Tag Archives: prison industry

For-profit prisons… What could possibly go wrong?

As it’s been a while since we’ve had a post here about the prison industrial complex, I thought that I’d pass along this clip from Charles Blow’s recent piece in the New York Times. “Louisiana is the world’s prison capital. The state imprisons more of its people, per head, than any of its U.S. counterparts. […]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Michigan, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

Michigan Superintendent asks Governor Snyder to please make his school a prison

Nathan Bootz, the Superintendent of Ithaca Public Schools, sent the following letter to Governor Rick Snyder. It was reprinted in a recent edition of the Gratiot County Herald. Dear Governor Snyder, In these tough economic times, schools are hurting. And yes, everyone in Michigan is hurting right now financially, but why aren’t we protecting schools? […]

Posted in Education, Michigan, Rants | Also tagged , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

Detroit to close half of its public schools, bring high school class size to 60

Robert Bobb, the emergency financial manager of the Detroit Public Schools, just announced that he plans to shut down 70 of the city’s 142 remaining public schools in oder to close the much-talked-about $327 million budget gap. This move, he acknowledges, will bring high school class sizes to approximately 60. I’d like to write a […]

Posted in Detroit, Economics, Education, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , , | 33 Comments

Michigan, leading nation in release of non-violent offenders… and that’s a good thing

From an editorial in today’s New York Times: The United States, which has less than 5 percent of the world’s population, has about one-quarter of its prisoners. But the relentless rise in the nation’s prison population has suddenly slowed as many states discover that it is simply too expensive to overincarcerate. Between 1987 and 2007 […]

Posted in Other | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

The University of Michigan ’09 Prison Art Show opens today

For the next two weeks, in the University of Michigan’s North Campus Duderstadt Center Gallery, the folks from the Prison Creative Arts Project will be presenting their 14th annual exhibition of art by Michigan prisoners. This year’s collection includes nearly 400 pieces, pulled together from dozens of prisons scattered across the State. I had the […]

Posted in Art and Culture, Michigan | Also tagged , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

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