Summary:
Short video featuring several formerly incarcerated individuals and a family member talking about why we need independent oversight and how it benefits people in custody, their families, and staff. Featuring national justice reform leaders John Fabricius, Johnny Perez, Jennifer Toon, Lois Pullano, and Stanley Richards.Summary:
The Prison and Jail Innovation Lab hosted a two-day symposium that brought together the country’s leading experts on prison and jail conditions to reflect on some of the most critical and challenging issues in the field. Participants discussed what can be done to address the seemingly intractable horrific conditions in certain correctional systems, including the role of correctional oversight in addressing these issues, and debated whether meaningful reform of America’s prisons and jails is truly possible.
Recordings of three of the conference panels are posted online:
Summary:
The U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing on Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Witnesses testifying at the hearing included Colette Peters, Director of the Bureau of Prisons, Shane Fausey, President of Council of Prison Locals, John Wetzel, CEO Phronema Justice Strategies (and former Director of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections), and Cecilia Cardenas, formerly incarcerated person. The day before this hearing, Senators Jon Ossoff (GA) and Dick Durbin (IL) filed, “The Federal Prison Oversight Act of 2022.”
Summary:
The Subcommittee on Criminal Justice and Counterterrorism held a hearing on the impact of the nation’s correctional staffing crisis on correctional officers and incarcerated persons. Witnesses testifying at the hearing included John Wetzel, CEO of Phronema Justice Strategies (and former Director of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections); Brandy Moore White, President of the AFGE Council of Prison Locals 33 in Arkansas; Stephen B. Walker, National Wellness Director of One Voice United; Santia Nance, Co-Founder of Sistas in Prison Reform; and Rafael Mangual, Nick Ohnell Fellow at the Manhattan Institute.Summary:
The U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing on the deaths of incarcerated individuals in federal prisons. Witnesses testifying at the hearing included Colette S. Peters, Director of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, and the Honorable Michael E. Horowitz, Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Justice.Summary:
Short video featuring several formerly incarcerated individuals and a family member talking about why we need independent oversight and how it benefits people in custody, their families, and staff. Featuring national justice reform leaders John Fabricius, Johnny Perez, Jennifer Toon, Lois Pullano, and Stanley Richards.Summary:
Chief Inspector Charlie Taylor discusses key findings in the H.M. Inspectorate of Prisons’ Annual Report 2022-23 with Danny Shaw, a former editor of the BBC and an independent commentator on justice, prisons, and immigration.
Summary:
The Prison and Jail Innovation Lab hosted a two-day symposium that brought together the country’s leading experts on prison and jail conditions to reflect on some of the most critical and challenging issues in the field. Participants discussed what can be done to address the seemingly intractable horrific conditions in certain correctional systems, including the role of correctional oversight in addressing these issues, and debated whether meaningful reform of America’s prisons and jails is truly possible.
Recordings of three of the conference panels are posted online:
Summary:
During this session of the 2022 International Corrections & Prisons Association’s (ICPA) Annual Conference and General Meeting, panelists Ivan Zinger (Correctional Investigator of Canada) Michael Horowitz (Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Justice), and Fiona Rafter (Australia Inspector of Custodial Services) discussed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their respective agencies’ operations and ways they modified their approaches to deliver external oversight during an unprecedented public health emergency.Summary:
The U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing on Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Witnesses testifying at the hearing included Colette Peters, Director of the Bureau of Prisons, Shane Fausey, President of Council of Prison Locals, John Wetzel, CEO Phronema Justice Strategies (and former Director of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections), and Cecilia Cardenas, formerly incarcerated person. The day before this hearing, Senators Jon Ossoff (GA) and Dick Durbin (IL) filed, “The Federal Prison Oversight Act of 2022.”
Summary:
The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held a hearing to discuss the failure of the U.S. Department of Justice to implement the Death in Custody Reporting Act. The discussion also included the DOJ’s process for notifying family members of the death of their incarcerated loved one. Witnesses included Vanessa Fano, sister of Jonathan Fano, who died in the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison in Louisiana; Belinda Maley, mother of Matthew Loflin, who died in the Chatham County Detention Center in Georgia; Andrea Armstrong, Professor of Law at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law; Maureen A. Henneberg, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Operations and Management at the DOJ’s Office of Justice Programs.Summary:
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee held an oversight hearing for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons about the agency’s response to the COVID crisis in federal prisons.
See also: Written testimony jointly submitted by Aaron Littman (UCLA COVID Behind Bars Data Project), Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein (COVID Prison Project), and Michele Deitch (COVID, Corrections, and Oversight Project at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs).Summary:
This one-day virtual conference brought together scholars, practitioners, people with lived experience, non-governmental organizations, policymakers, and oversight bodies to explore key issues in prison oversight in Europe. The conference provided an opportunity to discuss findings from research conducted by the PRILA project team about European models of correctional oversight.
Summary:
What does prison oversight look like in New York State? Phillip Miller, the then-associate director of policy at the Correctional Association of New York (CANY), discusses a bill that would strengthen the oversight of New York’s state prison system. He also discusses the goals of independent external oversight and the ways this bill strengthens CANY’s ability to help the state achieve those goals.
Summary:
Panelists discuss the strategies being utilized during the COVID-19 crisis to secure releases and the status of release efforts in various jurisdictions, support for those who are released and the safety of those left behind, and oversight’s role in the process. Panelists include Andrea Armstrong, Professor of Law at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law; Patrisse Cullors, Co-founder of Black Lives Matter and Founder of Dignity and Power Now; Ronald F. Day, Vice President of Programs at The Fortune Society; Mark-Anthony Johnson, Founder of Frontline Wellness Network; Douglas Smith, Policy Analyst at the Texas Center for Justice and Equity.