Lobby groups & think tanks 360 Degrees explores the criminal justice system and its prison population. Through 1st person stories the interactive site takes a critical look at who is in prison today and why. [email protected] or (212) 226-3099 ext.301 Action Committee for Women in Prison promotes the leadership of and gives voice to women prisoners, former prisoners, and their families. Maintains a Pen Pal Project. [email protected] (Jeanne Pieper) All of Us Or None is a national organizing initiative of prisoners, former prisoners and felons, to combat the many forms of discrimination that we face as the result of felony convictions. (415) 255-7036 Amnesty International USA works for an end to executions. AI maintains a Death Penalty Web Log. [email protected] or (212) 807 8400 Books 4 Prisoners Crew Since our founding in 2002 we have sent out over 50,000 prisoner book packages. The group also publishes Inside Out – A Resource Guide for the Incarcerated. Box 19065, Cincinnati, OH 45219 [email protected] Books Not Bars is a California campaign aiming to shut down the state’s abusive and costly youth prisons and replace them with alternatives that work like regional rehabilitation centers and community-based programs. [email protected] or (510) 428-3939 x240 Books Through Bars sends progressive political and educational materials at no charge to state and federal prisoners in all states except Michigan and Oregon. 4722 Baltimore Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19143 [email protected] or (215) 727.8170 Cageprisoners.com is a non-sectarian Islamic human rights group that raises awareness of the plight of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and others held as part of “War on Terror.” [email protected] California Prison Focus works to end human rights abuses and torture in California prisons including abolishing the Security Housing Units, to end medical neglect and to insure civil and human rights for all prisoners. [email protected] or (415) 252-9211 Center for Constitutional Rights has litigated for Ohio supermax prisoners and for the detainees in Guantanamo Bay. In a 2005 landmark ruling, the US Supreme Court held that prisoners are entitled to due process. CCR continues to represent more than 200 the detainees at Guantánamo Bay Prison, and coordinate a legal network comprised of hundreds of attorneys. [email protected] or (212) 614-6464 Center on Wrongful Convictions Excellent source for information on wrongful convictions; based in Illinois and a project of Northwest University School of Law. [email protected] Chicago Books to Women in Prison sends free books to women prisoners in Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi and Ohio. C/o Beyond Media Education, 7013 N. Glenwood Ave, Chicago, IL 60626 [email protected] Commission on Safety and Abuse in America’s Prisons examines the nature and extent of violence, sexual abuse, degradation, and other abuses in American prisons, funded through the Vera Institute of Justice. [email protected] or (212) 376-3155 (Abbi Leman) Critical Resistance is opposed to caging and controlling people in prisons, maintaining that prison is not an effective response to poverty and crime. Check out its Ex-Prisoner Resource Page. [email protected] or (510) 444-0484 (Rose Braz) CURE, International Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants is a membership organization of families of prisoners, prisoners, former prisoners and other concerned citizens. CURE’s two goals are to use prisons only for those who have to be in them and for those who have to be in them, to provide them all the rehabilitative opportunities they need to turn their lives around. National CURE, P.O. BOX 2310, National Capitol Station, Washington, DC 20013-2310 Call (202) 789-2126 Death Penalty Information Center is a great resource on issues concerning the death penalty nationwide. It has a special section dedicated to monitoring the legal situation state-by-state in regard to lethal injection. [email protected] or (202) 289-2275 Defending Justice by Political Research Associates is an Activist Resource Kit that helps progressive activists understand and resist the Right, the State, and other forces that contribute to the growing system of courts, surveillance, policing, and incarceration. [email protected] or (617) 666-5300
Education Not Incarceration advocates reprioritizing resources away from prison systems into comprehensive and equitable education for all people. The Oakland (Calif.) based nonprofit group provides an intelligent curriculum page. [email protected] or (510) 533-3204 Fortune Society staffed primarily by former prisoners, this NGO is dedicated to educating the public about prisons, criminal justice issues, and the root causes of crime. [email protected] or (212) 691-7554 Human Rights Institute at the University of Connecticut promotes the study of human rights in the USA and globally. It has hosted conferences on ‘Human Rights in an Age of Terrorism’, ‘Economic Rights’ and ‘Humanitarian Narratives of Suffering’. [email protected] Human Rights Watch HRW’s Prison Project keeps track of prison conditions around the world, international human rights standards, and the prison related activities of the U.N. [email protected] or (202) 612-4321 Innocence Project at the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law in New York. Handles only cases of actual innocence provable by DNA testing. See consideration form, or write: Innocence Project 100 Fifth Avenue, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 1001. [email protected] or (212) 364-5340 Justice Denied The magazine for the wrongly convicted is published bi-monthly by The Justice Institute. The only magazine in the world exclusively devoted to publicizing cases of wrongful conviction. Request for JD’s information packet to be sent to a prisoner at: [email protected] or 206-335-4254 (Hans Sherrer) Justice Policy Institute promotes effective solutions to social problems and is dedicated to ending societys reliance on incarceration. JPI has a new online section, featuring factsheets, research reports and more resources. [email protected] or (202) 558-7974 Legal Services For Prisoners With Children advocates for the human rights and empowerment of incarcerated parents, children, family members and people at risk for incarceration. [email protected] or (415) 255-7036 Prison Activist Resource Center is a source for progressive information on prisons and the criminal prosecution system. Educational and activist resources, news, alerts and analysis. [email protected] or (510) 893.4648 Prison Design Boycott Campaign: It’s Time to Stop Building Prisons. Many architects, designers, and planners already refuse to do prison work as an informal policy. The campaign hopes to raise awareness of the problems with the prison system. Director: Raphael Sperry, www.450architects.com [email protected] OR (415) 974-1306 Prison Book Program covers prisoners in all states but CA, MA, MD, MI, PA, or TX. Publishes the National Prisoner Resource List free to prisoners nationwide on request. Specify several subjects that might be interesting to the person rather than a specific title. Lucy Parsons Bookstore, 1306 Hancock Street, Suite 100, Quincy, MA 02169. [email protected] or (617) 423-3298 or Prison Legal News is a monthly journal edited by former Washington State prisoner Paul Wright that covers prison-related news and analysis. Features a prisoner look-up search engine. Or visit another state-by-state database. [email protected] (Don Miniken), [email protected] (Paul Wright) or (206) 246-1022 Prison Radios mission is to challenge mass incarceration and racism by airing the voices of men and women in prison by bringing their voices into the public dialogue on crime and punishment. Audio files of commentaries written by Prisonersolidarity coeditor S. A. Hasan are here. [email protected] or (415) 648-4505 PrisonerLife.com started with an idea conceived by prisoners incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution, Ft. Dix. They believed there was a need to provide ALL prisoners with an opportunity to communicate with the world, and for their families and friends, as well as the public, to better understand the prison system and the people it holds. [email protected] PrisonSucks.com is a website with lots of interesting statistics and links to statistical information related to imprisonment. Real Cost of Prisons Project brings together activists, economists, artists, researchers and people directly experiencing the impact of mass incarceration to create workshops and materials which explore both the immediate and long-term costs of incarceration. Free Comic Books! [email protected] (Lois Ahrens, Northampton, MA) Sentencing Project is a nonprofit organization which promotes reduced reliance on incarceration and increased use of more humane alternatives to deal with crime. [email protected] or (202) 628-0871 (M. Mauer) Soros Justice Fellowship The Open Society’s US Justice Fund supports the efforts of diverse groups, to mobilize support for alternatives to incarceration and to irrational sentencing and parole policies. [email protected] Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics provides an easy way to access data that can be difficult to find on governmental sites (Albany State University). STOPMAX campaign to stop prison isolation and related forms of torture holds up the voices of prisoners in solitary confinement. These prisoners share their with us through letters, pictures and calls or interviews. Organized by the American Friends Services Committee. Supermaxed.com News, reports and profiles on supermax prisons by New Mexico attorney Paul Livingston. [email protected] Urban Institute has studied the incarceration boom, questioning the effectiveness of imprisonment as a crime prevention strategy. (202) 833-7200 ( Susan Brown) |