Items

• 
  2022-06-06

  Arkansas Prisoners and COVID Relief Payments

  This article details a court ruling that requires the Arkansas Department of Corrections to pay out over $2.5 million dollars in withheld COVID relief money from the federal government. When COVID stimulus relief checks were rolled out, any money going to those incarcerated in Arkansas was immediately confiscated by the Arkansas Department of Corrections and placed within the state prison budget. Several inmates then sued the Department of Corrections demanding the payment of their stimulus. While the Department of Corrections alleged that they were entitled to the money due to the inmates being under their jurisdiction, this ruling requires the immediate repayment of all stimulus money. This story demonstrates not only a conflict within the Arkansas prison system, but also the tremendous legal questions the pandemic opened as well as the questionable conduct spurred by government officials in response.
• 
  2022-06-10

  Arkansas prison doctors and ivermectin

  This is a story detailing Arkansas' Medical Board dismissing charges against a Washington County prison doctor for treating prisoners with ivermectin. Arkansas' Medical Board has not explicitly denounced the drug as a treatment for COVID-19, and many physicians prescribe the drug. This particular physician treated several unknowing prisoners with ivermectin in order to combat rising covid cases in the Washington County Jail in April. This dismissal of charges by the Medical Board reveals a deeper skepticism of the pandemic in Arkansas and a willingness of the board to allow physicians to treat their patients as they ultimately see fit with minimal regulations. I feel it also reveals a deeper understanding of Arkansas' prison system due to the prisoners not being informed of what was given to them, and therefore without consent.
• 
  05/03/2021

  Kyle Sauley Oral History, 2021/05/03

• 
  2021-10-04

  Neglect of Prisoners

  One of the examples of bigger issues coming to light during the pandemic. Not only were people in prisons fighting covid, but they're also continually dealing with a lack of resources such as basic air conditioning/ heat.
• 
  2021-01-22

  Prisoner Vaccinations

  Prisoners are currently at the top of the list to receive the COVID-19 vaccine with outcry from the public. People believe that prisoners should not be receiving the vaccine and are upset that they are ahead of those who they deem more "deserving." One reason prisoners are getting the vaccine ahead of others is that they have a communal living situation and cannot socially distance which is a stipulation stated in phase 1 of the vaccine distribution. The outrage further reveals people don't view prisoners as human or even deserving of basic human rights or decency. It is also interesting that there isn't as much public outcry over politicians who downplayed the vaccine or elders who may not have been adhering to COVID guidelines receiving the vaccine first.
• 
  2021-01-31

  navalny came back to moscow

  the political protests in russia
• 2021-01-15

  My Virtual Experience

  During COVID-19 my school participated in virtual learning. It was not a very great experience considering we had to sit at our computers all day. I became so bored that I started downloading games on my phone and sometimes would beat them before school ended. All I could describe it as would be boring. It was the same thing over and over and it started to feel robotic. It was like an inescapable prison. Day after day of the same thing over and over I just couldn't take it. Eventually I started to realize that the pandemic was becoming more and more political based and I Realized it wouldn't end anytime soon.
• 
  2020-12-04

  Mass Incarceration & COVID-19

  It is important to know that even during a pandemic mass incarceration is still going on.
• 
  2020-12-04

  Roxanne Garcia Oral History, 2020/12/04

  Roxanne Garcia, a worker and mother, is the person I am interviewing. We discuss her life, including some background information about her family; including her parents and siblings. In this interview we reflect on suicide, prison, education, enfranchisement, COVID-19, and motherhood. The overall concept behind this interview is to see where a random mother and worker finds herself within the complexity of modern life, specifically as it relates to her children’s education, prisoner’s rights, and the pandemic. Her experiences intersect many issues and hot topics.
• 
  2020-07-31

  ‘It’s hell living there’: Texas inmates say they are battling COVID-19 in prisons with no A/C

  Conditions in Texas prisons notoriously unhealthy, these inmates face inhumane living conditions during a pandemic.
• 
  2020-08-14

  Texas prison system still tops US in virus cases, as deaths and criticism mount

  A father who has been incarcerated for 30 years holds a baby prior to imprisonment; this man died in prison without seeing his family during the last months of his life.
• 2020-10-11

  California kept prison factories open. Inmates worked for pennies an hour as COVID-19 spread

  The state is responsible for the spread of covid19 from the neighboring men’s institution to the women’s institution, leading to death.
• 2020-10-24

  COVID-19 cases increase at California Institution for Men

  This is an article about a state prison in Chino, California. The state could be responsible for the increase in covid19 cases in the Institution.
• 
  2020-10-21

  CDC Expands Definition of "Close Contact"

  The CDC expanded its definition of "close contact." The article states, "The CDC had previously defined a “close contact” as someone who spent at least 15 consecutive minutes within six feet of a confirmed coronavirus case. The updated guidance, which health departments rely on to conduct contact tracing, now defines a close contact as someone who was within six feet of an infected individual for a total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period, according to a CDC statement Wednesday."
• 
  2020-10-11

  In California’s prison factories, inmates worked for pennies an hour as COVID-19 spread

  This article highlights the changes that have been made inside US correctional facilities during the Covid-19 pandemic. While visitation, religious services, rehab and educational programs, phone usage, and even showers have been cut down or completely eliminated, prison labor continues. Incarcerated people are also not able to refuse to work. Doing so can result in loosing privileges time added onto a sentence, or loss of parole or release. In this particular article when the prison was confronted with the worry over the virus being spread through work they defended their position saying they only continued work in places that produced items necessary to fight the pandemic such as soap, hand sanitizer, and masks. While much of the spread of Covid-19 in correctional facilities has been linked to the transfer of inmates this article highlights another avenue for spread, the movement of materials to make things such as masks. The women in one prison were making masks using fabric produced by the men's prison next door. The driver that delivered the fabric from the men's prison was not wearing a mask or taking other precautions.
• 
  2020-10-08

  Isolation & Madness

  The last time I traveled before the Pandemic shut down the world was November of 2019. I spent 11 days, quite literally wandering around Italy. I went with no plan - other than to visit the Vatican. I spent time in cafes and walking around the city. I made random conversation with locals and tourists alike. I allowed myself to listen to other's experiences to see if it was a venture I would like to experience. It was such an exciting experience. I actually made friends with a photographer who was travelling to Sicily for a nature shoot. She allowed me to tag along. We took a bus and once we got there we explored the small village. We had fresh fudge and freshly ground coffee. While she was at her photo shoot, I walked along the water and explored the remainder of the village which would easily have fit within 3 city blocks in New York City. As I describe that adventure, it has nothing to do with the pandemic and it's completely unlike what we are experiencing now. I was free to wander; something about being out in the open with no general plan is exciting and calming all at the same time. As I reflect on that time, I remember what happened right after. As people got sick, businesses shut down, people were restricted to their homes, I could think of nothing else except for this view from Doge's Palace. Casanova was the most infamous prisoner, especially since he was the only one known to escape. Just imagine what it must have been like. Making this walk over this bridge and this little sliver of light is the last you saw of the outside world. After that walk, it was just stone and candle light. I took this picture on my cell phone and as the course continued this term, I kept thinking about this picture. In a place like Italy, where religion is part of the culture, they were hit so hard by the pandemic. What must it be like there to be restricted to your home and all you can do is look out your window? The idea of only being able to see a small piece of reality while the world around you changes in extreme ways, not knowing what comes next or when it was going to happen. Imagine what went through prisoners minds in the early 1600s as this small image is the last thing they say. Do you think they found solace in a deity or faith? Those who were confined to their homes and were getting sick, what must have gone through their minds? The reason I wanted to submit this picture is because this pandemic really showed us, we are all human. By nature there are things we cannot escape and things that we come to appreciate. When we become restricted and slow down, we begin to appreciate what's around us no matter how big or small. The pandemic restricted me from travelling abroad and I lost a number of friends and family members but I had no restriction on my view of the world. I could still experience nature and explore and appreciate. The pandemic was a humbling experience. This picture is a visual representation of that experience. There's so much out there but only when we cannot explore at our leisure, do we stop to notice and take it in. It's only through isolation that we miss the world around us. Is it the isolation that caused madness or fear? Only being able to see such a small part of such a big world, it could drive anyone mad.
• 
  2020-08-25

  Sidewalk art about inmates fighting California's fires

  There have been over 8,000 fires in California during 2020, and CalFire has been short staffed due to COVID-19 lockdowns at prison facilities. Inmates and typically make up 40% of the CA's firefighters, and this piece of sidewalk art drew attention to the incarcerated people risking their lives to stop the fires.
• 
  2020-10-07

  Covid in the U.S: Latest Map and Case Count

  The New York Times article accurately stated new information and articulated ideas that grasped my attention. The death rate, the number of infected individuals, the number of cases in certain location, and credible data were the main points the news article covered. The main ideas allowed people to fully understand the significance of the pandemic affecting the environments dynamic worldwide. I choose this article because as I was looking through my options, I noticed this specific article has tons of information that is credible. To add, this article focuses on not just one main idea, but lot of facts that intertwine with one another, which gives the full scope of the situation occurring. The article discussed the number of deaths and cases along with specific places that are being impacted the most. To add, New York Times mentioned how the lives of innocent people in America, “has been fundamentally reordered because of the virus. Concerts, parades and high school football games continue to be called off. Countless people have found themselves jobless and struggling to afford housing”. This ties into why the news article is important and what it reveals about the life during the pandemic. Historians can use this article in an archive, which will allow them to compare it to other sources and understand what was going on during this time period. With multiple different sources from different points of views and perspectives it can be very helpful for someone to thoroughly analyze for future reference. The bias in the news article is neutral and not bias, which is significant when focusing on the clear credible data given. I can tell that it is neutral because the article doesn’t lean toward a specific side, which I personally really like. With that being said the media as a whole is responsible for making sure that each and every individual is aware of the circumstances going on. It is important for the media to stay transparent without sharing fake news and a biased standpoint that would persuade people in the wrong direction. As a whole the media needs to be regulated and changed for the future because it plays a huge role in billions of people’s lives.
• 
  2020-10-05

  Why Prisoners Aren’t Reporting Feeling Sick

  Prisons and jails were not planned or constructed with thoughts of weathering a pandemic, not was the system of incarceration. For these reasons, and our cultures current view of incarcerated people as less than human, many are suffering in silence. This article explains why incarcerated people are choosing not to tell anyone if they experience symptoms that might be from COVID-19.
• 
  2020-09-26

  The Cost of Prison Phone Calls Prevents Family Communication, Especially During Covid

  Phone calls from incarcerated persons to their families has always been expensive but what many don't realize is that the pandemic has made it even worse. Back in March when much of the nation shut down to prevent the spread of Covid-19 the nations correctional facilities closed as well. Families could not longer visit their loved ones. There have been times when phone calls were also stopped because of the transmission possible through sharing phones and just having people out of their cells. But once phone calls were allowed families faced a new crisis, being able to afford the phone calls. Fees for phone calls from an incarcerated person are charged to the recipient of the call or to the prisoners personal account and cost a lot per minute. With so many people out of work due to the pandemic families are faced with the decision to speak with their incarcerated loved one or buy groceries or pay the rent. This article shares the story of one mother and the impossible decision she is faced with every time her phone displays a call from her incarcerated husband.
• 
  2020-09-13

  Tweets from Inside a Prison 09/13-09/19/2020 by Railroad Underground

  These images show the Tweets of an incarcerated person utilizing a contraband cell phone to let the outside world know about prison conditions during the pandemic. This week he talks about #BlueLivesMatter, police shootings, and violence, self worth, parenting from prison, fighting for justice, trauma, reading, meditation, protests, Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death, and district attorneys.
• 
  2020-08-24

  ACLU of New Mexico Files Class-Action Lawsuit Against the State of New Mexico

  The ACLU of New Mexico joined forces with both local and international law firms to file a class-action lawsuit against the state of New Mexico. The lawsuit states that the state of New Mexico has failed to protect the lives and constitutional rights of people held in the correctional system. HST580, ASU, New Mexico Narratives, New Mexico, lawsuit, constitutional right, correctional system, ACLU, incarceration, loss, death, safe practice
• 
  2020-10-01

  Prisons Are Mostly Closed to Journalist During Covid

  As this Tweet from journalist, Sara Tardiff, explains prisons are closed as a precaution to slowing the spread of Covid-19. This means one of our only windows into what is actually happening behind bars is coming from incarcerated persons using contraband cell phones.
• 
  2020-09-11

  Prisons and Jails Are Rolling Back Free Phone Calls

  When Covid-19 hit the US many things shutdown including the nation's prisons. Of course they kept taking in people for incarceration but they no longer allowed visitors. This made connection to the outside world through phone calls even more important. What many people don't know is that each phone call an incarcerated person makes costs money, a lot of money. In the beginning of the pandemic many jails and prisons offered free phone calls, in the case they were even allowing phone calls (that's another story) but as the pandemic has continued for nearly eight months phone calls are no longer free or reduced cost. This is an undue burden on a population that is facing high unemployment.
• 
  2020-09-29

  Incarcerated people are humans, with human rights

  This series of Tweets illustrates the number of Covid cases inside of prisons that go largely unnoticed by the general public. It also points to a larger problem of seeing "inmates", those who should be referred to in people first language as incarcerated persons, as fully human.
• 
  2020-09-05

  Maintaining Core Values In America

  I believe that America is living up to it's current values that rose with the start of this great country. Values of equality and productivity.
• 
  2020-08-28

  A San Andreas Nursing Home is Experiencing a Rise in COVID-19 Cases

  A nursing home in San Andreas, California is experiencing an increase in COVID-19 cases. Nursing homes can be a hot spot for infection as the residents are all at increased risk for the virus and live in a facility with several other people. Calaveras and Tuolumne Counties have had relatively low cases of COVID-19, though long term care facilities for the elderly remain a huge risk for infection. Governor Newsom is rolling out a new monitoring system in the coming days to place counties in the state under increased or reduced restrictions based on daily cases per 100,000 people testing positive.
• 
  2020-08-29

  Public Defender Does Not Want Elderly Client to Die in Prison

  A public defender discusses the case of 'Jake Green', a 73-year-old inmate of a prison inmate with a complicated case involving domestic and gun violence. The girlfriend (also the victim) of the accused did not want Mr. Green prosecuted, but they ended up sentencing him to 5 years without parole. The lawyer discusses how Mr. Green is particularly at risk for COVID-19, citing his age and health concerns. He is concerned not only with the idea that this could be a death sentence for his client, but that the case was unjust from the beginning.
• 
  2020-08-02

  'Catastrophe': How Nation's Worst Outbreak Exploded at San Quentin

  In less than two months, 19 San Quentin inmates have died, including at least eight on Death Row, more than half the number of condemned killers executed here in four decades. The official number of prisoners infected has reached 2,181 — about two-thirds of the prison population — but many refused to be tested.⁠ ⁠ And alongside the prisoners plagued by a pandemic in a poorly ventilated germ-ridden lockup are the 258 prison guards and other staff who got sick too — and ultimately brought it home.⁠
• 
  2020-08-21

  Nearly half the population at Michigan prison tests positive for COVID-19

  This Tweet and it's responses show how the public feels about the Covid-19 outbreak within one of Michigan's prisons. The article referenced also explains how this particular facility had spent months with no cases and then had a sudden outbreak, illustrating how dependent prisons and the communities they are a part of are when it comes to the spread of Covid=19.
• 
  2020-08-22

  Don't Release Inmates, We Need Them to Fight Wildfires

  In an effort to slow the spread of Covid-19 incarceration facilities across the nation have released a small number of people earlier than they would have been otherwise. This has created a unique situation in California, a state that relies on prison labor to combat wildfires every year. As the writer of this Tweet calls out, much of the general public and the nation's politicians believe "if you do the crime, you do the time" and feel this extends to using inmates for fighting fires.
• 
  2020-08-21

  Yuma Inmates Allege Prison Officials Ordered Them To Refuse COVID-19 Testing To Keep Numbers Down

  This Tweet and linked article explain a haunting story. Inmates at the Yuma prison in Arizona were threatened with a "beat down" unless they refused to take a Covid-19 test in an effort by the administration to keep the case count down. The replies to this Tweet show the public's response to this allegation.
• 
  2020-08-24

  You Have to Pay for the Body

  In California if your loved one dies from Covid-19 you have to pay to have their remains sent to you as this Tweet explains.
• 
  2020-08-21

  Guard Tested Positive: Conditions Inside One of America's Incarceration Facilities

  This Tweet, from an incarcerated person, shows and expresses the conditions and treatment inside of a correctional facility with a Covid positive employee. The replies show what the public thinks of the situation.
• 
  2020-08-28

  19 of the 20 largest COVID clusters are prisons or jails.

  This Tweet draws attention to the huge outbreak of Covid within the correctional facilities of the US. The accompanying article explains where the outbreaks started, have traveled to, and where they are now. It also states that the largest outbreaks have been in nursing homes, correctional facilities, and food processioning plants.
• 
  2020-08-18

  Overcrowded Prisons Are Responsible for the Worst Outbreak in the Nation

  While this Tweet specifically addresses the responsibility overcrowding in California prisons has played in the Covid outbreak, other states have the same problem. Overcrowding in prisons and jails is a nationwide epidemic.
• 
  2020-07-07

  Survivors Guilt

  One man who was released from San Quentin Prison in California explains his feeling of survivors guilt. He was released in May 2020, before the outbreak in the prison began.
• 
  2020-08-18

  Voices of San Quentin: The inside story of how a prison became the nation's biggest COVID cluster

  This article was co written by Popular Information and Voices of San Quentin. It explains how a major California state prison managed to stave off covid-19 until inmates from another prison were transferred into the facility. . . and they were carrying covid, what they did to deal with the outbreak, and how it effected incarcerated persons.
• 
  2020-07-09

  Covid Crisis at San Quentin

  This Tweet highlights the activism around releasing incarcerated people to prevent the spread of covid and any sentence from turning into a death sentence.
• 
  2020-08-25

  Did Prisons Benefit from the Paycheck Protection Plan (PPP)?

  This Tweet poses a good question for investigation. Did prisons and other incarceration facilities receive PPP loans that were meant for small businesses?
• 
  2020-08-26

  The Intersectionality of Climate Change and Prisons Plus More Pandemics

  This Tweet brings up a point many may not have thought of. Climate change and it causing more pandemics which greatly effect incarcerated populations.
• 
  2020-08-23

  Chris Twing Internship Portfolio

  I had planned to take the summer off from classes but when I saw an opportunity to be part of real time archiving in relation to the crisis I was living through I eagerly jumped at the opportunity. While I was initially worried, we, as interns, would get stuck doing the repetitive tasks no one else wanted, I was thrilled to be part of the creation and problem-solving process of a real time archive. While most students in my program focus on American or Global history my focus has been on public history. One of the tenants of public history is involving everyone. The archive became a place to see this in real time. We weren’t collecting only around famous people, important people, or large movements. We wanted to collect the stories of everyday people and also took the time to figure out whose voices were missing and attempt to remedy that problem. To that end I took on an extra project to add Black voices to the archive. I collected a list of all the historically black colleges and universities and also searched for museums and cultural or heritage centers across the country that we could contact in hopes they would want to work with us to add those voices to the archive. In addition to curating and adding items to the archive each week we focused on learning a particular skill set related to the archive. The one I struggled with the most was oral history. Though I am fine speaking in public and am not an introvert, I found conducting my first two oral history interviews exceptionally unnerving. However, I also discovered how important they are and what an incredibly rich source of information oral histories represent. What I learned from oral histories was so impressive that I have plans to conduct an oral history program in conjunction with my local historical preservation commission in the future. I am also no longer nervous about conducting oral histories. By the end of our fifteen-week internship we had become even more than a team, we had become a family. I believe this was partially due to a shared crisis. We were living through the Covid-19 pandemic together. For many of us, our weekly Zoom (online meeting platform) was nearly the only face to face contact, though virtual, we had with anyone. This was the case for me. Another intern joked he was going to rename his journal about the project, “The Summer I Distracted Myself from a Pandemic by Thinking about the Pandemic”. I realized that is exactly what happened. The pandemic really started in mid-March for me. I spent the initial month or so sewing face masks and that was how I kept myself focused and sane. Once the internship began in May I began processing my experience of the pandemic by working on the archive. I believe this summer will have been one of the defining moments of my life.
• 
  2020-08-20

  Wildfires don't equal evacuation for Solano State Prison

  While California depends on prison labor for wildfire firefighters this Tweet brings attention the state refusing to evacuate prisons in threat of wildfire danger. Other Twitter posts have mentioned speaking to inmates at Solano and them mentioning guards coming in with ash on their uniforms. The fires are that close! It seems that many people once incarcerated are at risk for a possible death sentence due to Covid and wildfires. What else?
• 
  2020-08-20

  Sentenced to Death by Covid

  This Tweeter, Phil Melendez, expresses his horror at more than fifty inmates in the care of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation having died already from Covid-19 and now a wildfire is within blocks of California prisons with no plans for evacuation.
• 
  2020-08-22

  Incarcerated firefighters give 3 million hours

  This Tweet expresses dissatisfaction with incarcerated firefighters who give so many hours and save the state of California millions of dollars every year, but none of that savings is put into supporting them with re entering society.
• 
  2020-08-20

  Incarcerated Firefighters in California

  This Tweet shows that while California depends on prison labor for their wildfire firefighting, these same people are not eligible to work as firefighters once they are released from incarceration.
• 
  2020-08-21

  As blazes spread, Covid-19 in California prisons hits crucial inmate firefighting force

  California depends on prison inmate firefighters to be part of their wildfire defense teams. This year, due to illness and early release, they are missing half of their prison inmate firefighters. To help alleviate the shortage the Governor, Gavin Newsom, has called in the National Guard.
• 
  2020-08-20

  California’s Prison Covid-19 Outbreak Isn’t Behind Its Firefighter Shortage

  California, one of the most fire prone states in the nation, still relies on prisoners as firefighters. With a particularly bad fire season and a viral pandemic still raging through the country they find themselves in a precarious situation. In an effort to slow the spread of the virus correctional facilities have been releasing some incarcerated persons early. In California over three hundred of their prison labor firefighters have been released since July. This article explains more of the details.
• 
  2020-08-14

  California Could Cut Its Prison Population by 50,000 People

  A news article discussing the potential release of thousands of prisoners to help relieve overcrowding during the COVID-19 pandemic. Large amounts of prisoners have been released in the past with no detriment to public safety. In a time when people are dying as a result of this overcrowding during a pandemic it would be incredibly beneficial to release these people. According to data, the issue seems to be one of political risk rather than of public safety.
• 
  2020-08-05

  Florida inmate COVID-19 deaths up to 59 as outbreaks continue

  Covid is particularly dangerous in places where social distancing is not an option. For this reason the nation's correctional facilities have seen huge outbreaks of the virus. This article discusses the conditions in Florida's prisons. While the state says they are doing more to combat the virus as of this article's writing Florida has seen 59 incarcerated people die from Covid.