The Constitution is important. Full stop. It does many things, chief among them being defining and protecting the rights of people in the United
Category: Prison
Prison profits
Prison reform and prison labor are topics we’ve written about before on the Occasional Planet. American prisons are making tons of money hiring out
A critical time for clemency in Missouri
The criminal justice system is, by the admission of many liberal politicians, in desperate need of change. Prisons are overcrowded as a result of
U.S. companies make a killing off prison labor
In 1865, the 13th amendment abolished slavery, but there was a loophole. Prisoners were exempt. Since the passage of the amendment, prisons and businesses
Midterms: Democratic Party didn’t give people a reason to vote
It’s absolutely true that Mitch McConnell and the Republicans obstructed every Democratic initiative. On the other hand, Democrats didn’t give people a reason to
“I can buy a firearm, but I can’t get assistance to buy a sandwich”
In a move that demonstrates a small—and too rare—step toward common sense in lawmaking, Missouri has rescinded [mostly] an 18-year-old law that banned people
A Sliver of Light: Hiker hostages tell their story in an amazing new book
I’d almost forgotten about the three friends who, while hiking in Kurdistan in 2009, were lured across the Iraq/Iran border and then held prisoner
Rule of law? MO executes a man while his appeal is pending
The Bill of Rights may have been passed over 220 years ago, but it seems to still not have been fully enacted. “Missouri executed
Mass incarceration–the new Jim Crow
I think it’s time to talk about an issue that isn’t glamorous or infamous, but it is so subtle and so completely off the
Will a dearth of death drugs kill the death penalty? Let’s hope so.
Just a few hours before convicted serial murderer Joseph Paul Franklin was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Nov. 19, 2013, two