Weekend round-up of stories from incarceration nation

Another busy week means another weekend effort to catch up with this round-up of links to a number of stories and commentaries concerning prison realities that caught my eye in recent days:

From the AP, "Alabama prisons reduce meals, nix visits amid inmate strike"

From Forbes, "First Appearance By Bureau Of Prisons Director Falls Shorts On Facts"

From The Guardian, "What’s Prison For? Concise diagnosis of a huge American problem"

From The Guardian, "‘Slavery by any name is wrong’: the push to end forced labor in prisons"

From the Marshall Project, "What an Alabama Prisoners’ Strike Tells Us About Prison Labor"

From NBC News, "Biden pledged to end solitary confinement. Federal prisons are increasing its use."

From the New York Times, "Justice Dept. to Seek Stiffer Sentences in Prisoner Abuse Cases"

From NPR, "What it's like serving a life sentence in prison with no chance of release"

From Scientific American, "Dementia in Prison Is Turning into an Epidemic: The U.S. Penal System Is Badly Unprepared"

From the Washington Post, "They’re in federal prison, and they’re done staying quiet"