Texts Not Jails! Before and After Covid-19 via 70 Million
Covid-19 has transformed jails and prisons into death traps. How are some communities jailing less people in the first place? ———- After someone is arrested, there are multiple court-ordered actions after they make bail. Often, missing any of these–especially court appearances–winds them up in jail. 70 Million’s reporter Jenny Casas goes to Palm Beach, Florida, where something as simple as texting...
70Million: The Work of Closing a Notorious Jail
70Million: The Work of Closing a Notorious Jail Five years after Michael Brown’s death at the hands of a police officer galvanized criminal justice reform activists in St. Louis, they’re gaining serious momentum to shut down the city’s notorious Workhouse jail. Reporter Carolina Hidalgo spent time with the Close the Workhouse campaign and Arch City Defenders, their supporters, and detractors. [TRANSCRIPT BELOW] 70...
Decarcerated with Danielle Sered: Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair
Decarcerated with Danielle Sered Courtesy of the Decarcerated Podcast, host Marlon Peterson hosts a live conversation with Common Justice founder Danielle Sered. Sered’s New Book, Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair explores the difficult transformations we need to make — both as individuals and as a society — before we can displace and replace the prison industrial complex. Danielle tackles the...
70 Million: Undocumented Immigrants are Tethered to ICE & Private Companies
70 Million See Transcript Below A handful of companies are making millions off of ankle monitors strapped to undocumented immigrants in ICE custody. The makers pitch the monitors as an alternative to being jailed, but are they simply another form of bondage? Reporter Ryan Katz looks at what life is life while wearing one of these monitors. He untangles the complicated web of ICE, immigration bail agent companies, and the attorneys...
70 Million – Reform Activists and a New DA Find Common Ground
70 Million Activists in Houston were galvanized by events in Ferguson in 2014 following the death of Michael Brown. First, they took to the streets in protest. Then they started organizing. Not long after, they found a kindred spirit in the most unlikely person: a candidate for the DA office. 70 Million reporter, Ruxandra Guidi, chronicles how activists and reformers are succeeding in cutting the jail population, diverting...
Parenting From Prison, Inside Out
When one or both parents are incarcerated the family is also incarcerated and are adversely affected in profound ways that exacerbate existing structural inequalities and struggles. Programs for inmates and families like FamilyWorks and the Storybook Program, encourage rebuilding and maintaining relationships despite being separated by prison. The Osborne’s FamilyWorks program, the first comprehensive parenting program in a men’s...
Call for Pitches!
Do you have a story with perspectives on an ongoing local, national, or global issue? Do you have access to voices and perspectives that get lost in mainstream media landscape? How are people working to cope, and change things? If so, consider pitching to Making Contact! We’re looking for pitches from freelancers on several themes. See list below. Seeking Pitches Immigration: We want your pitches!...
The Struggle Inside: The Murder of George Jackson
On this edition of Making Contact we present, The Struggle Inside: The Murder of George Jackson, a program about the modern anti-prison movement. This year marks the 38th anniversary of Black August, first originated in the California prisons to honor fallen Freedom Fighters, George and Jonathan Jackson, Khatari Gaulden, James McClain, and William Christmas. Jonathan Jackson was gunned down outside the Marin County courthouse on...
A New Way of Life and the New Underground Railroad
After serving time, finding food, a job and a place to live with a criminal record can become an almost impossible task. On this edition, Women building their own support network after being released from prison. We’ll hear “A New Way of Life and the New Underground Railroad” a documentary by Chris Moore-Backman.
Our Bodies, Our Stories: Reproductive Health Behind Bars
Pregnant women in America’s prisons are being shackled to their beds; others are being sterilized. Correctional institutions claim the policies are for safety’s sake, but thousands of incarcerated people are fighting for control of their own reproductive health.
