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Tag Archives: jail

December 9, 2022: Care Not Cages

We turn our focus this week to a local struggle. Here in Bloomington Indiana, Monroe County Government is quickly moving forward with a proposal for a new $60+ million dollar jail to replace and expand the downtown jail. With little input from community members, consultants hired by the county have recommended jail expansion, and the county government has begun the …

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March 11, 2022: Prison Profiteering with Brian Dolinar

This week, we share a conversation with Brian Dolinar. He has been on the show before, speaking about Parole Illinois. In this episode, he talks about Guardian RFID, a company that produces handheld devices that allow jail guards to do headcounts for inmates electronically via scanning. As he explains, various technologies are being used to expand the carceral net. He …

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October 1, 2021: Progressive Punishment

In 2008, Monroe County moved to build a new, expanded jail -framed as a “justice campus” using humanitarian rhetoric.  In response, a diverse group of local residents founded an organization called Decarcerate Monroe County (DMC). Judah Schept, who returns as our guest alongside Micol Seigel, was an organizer in the successful DMC campaign to block jail expansion here, as well …

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August 27, 2021: The Punitive Image of the State

For our episode this week, we share the second of a two-part conversation between Nicole Fleetwood and Micol Seigel. Fleetwood’s recent book, Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration, is a wide-ranging exploration of visual art made by people in prison. Fleetwood explains “I started working on this book as a way to deal with the grief about so …

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June 26, 2020: The High Stakes of Institutional Racism During COVID-19

This week, we share a phone conversation between Kijana Tashiri Askari and C, one of their outside supporters. Askari is incarcerated in the California Medical Facility- a male-only state carceral medical institution.The recorded this conversation earlier this week, about the conditions Kijana and others are facing, including improper COVID-19 protocol on the part of the prison, retaliatory cell searches, secret …

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May 8, 2020: COVID-19 Kites

The country might be locked down, but struggles inside prisons and out continue to develop chaotically and unexpectedly intersect with the COVID-19 crisis.  Prisoners in Stateville in Illinois report that they continue to suffer from a full lockdown, restricting their programming and access to phones.  Yet, guards are patting them down without washing their hands between each person, making transmission …

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March 20, 2020: COVID-19 Updates From the Inside

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to change life on the outside for people all over the world, the prison population stands to suffer immensely in these times. Last week, we spoke to someone in Italy, who described the riots and protests inside and outside the prisons in areas around that country. This week, we are sharing messages from people all …

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February 14, 2020: The Penal System is Bleeding Out

In this week’s episode, we start off with a call for action from Jailhouse Lawyers Speak. JLS is calling for a new set of actions from August 21- September 9, 2020. After we hear from them, we share the story of Nick, a long-time Bloomingtonian who passed through both private prisons and those run by the Indiana Department of Corrections. …

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January 3, 2020: #MeToo in Prison

Our episode this week finishes the conversation between Rojas, Meg, and Cyrus. Last week, they spoke about the conditions of transgender and gender non-conforming prisoners in the prison system. They continue talking about efforts to support transgender and GNC prisoners inside and outside of the walls. Additionally, they talk to each other about exciting upcoming projects, how the #MeToo Movement …

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December 20, 2019: Counterinsurgency on the Inside

On our show this week, we hear from Dennis Boatright, a co-organizer with MAPS- Michigan Abolition and Prisoner Support. Boatright presents ‘From Convict to Inmate’, tracing the counter insurgent and repressive measures- such as isolation, book restriction, and even the colors used within the facilities- used by the Michigan Department of Corrections to neutralize and depoliticize prisoners. He spoke about …

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