Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

Post Tagged 'prison'

February 22, 2021

Fewer prisoners, more jail spending?

The onset of COVID-19 brings new attention to correctional facilities and the number of prisoners remanded because of the virus’ ability to spread rapidly through human contact. A recent study by the Pew Charitable Trust focuses on jails, which are generally operated by local municipalities, and how their budgets are currently allocated. Continue Reading...
March 10, 2016

Race, mass incarceration, and drug policy

With the 2010 publication of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Ohio State University law professor Michelle Alexander, the conversation about America’s exploding prison population singularly became focused on the intersection of race, poverty, and the War on Drugs. Continue Reading...
July 23, 2015

Fresh Food And Fresh Starts

In today’s American, nearly a quarter million women are incarcerated, primarily for drug-related or non-violent crimes. That’s roughly an 800 percent increase in the past 30 years. And female felons don’t have any easier a time finding work than their male counterparts. Continue Reading...
September 03, 2014

Should Prisons Be Purgatorial?

“If Christians cannot help prisoners find meaning behind bars,” wonders Stephen H. Webb, “how can they expect the Gospel to find an audience among those never convicted of a crime?” At First Things, Webb argues that revival of Christianity will only come when we reform America’s prisons: Prisoners are test cases of how Christians deal with sinners in extremis. Continue Reading...
February 17, 2014

Is Prison Now An American Industry?

Last week on the Acton PowerBlog, Anthony Bradley raised the issue of the war on men, specifically the high rate of imprisonment among men in the United States.  At one point in time, America acknowledged that prison might be a place of rehabilitation rather than simply the warehousing of criminals (read Ray Nothstine’s work on Angola Prison to see that rehabilitation in prison is possible.) Continue Reading...
March 11, 2013

Chuck Colson, Compassion, and Criminals

As Joe noted last week, over at Think Christian, H. David Schuringa highlights the primacy of the church’s ministry to prisoners and their families. He points to efforts both great and small: Over the last 20 years, prison ministry has finally gotten back on the church’s agenda. Continue Reading...