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Tag Archives: incarceration
Criminology Mixology
Criminalization, abolition, and prison reform have long been third-rail issues in America. The only benefit to this impasse of ideologies is the mountain of research that has been collected in the interim. Those of us in camp reality, camp humanity, … Continue reading
193 total views
Posted in African Americans, incarceration, Prisoners, Section, Voices, Voices of Color
Tagged African Americans, criminal justice system, incarceration, prison reform
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The Prison Economy from the Inside
Nineteen-year-old Shamar Betts of Urbana had no previous criminal record when he was arrested for “inciting a riot” via a Facebook post he wrote after witnessing the video of George Floyd’s murder in 2020. He was sentenced to three years … Continue reading
496 total views
Posted in African Americans, incarceration, Prisoners, Section, Voices, Voices of Color
Tagged incarceration, local African American voices, memoir, prison life
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Community Wins Free Phone Calls at the Champaign County Jail
This article originally appeared at Smile Politely on December 5, 2023; reprinted with permission. It has been lightly edited for style. “He calls first thing in the morning just to say good morning,” said Blaine Sherase Lee, whose son was … Continue reading
627 total views
Posted in incarceration
Tagged incarceration, jail conditions, prison profiteers, prison rights
Comments Off on Community Wins Free Phone Calls at the Champaign County Jail
Securus is Charging Families Six Dollars for Phone Calls from Jail
This article originally appeared at Smile Politely on September 28, 2023; reprinted with permission. It has been lightly edited for style. Phone calls are a lifeline for those incarcerated to stay in touch with their families and loved ones. The … Continue reading
250 total views
Posted in incarceration
Tagged incarceration, jail conditions, prison profiteers, prison rights
Comments Off on Securus is Charging Families Six Dollars for Phone Calls from Jail
At the Feds
Shamar Betts had no previous criminal record but was sentenced to three years in federal prison for “inciting a riot” through a Facebook post he wrote after witnessing the video of George Floyd’s murder in 2020. He was also made … Continue reading
212 total views
Posted in African American, African Americans, Arts, BLM, incarceration, Prison Arts, Section, Voices, Voices of Color
Tagged BLM, George Floyd protests, incarceration, memoir
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FirstFollowers: Using Participatory Action Research to Make Change in Our Community
FirstFollowers has a tradition of doing participatory action research at Champaign-Urbana Days, the premier outdoor summer event aimed primarily at the Black community. Participatory Action Research (often called PAR) aims to gather data and information, not just for publication but … Continue reading
397 total views
Posted in African Americans, incarceration, Racism, Section, Violence, Voices of Color
Tagged African Americans, incarceration, local community, participatory research, policing, violence in the community
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Diesel Therapy
The odyssey of Urbana resident Shamar Betts continues. Betts was arrested for authoring a Facebook post at age 19 in the wake of the George Floyd murder in 2020. He was sentenced to four years in federal prison and charged … Continue reading
596 total views
Posted in African American, African Americans, BLM, incarceration, Justice, Prisoners, Section, Voices, Voices of Color
Tagged African Americans, Black Lives Matter, incarceration, US Marshals
Comments Off on Diesel Therapy
Illinois Correctional System: What Is It Really?
The Public i is partnering with the Education Justice Project (EJP) to share writing completed by incarcerated students at the Danville Correctional Center. The EJP is a comprehensive college-in-prison program based at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Through its educational … Continue reading
568 total views, 1 views today
Posted in Arts, Education, incarceration, Prison Arts, Prisoners, Section, Voices
Tagged education, incarcerated people, incarceration
Comments Off on Illinois Correctional System: What Is It Really?
Frustrations of Peer-to-Peer Education in Prisons
The Public i is partnering with the Education Justice Project (EJP) to share writing by incarcerated students at the Danville Correctional Center. The EJP is a comprehensive college-in-prison program based at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Through its educational programming … Continue reading
387 total views
Posted in Arts, Education, incarceration, Prison Arts, Prisoners, Section, Voices
Tagged incarceration, prion arts, prison education
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No Such Thing As a “Safe” Jail: 31-Year-Old Woman Dies at Champaign County Jail
On October 13, 2022, Tillie Deitz, a mother of three young children, died in the Champaign County jail. As I found in my own review of publicly available documents, Deitz admitted to being a drug user upon entering the jail … Continue reading
429 total views
Posted in Drug policy, incarceration, Police
Tagged drug policy, incarceration, policing, prison health care
Comments Off on No Such Thing As a “Safe” Jail: 31-Year-Old Woman Dies at Champaign County Jail
The Assault on the Pretrial Fairness Act
Last month, News-Gazette columnist Jim Dey headlined “hysteria” over the provisions of the 2021 Illinois Pretrial Fairness Act (PFA), which will go into effect in January, including the end to cash bail. Predictably, but illogically, Dey located the hysteria on the side … Continue reading
887 total views
Posted in IL, incarceration, Justice, Politics
Tagged bail reform, Illinois justice, incarceration
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Links
The Public i is partnering with the Education Justice Project (EJP) to share writing completed by incarcerated students at the Danville Correctional Center. The EJP is a comprehensive college-in-prison program based at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Through its educational … Continue reading
343 total views
Posted in Arts, incarceration, Prison Arts, Prisoners
Tagged incarceration, Prison arts
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Donald Trump v. Shamar Betts
I, Shamar Betts, incited a riot through a Facebook post encouraging my people to join alongside the rest of the world in an attempt to express our feelings on the tragic death of George Floyd in May of 2020. Although … Continue reading
577 total views
Posted in African American, African Americans, BLM, Court System, incarceration, January 6 insurrection, Justice, Prisoners, Racism, Trump, Voices of Color, Youth
Tagged African American, BLM, incarceration, Justice, Trump
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Reckless Law, Shameless Order: Behind the Scenes
One afternoon in April of 2021 Faranak Miraftab called me to ask if I was interested in holding an art workshop with formerly incarcerated artists in continuation of the “IDENSCITY,” a conceptual art space that I had been developing … Continue reading
545 total views
Posted in African Americans, African Americans, Arts, Immigrants, incarceration, Local Arts, Prison Arts, Prisoners, Voices, Voices of Color, Women
Tagged Immigrants, incarceration, local arts, Prison arts
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