Join the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus in discussing the recent changes to the Department of Corrections policies and operations with Secretary John Wetzel!

Please join Dr. Jamie Fader of Temple University in hosting an author event. Edward Orozco Flores is visiting from University of California - Merced to promote his brand new book, Jesus Saved an Ex-Con: Political Activism and Redemption after Incarceration (NYU Press.) Tuesday, October 16th, 10:45-12:15pm Temple University main campus Gladfelter Hall Room 914 (Gladfelter is on Berks Street (now called Polett Walk) between 11th and 12th All are welcome. No RSVP needed. Will ne

DATE AND TIME Tue, October 23, 2018 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM EDT LOCATION Philadelphia Media Network 801 Market Street Suite 300 Philadelphia, PA 19107 This is an in-person event where we will help potential applicants find partners to apply for the Philadelphia Ecosystem Collaboration Fund. The fund offers planning or prototype grants of up to $25,000 each ($150,000 total) for projects that bring together organizations in the Philadelphia area for closer collaboration around local

October 8, 2018, Lynette Hazelton - Generocity It’s been described as America’s mean season, the punitive years starting in the 1970s that saw the ballooning of the number of people — primarily men of color — imprisoned, often for nonviolent offenses in jails that increasingly deemphasized rehabilitation and reintegration into society. By the 1990s, America was incarcerating more people per capita than any other developed nation. And with mass incarceration came its less famo

October 6, 2018, Nina Feldman - WHYY Lori has spent the last 30 years of her life earning her living as a sex worker. She was forced into it by a drug dealer at the age of 15. During that time, Lori – who WHYY agreed to identify using only her first name to protect her privacy – contracted HIV. She was prescribed antiretroviral medication and continued to do sex work, practicing safe sex. But Lori said word on the street was that having sex while HIV positive can carry felony

October 5, 2018, Annette John-Hall - WHYY "Austin didn’t know much about how the legal system worked when he was charged and sentenced. And more knowledge probably would not have changed the outcome of his case. But with a greater awareness, he says, he could have presented himself as someone worthy of redemption. 'Oftentimes when you’re in the courtroom, what happens is the judge doesn’t know you, the attorney really doesn’t know you. It’s the community of people you live in

On Thursday, October 18th Reimaging Reentry Fellow Sue Ellen Allen will lead Overcoming Barriers to Reentry: a two-hour reentry simulation that will guide participants through the difficult steps it takes to becoming a returning citizen. Overcoming Barriers to Reentry will open your eyes and raise your frustration levels as you experience a simulation of how nearly impossible it is to return from incarceration and provide for your family. Challenge yourself: could you succee

October 3, 2018, Kristen De Groot - Associated Press For nearly two decades, Philadelphia's Municipal Services Building has been home to a bronze sculpture of Frank Rizzo, the polarizing, tough-on-crime former mayor and police commissioner. (Mural Arts) Now, a temporary art installation highlighting formerly incarcerated men and women who are working to transform their lives — intended to spark a conversation about mass incarceration — hovers over the Rizzo statue. The artist

October 3, 2018, Sarah Anne Hughes - Billy Penn Hundreds of people who support legislation that would give Pennsylvanians sentenced to life without parole a chance at release came to the capitol this week, expecting a victory. (Photo of Supporters in the Capital Rotunda by Sarah Anne Hughes) They didn’t find one. Sen. Sharif Street of North Philadelphia asked the Judiciary Committee on Tuesday not to vote on his bill, after working for months to get it on the agenda. In the e

Join Eastern State penitentiary and FAMM on October 2nd from 6-7pm! More than 2 million people are in prison in America, yet we rarely encounter their stories or perspectives. Join us to hear from individuals who have served long prison sentences, someone waiting for a loved one to come home, and a former prosecutor now advocating criminal justice reform. Derrick Cain served a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence. He now lives in Philadelphia, runs his own real estate business,