From Governor Tony Evers’ pardons to Oklahoma’s record-day of commutations, stories of incarceration and freedom have recently dotted both local and national headlines. Today on “What’s the Word,” Adam Schuster digs into the history of American incarceration, tracing its complex attachment to slavery in the U.S. and how Wisconsin prisons compare to those across the […]
WI ACLU’s work toward prison reform
Emilio De Torre, Director of Community Engagement at the ACLU of Wisconsin, talks about some of that group’s activities related to racial justice, divestment in mass incarceration, and hopes of prison reform under the Evers’ administration.
Federal Prison reform not enough — Nicole D Porter
The “First Step Act”, as the Federal Criminal Justice Reform bill is known, was passed by Congress and signed into law by the President at the end of 2018. While it looks at trying to reform sentences of prisoners in Federal custody, a vast majority incarcerated persons are housed in state facilities as a result […]
Winning the right to vote, and prison issues in Wisconsin
Buzz host Jerome Dillard speaks with Aaron Hicks about the difficulties that ex-incarcerated individuals have winning back the right to vote, both in Wisconsin and other states. In the second segment of the show, Jerome and Aaron speak with Ed Wall, former Director of the Wisconsin Department of Corrections and author of the book “Unethical”, […]
Prisoner Resistance Then and Now
Less than a week before the planned start of a nationwide strike in prisons across the United States, several groups working to challenge racism and mass incarceration will host an educational program by racial justice advocates Reggie Jackson and Ben Turk. Strike organizers are calling for peaceful actions like workstoppages, hunger strikes, sit ins and […]
Wisc Assembly Approves New Prison & A Strategy To Fill It
Republican Wisconsin Senator and U.S. Senate Candidate Leah Vukmir wants to throw parolees and those on probation back in jail if they do anything wrong… even if it means spending state money to build more prisons. Vukmir’s legislation, Senate Bill 54 would revoke the probation or parole for anyone who is charged with a new […]
