"In Idaho prisons, more than two dozen women say guards prey on them with little fear of consequences — and those who speak up are often punished."

The U.S. is a leader in women's incarceration, and behind bars, women are anything but safe. 🧵

investigatewest.org/staff-sexual-a… An investigation in Idaho by @investigatewest found that, since 2020, there have been dozens of allegations of staff sexually abusing women behind bars.

This number is alarming – and it's an undercount, since some women do not report abuse out of fear of retaliation.

🚨NEW REPORT: The U.S. incarcerates women at a higher rate than almost any other country in the world

So much for the “land of the free” 🧵 Since 2000, the number of imprisoned women has grown by almost 60% globally – and the U.S. remains a significant driver of that.

Only 4% of the world’s women and girls live in the U.S., but the country confines 25% of the world’s incarcerated women and girls.

The Attica prison uprising began on September 9, 1971, before being brutally shut down.

Incarcerated people released a list of demands ranging from pay raises to parole reform to better food – demands that people in prison are still fighting for over fifty years later. 🧵 This excerpt from Frank ‘Big Black’ Smith gives a glimpse at what life was like inside the troubled prison.

Unfortunately, it reads as if it could have been written today.

niastories.wordpress.com/wp-content/upl…

In a desperate attempt to recruit ICE agents, DHS is offering massive signing bonuses, lowering age requirements, and shortening training periods.

We've seen these exact recruitment strategies play out in U.S. prisons & jails – and they always fail 🧵

theguardian.com/us-news/2025/s… While correction officers & ICE agents are entirely different roles, we'd bet there is a ton of overlap when it comes to staffing issues.

Prisons & jails complain that they can't hire and retrain enough staff

Why? The most obvious answer: There are way too many people locked up

Pres. Trump's executive order says it is about connecting unhoused people with treatment. Sounds good, right?

Well, the reality of it is, no surprise, much worse. 🧵

axios.com/2025/07/25/civ… The measure aims to force unhoused people experiencing mental health or substance use issues into civil commitment facilities.

Defenders of these facilities claim they are treatment, not prisons, but there are far more similarities than differences:

prisonpolicy.org/blog/2023/05/1…

70% of parents in state prison keep in touch with their kids via mail.

This outrageous hike on stamp prices will hit them hard – especially considering they are often paid pennies per hour (or LESS) for work behind bars.

usatoday.com/story/money/20… Contact with loved ones is essential behind bars. But phone calls are expensive, and distance can make family visits rare or impossible.

That's where mail comes in – a crucial form of communication that people behind bars rely on far more than the average person.

"She’s spent around $20,000 total on calls from prison during the six years her husband has been inside—all so that he could continue fathering their three children while he served out his sentence."

boltsmag.org/north-carolina… Contact with loved ones is a lifeline for incarcerated people – and telecom companies use that to fill their pockets with hundreds of millions of dollars.

And now, the @FCC is letting them continue to get away with it.

“That pain was indescribable. What hurt me more... was the fact that nobody cared”

55,000 pregnant people are admitted to jail yearly – but almost no data exists on how they're treated

Now, researchers are using anecdotes to reveal the horrific truth🧵
prisonpolicy.org/blog/2025/07/0… Given the lack of transparency from jails about pregnancies and reproductive care, a team of researchers with @ARRWIP turned to local news coverage.

They found stories of 35 births within jails over 10 years – along with a grave picture of what's happening behind bars.

People have asked for our take on this article that suggests the U.S. prison population could drop by 60% over the coming years.

Here it is: The math checks out. But the assumptions about the future depend on the choices policymakers make today. 🧵

theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/… The article is right. Prison populations have — for the most part — fallen over the last 15+ years.

That is a reason to celebrate and have hope for the future.

But those trends aren’t guaranteed to continue…and there are reasons to doubt they will.

🚨NEW: Prison transfers are common, but that doesn't mean they're easy for incarcerated people and their loved ones.

We examined transfer records & interviews with dozens of formerly incarcerated New Yorkers to find out how transfers upend people's lives 🧵 "The worst experience of my life."

Transfers require people to pack their belongings, undergo invasive strip searches, and take long trips while restrictively shackled.

These moves affect every aspect of life behind bars, from peer networks to familiarity with officers.

Incarcerated people have to "douse themselves with toilet water" to cool off from sweltering heat, and Texas still refuses to provide air conditioning in prisons.

This is a form of torture.
newsfromthestates.com/article/bill-a… Texas would rather FALSIFY DATA than install air conditioning in prisons, all while temps routinely exceed 100° and put people in dire situations:
texastribune.org/2025/03/21/tex…

🚨NEW: The prison health care system is broken beyond repair. One of the most sinister features is copays – fees that often cost an entire week's pay for incarcerated people

Facilities claim copay "waivers" help, but the reality is they're not enough 🧵

prisonpolicy.org/blog/2025/05/1… Almost all state prison systems charging copays have exemptions for some services, but they're so limited, ill-defined, and inconsistent that they fail to make the copay system less harmful.

Take a look at how rare waivers are, even for the most basic types of care:

This Correctional Officers Week is a good time to examine the "staffing crisis" across the US

Prisons & jails are complaining that they can't hire & retain enough staff – why?

The simplest, most obvious answer: There are way too many people locked up🧵
prisonpolicy.org/blog/2024/12/0… But that's not all.

People have always quit correctional jobs at high rates. Working in a prison or jail is harmful to mental health. It means being surrounded by trauma & suffering.

(Much of the violence behind bars is perpetrated by COs themselves)

prisonpolicy.org/blog/2022/05/0…

The carceral system is inundated with crises – that's why investigative journalism is more important than ever

On #WorldPressFreedomDay, here are 10 stories from 2024 that newsrooms can emulate to shine a light inside the black box of mass incarceration🧵
prisonpolicy.org/blog/2024/12/1… @IvanaSuzette & @JohnArchibald took a deep dive into Alabama's parole system, which is granting release to fewer people each year

Their series exposes a system that keeps the elderly locked up for decades & demonizes people with minor convictions
al.com/denied/

While we're talking about #FreshOutTheSlammer... April is actually Second Chance Month.

Let's talk about what challenges & obstacles formerly incarcerated people face upon release as they work to rebuild their lives, families, and careers 🧵 600,000 people are released from state and federal prisons each year in the US, and carrying a conviction history comes with huge obstacles.

It's April Fools' Day, but prisons and jails are no joke.

So we've pulled together 7 alarming facts about mass incarceration that may sound like hoaxes, but sadly are not 🧵
prisonpolicy.org/blog/2025/04/0… 1. Each year, prisons & jails take millions from incarcerated people & their families through "inmate welfare funds"

This money is supposed to benefit incarcerated people but is often abused. One jail even used it to pay for staff gun range memberships.

prisonpolicy.org/reports/shadow…

🚨NEW REPORT: Since 2000, over 50% of all US states have been court-ordered to improve prison medical care

But behind bars, "healthcare" continues to come second to controlling costs and avoiding lawsuits 🧵
prisonpolicy.org/reports/health… Incarcerated people are routinely failed by their healthcare providers. Yet, the quality of healthcare in jails & prisons remains poor: health issues and mortality rates remain at crisis levels, costs continue to mount, and depts cycle through contracts with various providers

For nearly 40 years, landlords have had the ability to deny as many as 3 million people housing based solely on a past drug conviction – even when they are qualified in every other way, and even when the conviction is decades old

How did we get here?🧵

prisonpolicy.org/blog/2025/02/0… The Fair Housing Act of 1968 stops housing providers from discriminating against tenants on most bases

But in 1988, the Thurmond Amendment—yes, named after segregationist Strom Thurmond—created a carveout to this key piece of civil rights legislation
segregationinamerica.eji.org/segregationists

🚨NEW REPORT: Prison disciplinary systems are supposed to provide safety, security, and order – but our analysis shows that in reality these systems are counterproductive, traumatizing, and actually lengthen prison stays 🧵
prisonpolicy.org/reports/discip… We combed through policies from all 50 states & testimony from dozens of incarcerated people and found that prison discipline is a system of petty tyranny with devastating consequences

It explains why >50% of people in state prisons are punished at least 1x/year for misconduct

Yesterday, new regulations from the @FCC around phone and video call costs went into effect for prisons & large jails. They're meant to save incarcerated people & their families millions of $$.

But there are some big caveats. Here’s what people paying for calls can expect 🧵 @FCC If you or your loved one are in prison, or a jail with over 1,000 people, the new FCC rules now apply. Calls cannot exceed 6¢/minute, and ancillary (extra) fees are banned.

BUT: You probably won’t see the rates change immediately.

The carceral system is inundated with crises – that's why investigative journalism is more important than ever

We pulled together 10 stories from 2024 that newsrooms can emulate next year to shine a light inside the black box of mass incarceration 🧵
prisonpolicy.org/blog/2024/12/1… @IvanaSuzette & @JohnArchibald took a deep dive into Alabama's parole system, which is granting release to fewer people each year

Their series exposes a system that keeps the elderly locked up for decades & demonizes people with minor convictions
al.com/denied/