Faith Leaders Opposed to Prison Privatization
Several months ago I was blessed to meet a young man, Marcus, whose story is not unlike so many young African American young men who find themselves on the other side of a prison cell.Marcus lived a...
View ArticleStudy: No Evidence That Death Penalty Deters Crime
In the more than three decades since the national moratorium on the death penalty was lifted, there is no reliable research to determine whether capital punishment has served as a deterrent, according...
View ArticleMiss America Uses Platform for Kids of Prisoners
Laura Kaeppeler has a fantasy gig: traveling nonstop, wearing stylish new outfits each day and attracting TV crews in every city she visits as Miss America 2012.But the glamorous appearances go for a...
View ArticlePriorities of the First Presidential Debate: Q & A with Marianne Williamson
Editor's Note: Tweet @newshour to ask the candidates to #TalkPoverty in Wednesday's debate.Marianne Williamson, a bestselling author and convener of the upcoming Sister Giant conference on women and...
View ArticleIncarceration Nation
Putting Americans behind bars is becoming an increasingly lucrative business.read more
View ArticleShackles, Operation Streamline, and Spokes in the Wheel
Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.— Hebrews 13:3Where are defendants, who have committed no atrocious crimes,...
View ArticleAn Incarceration of Silence
The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world; one third of those incarcerated are serving long-term sentences for petty, non-violent crimes. One out of three African-American men...
View ArticleWhat If It’s Not the Prisoner Who Needs Forgiveness?
We started making our new documentary “Redemption of the Prosecutor” for the same reason we always do: someone told us a story.Bill Mefford works in the social justice office of the United Methodist...
View ArticleWATCH: Would Putting Me in Prison Serve the Common Good?
The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world — about 1.6 million people in 2010. Mass incarceration in our country is a problem, one that too often serves to line the pockets of...
View ArticleWhat God Has Joined
Social, political, and economic forces can either undermine the institution of marriage–or foster a society where it thrives.read more
View ArticleWhen We Are More Interested in Evangelical Infighting Than Serious Issues of...
My dad used to tell a joke from the pulpit, back when “damn” was a much stronger word in evangelical/fundamentalist circles than it is now.It went roughly like this:“Millions of people die every day...
View ArticleUnlawful Entry
I watched the police toss Steve, age 70, into the crowd behind me.read more
View ArticleWhy I Chained Myself to a Deportation Bus
On Oct. 11, I spent the morning under the front wheel of a bus filled with shackled immigrants. I joined this action with other community members to stop the two Homeland Security buses (operated by...
View ArticleCongress, Please.
I live in community. What constitutes living in community means different things depending on whom you're talking to. To my 80-year-old grandmother it means that I have joined a cult. In reality, I...
View ArticleRemembering Our True Source of Joy
As we prepare for the coming of Christ, the third Sunday of advent is celebrated in joy. As followers of Christ, it is reasonable to be exuberant about the birth of our Savior. The amount of happiness...
View ArticleShowing Deference to the Rich: 'Affluenza' and 'The House I Live In'
I recently watched Eugene Jarecki’s remarkable documentary, The House I Live In, which is about the American ‘war on drugs’ and the burgeoning prison population it engendered and continues to...
View ArticleMandatory Minimums: How Long Does it Take to Learn Your Lesson?
Before selling illegal drugs, Dejarion Echols worked several years for a youth correctional agency and a psychiatric residential-treatment facility for teenagers. He decided to pursue a college...
View ArticleIn and Out of the Zoo
One time I took a group of people in the drug rehab program to the local zoo. Most of our group had been to prison – some for years. Most were felons. Most of the women had been prostitutes as well as...
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