Judge temporarily blocks transfer of incarcerated trans women to men’s prisons

Judge rules Trump's executive order discriminates against trans people and violates their constitutional rights..

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/05/incarcerated-trans-women

GOP seeks to corner Democrats with fentanyl bill

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said if President Trump were serious about stopping fentanyl, he wouldn't have pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the dark web marketplace Silk Road who was convicted of charges including money laundering and drug trafficking. 

"You know what would help end the illegal fentanyl problem here? Would have been Donald Trump not pardoning a drug kingpin, essentially, who brought in illegal fentanyl into our country who was sentenced to life in prison in a federal court," McGovern said on the House floor. "If we're serious here about talking about dealing with fentanyl, we should at least be all be able to say what the president did was wrong." …

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5129236-house-republicans-pass-legislation/

Targeting Tim Walz, Team Trump flunks a test of self-awareness

Trump's press secretary complained about Tim Walz restoring voting rights for formerly incarcerated people — seemingly unaware of Trump's criminal record...

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/targeting-tim-walz-team-trump-flunks-test-self-awareness-rcna165373

US prison labor is cruel and pointless legalized slavery. I know first-hand

It costs New York around $70,000 a year in taxpayer money to imprison someone. It costs the BPI about $10,000 a year to educate an incarcerated student. New York's recidivism rate is 40%, while graduates of the BPI and similar programs recidivate at only 4%, a tenfold decrease. Yet, despite its clear positive record, only 300 of New York's 30,000 incarcerated people are enrolled at the BPI in any given semester. I was one of a lucky few. 

Prisons are designed to warehouse, traumatize and exploit people, then send them back home in worse shape than when they entered the system. Despite having worked every day, the vast majority of people are released with no job experience, no references and no hope. Some would take this to mean that the system is failing. And it is with regard to public safety, rehabilitation and justice, but it's horrifyingly successful at two things: guaranteeing jobs for some and perpetuating slavery for others…

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/sep/22/us-prison-labor-is-cruel-and-pointless-legalized-slavery-i-know-first-hand

The Injustice of This Moment Is Not an ‘Aberration’ - NYTimes:

From mass incarceration to mass deportation, our nation remains in deep denial. ....
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/17/opinion/sunday/michelle-alexander-new-jim-crow.html

In El Paso Jails, Immigrants Are Incarcerated Far Past Their Release Dates - The Intercept

In the deep blue home of Beto O'Rourke, attorneys and advocates are questioning the county's multimillion-dollar contract to detain migrants and refugees...
https://theintercept.com/2019/03/20/el-paso-jails-immigrants-illegal-detainment-us-marshals-service/

Here are six reasons why the poor are much better off in Europe than in the US - Raw Story

Poverty can be much more painful in the U.S. than in European social democracies. ...
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/07/six-reasons-poor-much-better-off-europe-us/