May 2, 2016

Prison Education Guide–Superb Coverage

Prison Education Guide provides essential, detailed information about the educational courses offered to inmates. It is also a guide to re-entry success. Christopher Zoukis, federal prisoner, is an excellent researcher and writer. All prison libraries need a copy.
May 1, 2016

We Are, Indeed, All Doing Time

Bo Lozoff applies the techniques of Buddhist thought to all of us, and especially those incarcerated. 1.Simple living; 2.Personal spiritual practice; 3.Commitment to service. Useful, practical, great read.
April 9, 2016

Behind Bars: Surviving Prison

Behind Bars: Surviving Prison by Jeffrey Ian Ross and Stephan C. Richards (Alpha, Penguin Group, 2002) Behind Bars takes readers from the arrest, to jail, to […]
April 7, 2016

Prisoner Strike! Slave Labor Revealed

Probably you thought the days of inmates working in cotton fields, with an overseer on horseback, were all gone. Wrong. And it gets worse. The Constitution’s 13th Amendment bans slavery and involuntary servitude, “except as a punishment for crime” -- meaning that the U.S. has approximately 2.3 million disenfranchised slaves in what is today a multi-billion dollar a year industry. Should prisons require inmates to work? Should work be optional? Should prisons pay inmates for that work? How much? If that work competes with local businesses who cannot sell/manufacture to compete with the low costs of inmate goods, should the prison stop that work? On September 6, prisons across the country plan a work stoppage to draw attention to these questions. This week, Texas inmates are already involved in a planned work stoppage--so TDC is locking the inmates in their cells. TDC insists these lock-ins are normal, scheduled, and not punitive. I sure hope that's correct. Mostly I fear for the inmates' safety. Prisons are never thrilled to have a protest, even a sit-down work stoppage. They realize that movements created publicity, and publicity opens the light into the secret world inside prisons. How many lives will be lost this time? How many will be injured? And what will we, as citizens, do to man-up to their exposed misery? I hope we stand a ring the bells, scream in the legislative hallways, write letters and email s to prison officials, march outside the prison walls. Are you as ready as they are to make a sacrifice of an hour, a trip, a phone call?
March 31, 2016

Terri LeClercq speaks at Georgetown Law

Terri LeClercq speaks at Georgetown Law - 3/27/2015
March 28, 2016

First UU Church of Austin PAF 1609 – Terri LeClercq

First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin Public Affairs Forum 1609 - March 2016 - Author Terri LeClercq, PhD. - "Inmate Rights, Prison Grievances: A Novel Approach"
February 16, 2016

Women Released from Prison Stumble into Outside Prisons

Elaine Barltett, mother of 4, made an economic decision to move drugs from NYC to ALbany. She was set up and spent 16 years in prison before an unusual exoneration. Her prison story is compelling; her life-after-prison is sad, realistic, hopeless, and yet hopeful.
February 11, 2016

Indiana Changes Solitary Rules

Indiana class-action lawsuit settled. Solitary confinement now prohibited for the mentally ill. Treatment plans must be individualized and reviewed each 90 days.
February 11, 2016

Dalai Lama and Justice–Beyond Religion, Ethics for a Whole World

Inmates and advocacy groups will benefit from Ethics for a Whole World, by the Dalai Lama. He introduces thoughtful ideas and provokes us to our better selves. The Study Guide is useful (written by Texas inmates).
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