News
Critics Say New York Prisons Should Educate, Rehabilitate, Even Inspire
By Brian Mann Every year, tens of thousands of inmates cycle through state and federal correctional facilities in the North Country. Almost all of those men will eventually get out of prison. They’ll go home, back to communities and neighborhoods. This morning, we’re looking at the debate over whether our prisons are doing the right
Should We Let More Prisoners Take College Classes?
By Andrea Brody Earlier this month, an editorial was published in the New York Times from an unusual source. The writer was John J. Lennon, an inmate at Attica Correctional Facility in New York, who’s currently serving 28 years to life sentence for drug dealing and murder he committed in 2001. He is one of 23
UI's Ginsburg Honored
By Noelle McGee She’s always had a passion for helping the disenfranchised and those marginalized by society. That passion took Rebecca Ginsburg abroad for several years, where she was involved in human rights and anti-apartheid efforts. Then — somewhat unexpectedly, she admits — it took her into the California prison system, where she was exposed
UCF Professors Stress the Importance of Prison Education
By Alex Wexelman A college degree, whether stated or unstated, is often a prerequisite for a career. For prisoners, a career is integral to adjusting after getting out, and education plays a major role — and UCF professors agree. A recent op-ed in the New York Times, written by John J. Lennon, a prisoner inmate
California Prisoners to Get Jobs as Programmers
By Jessica Guynn California inmates can earn cash by making license plates for state residents. Soon they’ll be able to get paid for writing code. In a first for the country, prisoners at San Quentin State Prison are being considered for jobs as computer programmers. If everything goes as planned, they will work on projects
Behind Bars, But Not The Times
By Eric Markowitz At first glance, APDS looks like your typical tech startup: A bunch of young, bearded guys hanging out and working on MacBooks in a cavernous loft in Manhattan. There are plush vintage furniture and chalkboard walls. There’s even an antique canoe dangling inexplicably from the ceiling. But look a little closer, and
Senator Seeks Insight on Prison Education Program
By Jennifer Sheridan U.S. Sen. John Cornyn visited the Coffield Unit in Tennessee Colony to see how the prisoners are receiving education and college credits during their sentence. The education is provided by Trinity Valley Community College educators, and prisoners are able to get GEDs, vocational skills, and associate degrees to benefit them after they
A College Education for Prisoners
To the Editor: “Help Us Learn in Prison,” by John J. Lennon, an Attica inmate (Sunday Review, April 5), urging that prisoners be offered college courses, hit me like a ton of bricks. That was me in the early 1990s, in my cell, believing that I was destined to sell drugs on the corner, with