Incarceration & Prisons Archives – Scalawag

Elena Kiejliches, featured on 'Snapped' in 2004, reveals how her story was twisted to perpetuate harmful stereotypes about women's violence.

'It's not a story—it's a life:' A look at Snapped, from the inside

by Elena Kiejliches and Molly Hagan November 21, 2023November 21, 2023

"True crime" relies on the manipulation and simplification of facts to create entertaining narratives. Elena Kiejliches, who was featured on Snapped in 2004, reveals how her story was twisted to perpetuate harmful stereotypes about women's violence.

In this November 2005 file photo, Larry Greene, public information director of the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, demonstrates how a curtain is pulled between the death chamber and witness room at the prison in Lucasville, Ohio. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File) Author Keith LaMar's execution date was moved to 2027 after 30 years on Death Row in Ohio, awaiting the death penalty.

SOUTHERN POLITICS

A Death Row Reprieve: One man's bittersweet reflection

by Keith LaMar November 16, 2023November 15, 2023

Having spent the first wave of COVID-19 in Rikers Island, David Campbell found the pandemic lockdowns he was met with after his release strangely familiar. The parallels of self-quarantine and incarceration can be tools for abolitionist solidarity.

What living through COVID in jail taught me about abolition

by David Campbell September 21, 2023September 21, 2023

Men from the Brevard County Jail fill sand bags for local residents to combat flooding caused by high water levels from Hurricane Irma on October 5, 2017 in Sharpes, Florida. Credit: Paul Hennessy/Alamy Live News.

SOUTHERN POLITICS

Florida's jails put incarcerated people's lives at risk during hurricane season

by Angel D’Angelo September 12, 2023September 27, 2023

Prison workers making uniforms at Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville, South Carolina. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard) Rehabilitation stops being a priority for officials when it conflicts with prison labor—abruptly shutting down programs, citing labor costs.

SOUTHERN POLITICS

The Profitable Prisoner

by Antoine Davis September 6, 2023September 5, 2023

Henry Drake was convicted for a 1975 murder he didn’t commit—twice. Even after another man confessed to the crime, he still spent 12 years on Death Row seeking exoneration and battling the classism and legal misconduct of Georgia's judicial system.

SOUTHERN POLITICS

A Close Shave with Death

by Lillah Lawson September 1, 2023September 1, 2023

Death penalty opponents gather on the steps of the State Capitol in Atlanta, Ga., Monday, March 2, 2015 to protest the death penalty and the planned execution of Kelly Gissendaner. (AP Photo/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Ben Gray)

On the execution of my friend, Kelly Gissendaner

by Carla J. Simmons August 31, 2023August 30, 2023

Federal receiver Robert Sillen in the prison yard at San Quentin State Prison in San Quentin, California, on June 14, 2007. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

SOUTHERN POLITICS

Prop 66 doesn't dismantle California's Death Row—it expedites our executions

by Timothy James Young August 30, 2023August 29, 2023

In paintings: Life, Death, Carcerality, and the Pursuit of Abolition

by Obie Weathers August 29, 2023August 29, 2023

SOUTHERN POLITICS

A Man Alone

by Ahmed Jallow, The Assembly July 11, 2023June 29, 2023

Inside the post-Roe crisis of abortion and surveillance facing pregnant incarcerated people seeking and reproductive justice.

Abortion bans and pregnancy surveillance: The body itself as a prison

by Gabrielle A. Perry June 28, 2023September 27, 2023

Periods in prison: The monthly struggle for sanitary products

'That's not how it works around here': When free-bleeding ain't free

by Heather Jarvis June 28, 2023September 27, 2023

How Israel exiles Palestinian prisoners to Gaza: Three Palestinian prisoners who were banished to Gaza as a condition of their release from Israeli prisons share their stories of exile.

SOUTHERN POLITICS

Palestine on lock: Israeli occupation

by Basma Adham Albayed June 27, 2023November 14, 2023

A Black mother in prison exposes the greed and hypocrisy of the system that keeps her behind bars and rips apart families.

Only Mercy

by Chanell Burnette June 27, 2023November 13, 2023

When Israel imprisons a Palestinian, it imprisons entire families.

SOUTHERN POLITICS

When Israel imprisons a Palestinian, it imprisons their whole family

by Eman Hillis June 27, 2023November 14, 2023

Mourning in prison: How "total institutions" punish the grief of the incarcerated.

Against Regulations: Grieving inside a total institution

by E.J. June 27, 2023November 13, 2023

Untreated injuries and denied surgeries in prison.

SOUTHERN POLITICS

Cruel and unusual punishment: Denied surgeries behind bars

by Jacob Goethe June 26, 2023September 27, 2023

The geography of disaster, storms, and prison.

Perfect Storm: A time to refrain from embracing

by Richard Hunsinger June 23, 2023September 27, 2023

The devastating impact of environmental racism in prisons.

SOUTHERN POLITICS

Poisoned Inside

by C. Dreams June 23, 2023September 27, 2023

A lifelong musician on the unbearable silence of prison.

Out of my hands: A musician in prison pines for his bass

by David Annarelli June 22, 2023September 27, 2023

Rapper Alim Braxton, aka Rrome Alone, released his music video 'Prisoner of War' from Death Row.

Prisoner of War

by Alim Braxton June 22, 2023September 27, 2023

An artist's tribute to painter Duniyana Al-Amoor, killed in her room in Gaza at age 22.

Art Under Aggression

by Malak Mattar June 22, 2023November 14, 2023

Palestinian prison arts and crafts reflect the realities of life and love under Israeli occupation

Diaries of Blood: The secret artists within Israeli detention facilities

by Eman Al-Astal June 22, 2023November 14, 2023

State conspiracies and censorship of the incarcerated in prison.

SOUTHERN POLITICS

Conspiracyz, Scum Pigz, & the Dept. of Censorship

by G. Z. June 21, 2023September 27, 2023

A visitor uses the video visitation system at the Fort Bend County Jail to speak with an inmate, in Richmond, Texas on May 5, 2015. Prisoners’ rights advocates were worried at the time that the growing use in of video technology to facilitate visits was part of a trend to eliminate the more traditional in-person visit. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) The hidden cost of 'free' tablets in prison

SOUTHERN POLITICS

The hidden cost of 'free' tablets in prison

by Ezzial Williams June 21, 2023September 27, 2023

Solitary confinement in maximum security prison

Nightmares & Daydreams: Welcome to maximum security

by Zakaria Amara June 20, 2023September 27, 2023

Palestinians hold photographs of prisoners jailed in Israel during a celebration for the liberation of Palestinian Khader Adnan in the West Bank village of Arrabeh, near Jenin, Wednesday, April 18, 2012. The same week, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel launched a hunger strike the protesting their conditions and demanding an end to detentions without trial. (AP Photo/Mohammed Ballas)

They even keep our corpses: Dying in Israeli prisons

by Refaat Alareer June 20, 2023November 14, 2023

Scalawag's 2023 Abolition Week theme: The Bars We Can't See.

SCALAWAG UPDATES

Introducing Abolition Week 2023: The Bars We Can't See

by Scalawag Editors June 19, 2023November 14, 2023

Imprisoning Palestine: Zionist colonialism through an abolitionist lens

Imprisoning Palestine: Zionist colonialism through an abolitionist lens

by Rawan Masri and Fathi Nemer June 19, 2023November 14, 2023

Our home outside these walls: My love letter to you, son

by Devon Terrell June 16, 2023November 13, 2023