Author: TheConversation

By Angela Hattery, Professor of Women & Gender Studies/Co-Director, Center for the Study & Prevention of Gender-Based Violence, University of Delaware; Earl Smith, Professor of Women and Gender Studies, University of Delaware The United States leads the world in its use of solitary confinement, locking away in isolation more of its population than any other country. Every day, up to 48,000 inmates – or around 4% of the incarcerated population – are locked in some form of solitary confinement in detention centers, jails and prisons across the United States Some spend months – or even years – at a...

By Mneesha Gellman, Associate Professor of Political Science, Emerson College When it comes to education in prison, policy and research often focus on how it benefits society or improves the life circumstances of those who are serving time. But as I point out in my new edited volume, Education Behind the Wall: Why and How We Teach College in Prison, education in prison is doing more than changing the lives of those who have been locked up as punishment for crimes – it is also changing the lives of those doing the teaching. As director of a college program...

By Margaret Lombe, Associate Professor of Social Work, Boston College; and Von Nebbitt, Associate Professor of Social Work, Washington University in St Louis Around 600,000 people are released annually from the sprawling prison network across the United States. Many face considerable barriers as a result of their convictions when it comes to essentials in life, like getting a job or a home. It can even be harder to feed themselves. Formerly incarcerated people are twice as likely to suffer food insecurity as the general population, with 1 in 5 ex-prisoners finding it difficult to obtain regular, nutritious meals. A...

By Jared Del Rosso, Associate Professor of Sociology and Criminology, University of Denver The U.S. House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021 insurrection intends to hold another public hearing, likely the last before it releases its official report. The hearing had been scheduled for September 28, 2022 but was postponed because of Hurricane Ian. Through earlier hearings this past summer, the committee has shown how former President Donald Trump and close associates spread the “Big Lie” of a stolen election. The hearings have also shown how Trump stoked the rage of protesters who marched to the U.S. Capitol...

By Joyce Dalsheim, Professor, Department of Global Studies, University of North Carolina – Charlotte; and Gregory Starrett, Professor of Anthropology, University of North Carolina – Charlotte When they entered the Senate chamber on January 6, 2021, a group of insurgents stopped and bowed their heads in prayer to consecrate the building and their cause to Jesus. When the Senate reconvened later, its chaplain, retired Navy Adm. Barry Black, also prayed, but called the insurgents’ actions a “desecration of the United States Capitol building.” Both sides appealed to the Christian God as the authority for their actions and values. Outside,...

By Henry L. Chambers Jr., Professor of Law, University of Richmond As the 2022 midterm campaigns approach Election Day on November 8, 2022, a federal probe into former President Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents is testing an unwritten policy of the U.S. Justice Department. Some legal analysts have suggested that the so-called 60-day rule requires federal prosecutors to delay public actions during the final stages of an election to avoid influencing the perceptions of a candidate – or tipping the scale for or against a political party. This goal of political neutrality appears to be adhered to by...