Beyond prisons

Breaking the cycle of crime and punishment.

States Reconsider the Death Penalty

by Richard Dieter

posted Oct 20, 2009

New reports find that, while the death penalty drains money from state budgets, police chiefs don't consider it effective in deterring crime.

Costa Rica Creates Department of Peace

by Susie Shutts

posted Sep 22, 2009

Former justice ministry will now focus on promoting peace and conflict resolution.

When the Prisoners Ran Walpole

by Carol Estes

posted Sep 18, 2009

Carol Estes reviews Jamie Bissonette's account of a true story in the movement for prison abolition

Healing Power of Prison Poetry

by Eli Hastings

posted Sep 09, 2009

Writers help teens in jail learn to express difficult truths by putting pencil to paper.

Signs of Life :: New Mexico Ends Capital Punishment

by Kim Eckart

posted May 07, 2009

New Mexico becomes the second state to abolish the death penalty, since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976.

Prison Meditation

posted Nov 04, 2008

East meets West in the Deep South. An overcrowded maximum-security prison—the end of the line in Alabama's correctional system—is dramatically changed by the influence of an ancient meditation program.

Signs of Life :: Prison Reform

by Brooke Jarvis

posted May 22, 2008

A Chance for a New Life After Prison

Mere Justice

by Jesse Wegman

posted Feb 06, 2007

The drive to punishment is making us forget that prisoners have a right to be heard.

Guantanamo on the Mississippi

by Jordan Flaherty

posted Mar 24, 2006

Prisoners incarcerated in New Orleans institutions during Katrina suffered even more than usual.

Freedom Project :: Inmates Find Peace

by Dee Axelrod

posted Feb 15, 2006

The Freedom Project teaches prisoners nonviolent communication techniques and helps them to transition into communities when released.

Book Reviews: Now is it time to close the prisons?

by Carol Estes

posted May 20, 2004

Now is it time to close the prisons? by Carol Estes - Book reviews of THE PERPETUAL PRISONER MACHINE: How America Profits from Crime By Joel Dyer - ARE PRISONS OBSOLETE? By Angela Y. Davis - PRISON NATION: The Warehousing of America's Poor Edited by Tara Herivel and Paul Wright - THE DEATH GAME: Capital Punishment and the Luck of the Draw - By Mike Gray

Book Review: Couldn't Keep It To Myself: Testimonies From Our Imprisoned Sisters

by Bill Williams

posted May 20, 2004

COULDN'T KEEP IT TO MYSELF: Testimonies from our Imprisoned Sisters By Wally Lamb and the Women of York Correctional Institution. Book Review by Bill Williams.

Through My Enemy's Eyes

by Troy Chapman

posted Nov 05, 2001

A prisoners story of finding a third way, of finding meaning and truth. Sometimes the man who knows the most about hate can tell us the most about love, and the man acquainted with despair can teach us to hope.

Danny Glover :: The Death Penalty in this Great Nation of Ours

by Danny Glover

posted Nov 05, 2001

Speech given at Princeton considers the fallibility of our justice system and the finality of death.

Reader Stories And Letters

posted Sep 30, 2000

Reader Stories and Letters in response the "Is It Time to Close the Prisons" Issue.

Resource Guide: Reconciliation

posted Sep 30, 2000

Resources around restorative justice and reconciliation.

Learning To Choose

by Raymond Roy

posted Sep 30, 2000

Roy describes the development of a victim empathy class for prisoners in Oregon and it's impact on inmates.

Youth Court: Jury of Their Peers

by Edgar S. Cahn

posted Sep 30, 2000

The Time Dollar Youth Court in Washington, D.C. for first time juvenile offenders aims to keep first offenders from becoming hardened criminals.

Street Ministers

by Michael Jonas

posted Sep 30, 2000

In 1990 Boston had 152 killings; in 1999, the number had fallen to 30, not one of them a juvenile. Boston's nationally acclaimed approach to stemming gang violence and youth crime is examined.

The Hard Road of Forgiveness

by Mary Sue Penn

posted Sep 30, 2000

Bill Pelke forgives his grandmother's killer and works with Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation to oppose the death penalty.