News
To Scrap or Not To Scrap: Inmate Education Programs
By Matthew Mangino / Macon Chronicle-Herald In February, New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced a new statewide initiative to give prison inmates the opportunity to earn a college degree through funding college classes in prisons across the state. In a press release, the governor’s office revealed that New York currently spends $60,000 per year
Will.i.am Opines on the Prison Industrial Complex
By Annie-Rose Strasser / ThinkProgress.org https://www.federalcriminaldefenseattorney.com/prison-education/Image courtesy Screenshot / NBC
Celebrities served as more than just pretty faces at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner this weekend. While they were in town, several big names, from basketball stars to musicians, also stopped by the week’s Sunday news talk shows to get in a word about policy.
Among them was Black Eyed Peas frontman Will.i.am, who came on Meet The Press to talk about his education foundation. While there, the musician managed to weave together his interest in education policy with a powerful rebuke of America’s inactive Congress, and its problems with mass incarceration.
Why Should We Care About What Happens in Prison?
Here at the Prison Law Blog, our goal is to expose issues as they relate to prisoners’ rights, prison law, and violations of civil rights in American prisons. Our goal is to be a hub of information so that criminal defense attorneys, politicians, and the families of prisoners have the opportunity to find out what
Correctional Education Remains a Big Challenge
By Rebecca Gray The United States has become, to borrow an apt title from a 2013 Bill Moyers special, Incarceration Nation. (https://www.huffpost.com/entry/watch-incarceration-natio_b_4494311). While Moyers’ program focused on the disproportionate number of racial and ethnic minorities behind bars (minorities comprise more than 60 percent of the prison population), the problem transcends racial issues. The prison population
Opposition to New York’s College-in-Prison Plan Grows Despite Mountain of Supportive Research
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has put into action a plan to greatly expand college in-prison offerings in the state of New York. This plan will result in one prison in each of New York’s prison regions offering college programs to inmates, in which they could earn either an associate or bachelor’s degree. While many
University of the People Is Accredited, Just Not As You Might Think
On February 14, 2014, the New York Times ran a story about a very promising initiative called the University of the People. This young online school, founded just four years ago, offers courses to disadvantaged and underserved groups, mostly for free (application costs run $0 to $50, and examination costs are $100). The University of
Open Books’ Prison Book Project: Reforming Prisoners One Book at a Time
Even in the darkest of nights, the moon gives off a faint glow. The same is true of the world of American corrections, even in Florida’s private prison paradise. This light — and the hope it brings — comes from an unlikely source with an unusual mission: Open Books’ Prison Book Project. The Prison Book
Postsecondary Correctional Education: College for Prison Inmates
Studies have consistently shown that those imprisoned tend to have lower levels of formal, academic education. Some have suggested that as many as half of U.S. prisoners are functionally illiterate — implying an inability to read at a 6th-grade reading level. While the effects of providing basic literacy classes to prison inmates have the potential
3 Reasons to Reinstate Prisoner Eligibility for Pell Grants
There are many “smart on crime” reasons to reinstate prisoners’ eligibility for Pell Grants and other need-based financial aid. When we look at the benefits of educating prisoners, we see reductions in recidivism, increases in pro-social thinking, enhanced post-release employment prospects, and strengthened ties to children and communities. The list goes on and on. Today,