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Some 'Most Impressive' Law School Applicants Are Convicted of Serious Crimes

Allen Arthur

August 18, 2021 |

Route Fifty |

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Response Location: United States, California

Starting in 2017, California has grown more open to licensing formerly incarcerated people to work as lawyers. State licensing authorities set high barriers to entry to the legal profession in their "moral fitness" license requirements. Vague rules can effectively rule out anyone with a serious criminal record. By clarifying its standards and making the process more transparent, the State Bar – aided by efforts to train licensing officials and by the California System-Involved Bar Association to educate prospective lawyers to pass the test – the system has evolved into a model for state-led change.

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Prisons try incentives, education to get staff vaxxed, with mixed results

Cid Standifer

August 09, 2021 |

FreshWater Cleveland |

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Response Location: United States, New Mexico

While prisons generally have struggled to contain the spread of the coronavirus among staff and incarcerated people, New Mexico's program to vaccinate staff has succeeded where others have failed. New Mexico prison and health officials mounted an extensive education program. COVID "command centers" offer individual counseling to answer questions. Wardens get briefed regularly and then spread new information through the staff. Outreach to holdouts convinces some to get vaccinated. The staff vaccination rate is at least 85%, exceeding the rate for the adult population overall.

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