Tag Archives: prison sentences

Bob Sloan on the new slavery of the American prison factory system

When I flew into Providence a few weeks ago, to attend the Netroots Nation conference, I caught a taxi from the airport to the hotel with a fellow by the name of Bob Sloan. Bob, like me, had won one of the Democracy for America scholarships, and we talked about our work as we made […]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Corporate Crime, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 40 Comments

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

What it’s really like in Michigan’s prisons

Last night, I reprinted a letter sent by a Michigan school Superintendent to our Governor, asking that his school be converted over to a prison. Given that we fund corrections better than we do education in this state, he argued that it would be in the best interests of his students. He was clearly attempting […]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Michigan, Other, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 45 Comments

Who needs colleges when you can have prisons… Good work, Michigan!

I haven’t seen the new numbers, but, in 2008, I remember reading that Michigan was one of only four states that spent more on corrections than on higher education. And this, if I’m not mistaken, is happening in spite of the fact that Michigan’s prison population is dropping. I mention this because I just saw […]

Posted in Michigan, Observations, Rants | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Michigan’s prison industrial complex

I’ve been thinking about Michigan prisons quite a bit lately. It seems as though, all of a sudden, the subject is everywhere… The University of Michigan’s annual exhibition of art by Michigan prisoners opened today. There’s an article on the Daily Kos this evening about how, under Governor Snyder’s Emergency Financial Manager plan, non-elected officials […]

Posted in Art and Culture, Economics, Michigan, Politics | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 26 Comments

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