Why is it important to have clarity and consistency in data, especially related to deaths? In the first instance, all people deserve dignity in death, no matter the situation or circumstances of dying. At the most basic level, their deaths count; and the accounting should be accurate. People who died while incarcerated were the under direct care and responsibility of the state. Because the state has claimed this responsibility, the lives – and deaths – of incarcerated people are of public concern. Further, these numbers are not overwhelming. There is no reason that the DOC should be unable to produce an accurate public record. Finally, while it has been extremely difficult to verify the accuracy of information released by the DOC on some matters, like testing and positive cases, the inaccuracies regarding deaths give credence to concerns that the overall data DOC has released on the COVID-19 outbreaks in Massachusetts’ prisons contains flaws.
Continue Reading →Michael Cox is the executive director of Black & Pink Massachusetts, and administrator of the Massachusetts Bail Fund. In this interview, he discusses how, after his experience of being incarcerated, he re-directed his focus towards advocacy for and with incarcerated LGBTQ and HIV/AIDs+ people.
Continue Reading →Michael Cox is Executive Director of Black and Pink — Massachusetts, an organization that aims “to abolish the prison industrial complex and liberate LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV/AIDS who are affected by that system through advocacy, support and organizing.” He is also formerly incarcerated, an experience that grounds his activism […]
Continue Reading →Drawing on her personal story, social justice leader Cassandra Bensahih discusses why solitary — in all of its forms — needs to be ended, and addresses the profound crisis of COVID in MA prisons.
Continue Reading →After a two-year investigation, on November 20, 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued notice that there is reasonable cause to believe that conditions in the Massachusetts Department of Corrections violate the civil rights of incarcerated people under the 8th Amendment of the US Constitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. They found constitutional […]
Continue Reading →In this interview, Borden explains her journey from being incarcerated to becoming a community leader. She argues that gaining self-understanding by processing her own trauma was key to transforming her life–and to her the decision to dedicate herself to helping others.
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