Lots of notable new briefings and other interesting items from the Prison Policy Initiative

The start of a new semester and other matters have left me behind on reading and blogging on various fronts, particularly with respect to a number of notable new items from the Prison Policy Initiative.  In an effort to catch up, here is a reprinting of links to notable recent PPI works:

• The state prison experience: Too much drudgery, not enough opportunity: An underutilized government dataset goes deep into daily life in state prisons - including work assignments, programming, and discipline - revealing lost opportunities for rehabilitation, education, and hope.

• Our first chance to end prison gerrymandering in the 2030 Census: The 2030 Census should count incarcerated people at home; tell them to start that change now.

• New data reveals where people in California prisons come from: Report shows every community in California is harmed by mass incarceration

• Since you asked: How many people are released from each state’s prisons and jails every year?: The number of people going through reentry each year vastly exceeds the resources available to them in most communities.

• Military base closures: A model for getting past the parochial politics of closing prisons: The BRAC process, which is used to close military bases, has successfully avoided political minefields. Could a similar process be created to close prisons?

• Please Mr. Postman: It’s time to create a special postal mail rate for incarcerated people: Congress has created reduced postage rates for special groups in the past… it’s time for it to create one for incarcerated people and their families.