Opinion: Derek Chauvin’s Conviction Won’t Make Black Lives Matter
Annie Olaloku-Teriba
How comforting it would be were the problem simply police and not policing, writes race scholar Annie Olaloku-Teriba.
Tag: prison
Downstream: Why All Drugs Should Be Decriminalised. Interview With David Nutt
The criminalisation of drugs has almost no impact on drug use, denies access to proven medical treatments and disproportionately targets people of colour. Yet the idea that drugs are ‘evil’ and that drug users are criminals is entrenched in international and domestic law. How can we begin to shift this point of view? What are […]
Interview: 40 Years in Prison, 40 Years of Struggle: An Interview with John Bowden
Connor Woodman
Prison organiser John Bowden was recently released after 40 years of incarceration. Connor Woodman sat down with him to discuss the prison system and its power relations - and his involvement in an uprising in one of the most repressive segregation units in the UK.
Long Read: Why Do the Police Exist?
Connor Woodman
Long read: When and why were police forces first invented? Connor Woodman takes a look - and argues that far from protecting communities from ‘crime’, the police’s role has always been to control and discipline the working class.
The Burner: The Burner #240: Squid Ink + Prison Viruses
Cummings splashes round the squid ink: will it be enough to escape the consequences? Gary McQuiggin takes a deep dive into the impact of the virus in the prison system in conversation with Oonagh Ryder.
‘I Tried to End My Life’: Covid-19 Exposes the Injustice of ‘never-ending’ Prison Sentences
Naomi Larsson and Alexandra Genova
Under the new coronavirus restrictions, the safety and wellbeing of prisoners still jailed under the draconian and now-abolished Imprisonment for Public Protection sentence will be put at further risk. In an exclusive video and article, prisoners currently serving the sentence speak to Novara Media about how they are being impacted.
The Lockdown: The Never-Ending Sentence
Oonagh Ryder and Sam Swann are joined by Marion, a campaigner from Smash IPP. The group campaigns to free prisoners still serving the indeterminate sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection.
The Lockdown: Deaths in State Custody 2: INQUEST
Oonagh Ryder and Sam Swann speak to Deborah Coles, Director of the charity INQUEST.
The Lockdown: Deaths in State Custody 1: Justice for Sean Rigg
Oonagh Ryder and Sam Swann speak to Marcia Rigg, the sister of Sean Rigg who died in police custody in 2008.
The Lockdown: The Lockdown: Gangs and Violence: What’s Going On?
Hosts Oonagh Ryder and Sam Swann speak to Patrick Williams, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Manchester Metropolitan University, about the media and government focus on ‘gangs’, how this relates to the reality of violence and the impact this has on black and minority ethnic communities in Britain.
Report From Abolitionist Futures 2018
On June 15th – 18th 2018, activists from around the world gathered in London for Abolitionist Futures: this year’s International Conference on Penal Abolition. Over the weekend, there were over 100 presentations and workshops with contributions from 18 countries, bringing activists and community organisers together to plan for a future where prisons, policing and punishment […]
Britain’s Plan to Build a Prison in Nigeria is Wrong and Must Be Stopped
Natalie Fiennes
As the government unveils plans to build a new prison wing in Nigeria, it’s clear it's not just the Windrush generation affected by a cruel and unjust UK immigration policy.
Long Read: What Does Justice Look Like Without Prisons?
Oonagh Ryder
Justice can't be delivered by mass prison systems trading in human suffering and exploitation.
G4S is Using Art by Detainees and Prisoners to Boost Its Public Image
Joe Lo
A private security firm that runs some of the worst immigration removal centres and prisons in the country has partnered with an arts charity to put on an exhibition of work by inmates and detainees.
Long Read: Inside Patio Six
Zoe P-C
Our reporter talks to guerrilla fighters imprisoned Patio Six, a high-security unit in the Good Pastor prison for women, Bogotá. They recount their experiences of life behind bars, and discuss their hopes for the Colombian peace process.
#Romanos: How Greece is Being Set Alight by an Anarchist on Hunger Strike
Niki Seth-Smith
A 21 year old man's life is hanging in the balance as this is being published. Nikos Romanos hasn't eaten for more than three weeks and his death looks set to spark mass civil unrest in Athens and across Greece.
Novara FM: Policing, Prisons and ‘The Society of Control’
On this week's show James Butler and Aaron Bastani discuss issues of disciplinarity, punishment, control and policing - offering context as the state further cuts back on its social welfare role and increases the strength of its repressive functions within the Great Recession.