Best Corrections-related Articles of 2011

For those of you that read this blog (and if you’re reading this, that means you), you’ll likely have noticed our informal format: take a chunk of corrections-related news, digest it, and offer up our bite-sized version to you.  This is not uncommon; many blogs take this approach to content because it presents timely information tailored to their readers’ interest.

Today, though, we’re dedicating our space to other publications – those that put out the best corrections-related articles we read this year.  Some of them touch on topics we’re covered, others offer analysis on persons and events we would never have known about without reading the article.  In our opinion, these are all well-crafted stories, with exemplary writing and poignant subjects.  Since it’s the end of the year (and a time when many of us have an extra minute or two to read a longer magazine piece), we thought we’d compile these articles for you.

Enjoy! Let us know what you think.

Central Booking
by Keith Gessen
The New Yorker | November 2011

Part of the Occupy Wall Street movement, the author is arrested during a demonstration and gets a close-up look at the central booking processing area at the Manhattan Detention Complex.

No Country for Innocent Men
By Beth Schwartzapfel
Mother Jones | December 2011

A wrongly convicted man dies in prison before the confession that might have exonerated him can make its way through the Texas Criminal Justice system.  Gov. Rick Perry issues a posthumous pardon.

Three at Last!
By Sean Flynn
GQ | December 2011

The West Memphis Three, a cause célèbre for the better part of a decade, were finally released this summer.

Fortresses of Solitude (Part 1)
By James Ridgeway and Jean Casella
SolitaryWatch.com | February 2011

An examination of solitary confinement, its widespread use in the American correctional system, and the activists and organizations that are fighting it.

Across CA, Jails Not Ready to Relieve Prison Overcrowding
By Justine Sharrock
New America Media | June 2011

In the wake of the landmark Brown v Plata Supreme Court ruling, the State of California began realigning its prison population, shifting many offenders to county jails.

Lockdown
By Brent Rose
Gizmodo | October 2011

Gizmodo’s four-part series on technology and other contraband in San Quentin prison.

Part I – Prison Hacks
Part II – Prison Weapons
Part III – Phones In Jail
Part IV – Prison Economy

Green Job Training in Prisons Benefits Everyone
By Leah Morgan
Corrections Today | April/May 2011

From Corrections Today’s environment and sustainability issue, a look at the benefit – both short and long term – of training inmates for clean energy jobs.