Green River LibGuides: The US Carceral System & Injustice: Voices of System-Impacted People

Vocabulary to consider

Language Is Political and Personal

All communities have preferred language to talk about their experiences and identities.

When discussing the US legal and carceral system, the words we use to discuss people, actions, laws, and issues reflect different points of view.

Please consider using language considered respectful by the system-impacted community.

Language Guide for Communicating About Those Involved In The Carceral System
from Berkeley Underground Scholars, March 6, 2019
Language Guidelines from the Marshall Project
Marshal Project is devoted to journalism about criminal legal issues

Sample Texts

Creativity in Confinement
To see photos of the art in the article, open the pdf instead of html.

The ZO - linked above

The ZO
The Zo refers to the "zone," or life inside the arbitrary, punitive, and dehumanizing world of a prison. Powerfully drawn by artist Molly Crabapple, narrated by actor Michael K Williams, with stories voiced by formerly incarcerated people. Based on a student thesis by Patrick Doolittle and commissioned by The Marshall Project.
After Prison
UW Graduate and formerly incarcerated person, Omari Amili, promotes the life-changing impact of education. In this UW Alumni Magazine article, Amili interviews eight other formerly incarcerated people in WA about their education paths and goals.

Suggested Resources

Voices of System Impacted People

This isn’t a problem that’s going to go away all on its own. The United States has the largest prison population in the world, and most of those prisoners will one day be released. I realized that formerly incarcerated people had no voice, and no one seemed willing to speak for us. As I built A New Way of Life, it sometimes felt as though a new underground railroad was taking shape. We, the people of the community, weren’t going to let each other fall. We would rescue each other, and deliver people to a lasting freedom.

--From Becoming Ms. Burton: From Prison to Recovery to
Leading the Fight for Incarcerated Women
(cited below)

Organizations

A New Way of Life
"A New Way of Life Reentry Project provides housing, case management, pro bono legal services, advocacy and leadership development for women rebuilding their lives after prison." Founded by Susan Burton.
Formerly Incarcerated, Convicted People, & Families Movement
"A network of over 50 civil and human rights organizations that are led by people who are living with criminal records, and their family members... speaking in our own voices about the need to end mass incarceration, America’s current racial and economic caste system. To that extent, we are committed to transforming society by transforming the criminal justice system. Working in and with community, our work not only ensures alternatives to incarceration and criminalization, but we address head on the collateral consequences of living with a conviction by restoring civil rights to those who have had them taken away. Above all, we are inexorably bound to the idea that a society without prisons not only can exist, but must."
All of Us or None
All of Us or None is a grassroots civil and human rights organization fighting for the rights of formerly-and currently-incarcerated people and our families. We are fighting against the discrimination that people face every day because of arrest or conviction history. The goal of All of Us or None is to strengthen the voices of people most affected by mass incarceration and the growth of the prison-industrial complex.
Underground Scholars Initiative
a peer-centered organization creating a pathway to education for the formerly incarcerated. They provide a useful language guide highlighting the preferred and appropriate language to discuss people and issues related to prison and incarceration.
Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee
"We, the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee (IWOC), are a prisoner-led section of the Industrial Workers of the World. We struggle to end prison slavery along with allies and supporters on the outside. On September 9, 2016 we were part of a coalition of inside and outside groups that launched the largest prison strike in US history. Resistance to prison slavery continues with work stoppages, hunger strikes and other acts of resistance to business as usual."
We Got Us Now
A National Organization Built by, Led by and About Children of Incarcerated Parents

Media

Ear Hustle Podcast
Podcast from San Quentin Prison: "The daily realities of life inside prison shared by those living it, and stories from the outside, post-incarceration"
Unprisoned
Unprisoned is a podcast and radio show telling stories at the intersection of human lives and the criminal legal system.
Prison Journalism Project
"The Prison Journalism Project’s mission is to empower the incarcerated through storytelling and journalism. .. The cycle of mass incarceration and poverty is inextricably linked. There are currently about 2.3 million people in prisons and jails across the United States. Each incarceration economically disrupts the lives of the men and women behind bars and the families and communities they leave behind. This often triggers a cycle of poverty and incarceration in future generations."
Prison Voice WA (Facebook page)
Prison Voice Washington exists to help redesign and update Washington’s broken prison system by introducing common sense, humanity, and the latest scientific research into policy discussions. Our goal is to improve both the safety of our communities and the lives of prisoners by expanding opportunities for rehabilitation. .. We are men and women from varied economic, geographic, and ethnic backgrounds who have experienced the prison system firsthand — as directors of prison programs, prison teachers and volunteers, or as prisoners and their families."
Testif-i
Storytelling is a powerful tool to open windows into the lived experiences of marginalized people whose voices often go unheard. Through Testif-i, formerly incarcerated women and their children share their truth, trauma and triumph, helping to heal their own pain while sparking awareness at the same time.

Source citation: Burton, Susan, and Cari Lynn. Becoming Ms. Burton: From Prison to Recovery to Leading the Fight for Incarcerated Women. The New Press, 2019.

Featured films & resources

Films on Demand
Search or browse for films on many topics, such as Anthropology, Biology, Business & Economics, Careers, and many more.

TED Talks
Talks that cover the gamut of current issues. Explore talks by Topic, including Science, Technology, and Business - Or search for a TED Talk on a specific subject. Be sure to assess: Is the speaker an expert on this topic?

Featured books & ebooks

What We Know: Solutions from our Experiences in the Justice System by Eds. Vivian Nixon & Daryl Atkinson
Call Number: ebook

Publication Date: 2020

Ebsco Ebooks
A thoughtful and surprising cornucopia of ideas for improving America’s criminal justice system, from those most impacted by it When The New Press, the Center for American Progress, and the Formerly Incarcerated and Convicted Peoples and Family Movement issued a call for innovative reform ideas, over three hundred currently and formerly incarcerated individuals responded. What We Know collects two dozen of their best suggestions, each of which proposes a policy solution derived from their own lived experiences.
Doing Prison Work:The Public and Private Lives of Prison Officers by Elaine M. Crawley
Call Number: Ebook. Click on title, above, for link.

ISBN: 1135991677

Publication Date: 2013

Ebsco eBooks
Fourth City: Essays from the Prison in America by Doran Larson (Editor)
Call Number: 365.973 F781 2013

ISBN: 9781611861075

Main Collection
The Funhouse Mirror : Reflections on Prison by Robert Ellis Gordon
Call Number: 365.44 G664f 2000

ISBN: 9780874221985

Publication Date: 2000

Available in print Main Collection
Prisoners on Criminology: Convict Life Stories and Crime Prevention by William S. Tregea
Call Number: ebook

Publication Date: 2014
Women Exiting Prison : Critical Essays on Gender, Post-Release Support and Survival by Bree Carlton (Editor); Marie Segrave (Editor)
Call Number: Ebook

Publication Date: 2013
The End of Prisons: Reflections from the Decarceration Movement by Mechthild E. Nagel
Call Number: ebook

ISBN: 94-012-0923-5

Publication Date: 2013
A Good Man Inside: Diary of a White Collar Prisoner by Phillips Will
Call Number: ebook

ISBN: 9781909976030

Publication Date: 2014
Performing New Lives: Prison Theatre by Jonathan Shailor (Editor);
Call Number: ebook

Publication Date: 2010

Featured resource

Pen America

Pen America: Prison Writing Program
"Founded in 1971, the PEN Prison Writing Program believes in the restorative, rehabilitative and transformative possibilities of writing. We provide hundreds of imprisoned writers across the country with free writing resources, skilled mentors, and audiences for their work"

NPR StoryCorps (Justice Project Playlist)

StoryCorps: Justice Project

StoryCorps is a national project to record and archive the personal stories that matter in people's lives. Linked below is a collection of stories that are a part of their Justice Project.

StoryCorps: Justice Project Stories
"Through the Justice Project, StoryCorps preserves and amplifies the stories of people who have been directly impacted by mass incarceration."

Below is an animated story, just an example of the stories you'll hear in this collection