The view from inside a solitary confinement cell in Alcatraz Prison.  Photo credit:  Digital Archaeology | CC2.0, Flickr. 

Introduction

General Resources on Reintegration

American Bar Association, Collateral Consequences for Offenses, by State (ABA website) lists extra consequences of being convicted of a crime, per state

Stephanie S. Covington, A Woman's Journey Home: Challenges for Female Offenders and Their Children. U.S. Dept of Health & Human Services, Dec 1, 2001.

Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. The New Press | Amazon book, Jan 2010.

Lexington, Sex and the Single Black Woman: How the Mass Incarceration of Black Men Hurts Black Women. Economist, Apr 8, 2010.

Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow. Children’s Defense Fund, Dec 15, 2010.  20 min interview

Michael Ollove, Ex-Felons Are About to Get Health Coverage. Pew Charitable Trusts, Apr 5, 2013.

Lorelei Laird, Ex-Offenders Face Tens of Thousands of Legal Restrictions, Bias, and Limits on Their Rights. ABA Journal, Jun 1, 2013.

Christopher D. Hampson, The New American Debtors' Prisons. Social Science Research Network, Aug 4, 2015.

Alan Schwarz, With Clemency From Obama, Drug Offender Embraces Second Chance. New York Times, Aug 14, 2015.

Parker Molloy, President Obama 'Banned the Box.' What It Means and Why You Should Care. Upworthy, Nov 2, 2015.

John Oliver, Prisoner Re-Integration. Last Week Tonight, Nov 8, 2015.

Jeff Guo, America Has Locked Up So Many Black People It Has Warped Our Sense of Reality. Washington Post, Feb 26, 2016.

Jesse Wegman, A Federal Judge’s New Model for Forgiveness. New York Times, Mar 16, 2016.  A certificate of rehabilitation to attempt to counter discrimination in job hiring.

Camila Domonoske, Denying Housing Over Criminal Record May Be Discrimination, Feds Say. NPR, Apr 4, 2016.

Danielle Kurtzleben, Virginia's Governor Just Gave 206,000 People the Right to Vote. NPR, Apr 22, 2016.

Norman Brown, One Year Out. Washington Post, Jul 8, 2016.  the 46 people whose sentences were commuted

WAVY/AP/WRIC, VA Supreme Court: McAuliffe's Voting Rights Restoration is Unconstitutional. WAVY, Jul 22, 2016.  Although Alice Ollstein, Virginia Governor Bypasses Court Ruling To Help 200,000 Ex-Felons Vote (Think Progress, Jul 23, 2016.

Economist, Pandora’s Box: Allowing Ex-cons to Hide Their Criminal Histories Increases Racial Inequality. The Economist, Aug 13, 2016.

Erica Moriarty and Nicolas Pollock, Why Does America Still Imprison Young People for Life? The Atlantic, Sep 1, 2016.

Shira Schoenberg, Boston Senator 'Made Nauseous' by Criminal Justice Working Group. MassLive, Dec 22, 2016.

Liliana Segura, Obama's Clemency Problem - And Ours. The Intercept, Dec 24, 2016.

Kira Lerner, No Longer ‘Voiceless,’ Louisiana Felons Regain the Right to Vote. Think Progress, Jun 1, 2018.

John Oliver, Felony Disenfranchisement. Last Week Tonight, Sep 9, 2018.  focuses on Florida and Governor Rick Scott - note that Scott is a Christian, formerly a Presbyterian (see this), who demonstrates how arbitrary "mercy" can be.

Morgan Hughes, From Prison to College: Consortium Puts Inmates in a Positive Pipeline. Boston Globe, Sep 16, 2018.

German Lopez, Florida Votes to Restore Ex-Felon Voting Rights With Amendment 4. Vox, Nov 6, 2018.  affecting 1.5 million people

Elissa Nadworny, Congress Considers Making College More Accessible To People In Prison. NPR, Apr 20, 2019.   

Evan Gerstmann, How College In Prison Turns Around Lives And Saves Taxpayers Money. Forbes, Nov 23, 2019.

Christian Restorative Justice and Criminal Justice: Topics:

This section on Criminal Justice highlights the biblical, church historical, and practical importance of Christian restorative justice. We examine Restorative Justice in its Christian and secular forms, as well as efforts to apply Classroom Restorative Justice to address the school-to-prison pipeline. We also maintain awareness of Human Trafficking and Drug Policy because of the moral and political importance of these policies. Crime Stats highlights the facts and political uses of statistics. Police Oversight tracks proposed and implemented forms of public governance over the police. Policing lists resources on the police abuse of the public trust. Prosecutors lists resources on the role of prosecutors in the legal system and the discretion they have. Sentencing and Prisons highlight moral problems with jury selection, sentencing disparities, prison conditions, conduct in the correctional systems, and the political placement and funding of prisons to benefit mostly white districts. Reintegration examines the moral imperative of assisting returning citizens.

Related pages include: Racism and Criminal Justice for how racism has impacted criminal justice historically in the U.S.; Race and Slavery for an examination of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade; Sex Industry for attempts at legalizing aspects of the sex trade.

Christian Restorative Justice Critique of the Right: Domestic Policy Topics:

Critique of the Right: Philosophical Influences: