Dublin Compassionate Release, Fentanyl Myths & More
"These cases were brought by survivors who summoned the courage against insurmountable odds to ask for help. I worry about the survivors who are suffering in silence."
Seventeen survivors of sexual violence at the hands of Bureau of Prisons (BOP) staff have been granted compassionate release by judges across the country, but in the wake of the abrupt closure of Federal Correctional Institution Dublin in Northern California, Families Against Mandatory Minimums Deputy General Council Shanna Rifkin worries there are countless others who simply cannot be identified and helped by outside advocates. While advocates and legal experts have limited access to identifying information about victims who are eligible for release under BOP rules as a result of abuse they've endured, the department itself has unfettered access and should be proactively helping identify and release the women suffering inside.
"...[R]eform should not mean revolution. While some may find tilting at windmills alluring, the process of making targeted changes, evaluating their impact, and adjusting course as warranted need not be dispiriting."
Council on Criminal Justice Chief Policy Council Marc Levin argues there are plenty of areas of broad agreement among Americans who believe in justice reform but might not know it. The right to quality representation, access to mental health or substance abuse treatment, and even the rate at which police clear crimes are, after all, criminal justice reforms that are sorely needed but rarely thought of by people outside the movement as part of the work reformers are doing.
“It’s really not possible to be passively exposed to fentanyl to a degree at which you would develop clinical symptoms, certainly not overdose.”
Misconceptions about fentanyl are fueling fear and panic nationwide. In police and EMS departments, unwarranted worry could result in delayed rescue, wasteful budget expenditures and resource allocation, and when it makes it to legislatures, it can spur excessively harsh and punitive criminal charges that do little to prevent substance use. Now, a new report from Just Journalism is breaking down the common myths perpetuated by media in an effort to bring evidence-based rationale to the national fentanyl dialogue.
“I’m scared I won’t be able to share my life with you anymore.”
While people in federal prison nationwide are already prohibited from using cellphones, a proposed rule is taking aim at social media use. If adopted, the policy would make even social media accounts run by family or friends outside a prison on behalf of an incarcerated person a disciplinary infraction in the same category as violence, fighting, or damaging property. For many people who are incarcerated, the proposal represents the not just a loss of an important advocacy tool, but connection to the outside world.
"By cultivating a community-driven atmosphere, the sheriff encouraged...more responsibility and ownership over their space."
For six weeks, people incarcerated in one Arkansas jail were given an unprecedented level of autonomy behind bars. The experiment took place after the sheriff allowed Netflix to film inside the Pulaski County detention center during a time when cell doors were left unlocked, guards were removed from the block, and incentives for good behavior were used to encourage the people who were incarcerated there to take more ownership over their space.