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From prison to freedom: How a firm is helping detainees get justice

Mustapha Usman

April 30, 2022 |

International Centre for Investigative Reporting |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Nigeria

The Headfort Foundation runs pro bono cases for incarcerated people in need of legal representation. The Foundation recently launched a Lawyers Without Borders initiative that grants easily accessible, free legal services to those in need by setting up mobile offices. This initiative alone has helped more than 175 people thus far.

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In French Presidential Election, Thousands More Vote from Prison

Cole Stangler

April 21, 2022 |

Bolts |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: France

Outside pressure and legal reforms made it easier for people who are incarcerated to vote. The small nonprofit, Robin des Lois, fought to install regular voting booths in prisons, just like any other precinct. After a long public and legal battle, French legislators approved measures allowing in-person voting in prisons, which significantly increased voter turnout.

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The Feeling Of Freedom After Prolonged "Awaiting Trial" In A Nigerian Prison

Ekpali Saint

January 10, 2022 |

Prime Progress |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Nigeria, Lagos

Considering the overwhelming number of low-income inmates awaiting trial in Nigeria due to lack of legal representation, Heafort Foundation takes up such cases and provides legal services free of cost. Since 2019, the foundation has helped about 200 inmates get out of jail while also supporting them with the means to complete their education or learn new skills so they can restart their lives again.

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The Prisoner-Run Radio Station That's Reaching Men on Death Row

Keri Blakinger

December 20, 2021 |

The Marshall Project |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Livingston, Texas

At Texas’ Polunsky Unit, 106.5FM The Tank is a prison radio station run by and for the prison's incarcerated men, including nearly 200 on death row for whom the radio's shows form "a community center for men who can never leave their cells." The death-row prisoners, like many others in the prison, live in solitary confinement with no access to classes, jobs, or TVs. But they are allowed radios, and the prison warden allowed the creation of The Tank using donated equipment. Shows range from advice and religion to music of all sorts. All the shows are recorded as a security precaution.

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Millions of People With Felonies Can Now Vote. Most Don't Know It.

Nicole Lewis Andrew Rodriguez Calderón

June 23, 2021 |

The Marshall Project |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Nevada

Thirteen states restored the right to vote to millions of formerly incarcerated people in the years leading up to the 2020 elections. An analysis of four of them—Nevada, Kentucky, Iowa, and New Jersey—shows the new rights were rarely exercised, ranging from 4% to 23% of newly eligible voters actually registering. None of the four states required prison, parole, or elections officials to notify eligible voters. Those and other information gaps and barriers teach instructive lessons as the 2022 elections approach.

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Clearing a Path from Prison to the Bar Exam

Allen Arthur

June 21, 2021 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

The Formerly Incarcerated Law Students Advocacy Association at City University of New York's law school mentors people whose criminal records serve as a barrier to pursuing a law career. FILSAA is part of a movement to nurture law-practice dreams and make them a reality by knocking down those barriers, including restrictive use of states' "character and fitness" requirements to become licensed to practice. Before that step, mentors can help people prepare for the LSAT and succeed in law school. Advocates say that lawyers with lived experience can serve clients better by earning their trust more readily.

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People in Solitary Confinement and Volunteers Team Up to Garden, Imagine a World Without Prisons

Roshan Abraham

May 27, 2021 |

Next City |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New Orleans, Louisiana

The Solitary Gardens project started in New Orleans and has been copied in multiple other places as a combination art exhibit and therapeutic link between incarcerated people and the outside world. People on both sides of the prison walls collaborate in pairs to design a garden that grows flowers and herbs chosen by the incarcerated person. The gardens match the tiny dimensions of a solitary-confinement cell. The healing herbs are used to help others, and the exercise overall gives incarcerated people a sense of connection to the earth, part of the project's prison-abolition message.

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From LA jail, two inmates pioneer care for mentally ill peers

Francine Kiefer

May 18, 2021 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

At the Los Angeles County Jail, two men incarcerated on pending murder charges created a homegrown approach to improving the care and conditions of confinement for people with serious mental illness. Their approach is simple: showing love and care for people whose illness makes them feel like outcasts. By helping fellow incarcerated men attend counseling and other programs, and by tending to their personal needs, the initiative has contributed to a significant drop in people harming themselves. Fewer restraints are needed, and the pods where the program operates are notably cleaner and calmer than before.

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Prioritizing Incarcerated People for Vaccine Quickly Reduced COVID in Illinois Prisons

Brian Dolinar

April 24, 2021 |

Truthout |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Illinois

After incarcerated people, their families, and advocates pressured the state of Illinois to prioritize offering the Covid vaccines to those in prison, the rate of Covid transmission among the population significantly declined. Although the rollout did not go entirely smoothly and guards have been reluctant to receive the shot, 69% of the incarcerated population in the state have been vaccinated.

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In Vermont, Isolating Inmates Kept Covid at Bay, but at a Price

Danya Issawi Derek M. Norman

April 21, 2021 |

The New York Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Vermont

Vermont is the only state where no people incarcerated in prison died of COVID-19 in the first 12 months of the pandemic, and its infection rate is relatively low. The prisons took steps that other prison systems either didn't try or didn't do soon enough, including universal testing at least six times over the year; strict isolation of newly admitted prisoners for 14 days; occasional lockdowns of up to a month; early releases from prison; and keeping corrections officers housed separately from the community. The isolation measures hurt people's mental health, including one suicide and one attempt.

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