News from The Appeal
Judge Compares Federal Bureau of Prisons to “Soviet Gulag” In a ruling earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton blasted the federal prison agency for a pattern of medical neglect after officials ignored his order to schedule an appointment with a specialist for a woman at high risk of breast cancer. In a …
Prison Dining Giant Aramark Serves Inedible Food to Drive Commissary Sales, Lawsuit Alleges Incarcerated people in West Virginia filed a federal lawsuit arguing that the largest prison food provider in the country fails to offer adequate meals in the cafeteria while charging high prices for fresh produce and snacks in the commissary. A federal lawsuit …
Voices Broken Buildings, Broken People In prison, bad days don’t come cheap. Jerry stormed into his cell, shaking with rage. He threw his coat and gloves in a pile on his bunk and looked around for something to smash. It’s futile, and he knows it. The few items in his cell not bolted down were …
Imprisoned People Can Do More than ‘Scare’ Kids ‘Straight’ “Scared straight” programs don’t work. But that doesn’t mean incarcerated people shouldn’t mentor at-risk kids. In 1978, the Oscar-winning documentary “Scared Straight!” popularized the idea that the best way to prevent young people from incarceration is to scare them. The film focuses on a group of …
Newsletter How Prison Dog-Training Programs Transform Lives “We are not just training dogs — we are training ourselves to be better humans.” Prisons are designed for control, not compassion. Rows of razor wire, towering walls, and unyielding steel doors remind us we’re meant to be forgotten. For those of us serving life and long sentences, …
Newsletter How ‘Bankruptcy’ Lets Private Prison Contractors Evade Accountability Wellpath, one of the nation’s largest private correctional medical contractors, has conveniently filed for bankruptcy as it faces scores of lawsuits for alleged neglect and misconduct. Private jail medical contractors have made a business out of avoiding consequences for civil rights violations. They offer local governments …