Justice In America

Since you last heard from us at Justice in America, we're excited to share that The Appeal became a worker-led nonprofit newsroom. We are continuing to expose the harms of the criminal legal system and elevate solutions that keep all people safe.

While Justice in America remains on hiatus for now, we are thrilled to share our first podcast episode since our relaunch: a co-produced episode of "The Wall: Behind and Beyond," hosted by Phillip A. Jones, who has spent more than 30 years in prison in Maryland and Washington.

In this episode, Phillip interviews David Shipley about his experiences in a British "open prison," where there are no guards, no bars, and prisoners are free to leave during the day to work or study in the community. As David says, "It's the most free you can be while still being in prison." Phillip and David discuss the promises and limitations of this model, as well as the challenges in implementing a similar model in the United States. Please note: The this audio was recorded by Philip while in his cell as the Washington Department of Corrections does not provide prisoners with access to high-quality studios.

On this episode of Justice in America, Josie Duffy Rice and her co-host Derecka Purnell talk about education in prisons. They'll discuss the impact of having access to education, the dire lack of available programming, and what happened to prison education after the 1994 crime bill. They're joined by Dyjuan Tatro and Wesley Caines, alumni of the Bard Prison Initiative. The Bard Prison Initiative is a college program offered through Bard College in six New York State prisons. It's also the subject of a critically acclaimed new documentary series on PBS, called College Behind Bars.