Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order that granted reprieve to all inmates on death row in California, putting a moratorium on executions in the state. Access Local TV’s Julia Sidley reports on reaction to the governor’s move, as some met the decision with praise while others met it with criticism. Read more at Access […]
Read More California’s Suspension of the Death PenaltyThee Inglorious Blacktree Barberia is giving formerly-incarcerated people, recovering drug addicts, and other struggling individuals a second chance by supporting their careers as barbers. “The guys that work here are given a second chance, based off where we came from and who we are today.” See more at the Media Arts Center.
Read More Black Sheep: Thee Inglorious Blacktree BarberiaArtist and activist Common held a concert in Sacramento called Imagine Justice, an event convened to speak out against mass incarceration and the school-to-prison pipeline. Youth reporters from Sacramento’s Access Local asked concert goers what the concept of justice meant to them. “Justice would be treating everyone the same.” Read more at The kNOw.
Read More Imagining justiceFormerly incarcerated women shared ideas about how the prison system and other agencies — from law enforcement to child protective services — can do better with their missions to help women and families. Dubbed Sister Warriors, the event convened to address ways the criminal justice system criminalizes young women of color. “What we have survived […]
Read More ‘Sister Warriors’ meet in Oakland to discuss life after prisonWeekends spent visiting an incarcerated uncle, spiced-up ramen noodles from the jail cantina and a web search to find one’s name and a list of arrests. These moments flashed through poetry on display as part of a Merced art event dealing with mass incarceration and youth imprisonment. “Suffice it to say, court records will outlive […]
Read More Words of incarceration: poems from #SchoolsnotPrisons MercedJeremiah Castillo, a reporter and criminal justice activist, has developed a mature understanding of why his father, whom he admires, has spent much of his childhood in prison. Himself the child of drug users and dealers, Jeremiah’s father was forced into gang and drug activity as a pre-teen. Their shared focus on a future together and […]
Read More Q&A: ‘He’s Still My Super Hero’ — An Interview With My Incarcerated FatherHaving a parent in jail takes a big toll on a child. Merced resident Jeremiah Castillo reflects on the sleepless nights worrying about his father in jail and the bullying he faced in school. “My dad is still fighting his case. They want to give him LIFE. They say he is a gang member and […]
Read More A child of incarcerationMany Americans believe that people with criminal convictions can’t vote in elections. But that’s not necessarily true. The American Civil Liberties Union is fighting to overturn and prevent laws designed to prevent certain kinds of people from voting. “Our Democracy is healthier when more people participate.” Watch the video produced by San Diego’s Media Arts Center.
Read More ‘My Voice Matters’Aaliyah Lannerd still remembers the day her family was broken up, as police arrested her father and separated her from her mother. Since then, she has learned first hand some of the trials facing foster youth in the Central Valley. “I was six years old and felt as if I was unwanted and unseen. My foster home was not […]
Read More Fixing a broken foster systemNationwide, it’s rare for pepper spray to be used inside juvenile facilities, but some large California counties allow the chemical to be used by guards on incarcerated minors. Alameda is one of these counties. “I don’t really give much credence to the argument that kids in some states are so out of control that the staff have to […]
Read More Pepper-sprayed in youth jail
