It may seem strange for an economist to write about abolition. After all, economists focus on choices at the margin. Even when we talk about violent crimes or pollution, we argue that the optimal quantity of these “bads” is not zero. In other words, while we want to reduce the amount of murder, assault, and…

Incarcerated people are still people. I am appalled that this is not common sense to everyone. Yet the opposite attitude constantly appears both implicitly and explicitly among a disturbing number of both members of the populace and U.S. government policies. From being denied certain kinds of reading materials all the way to being denied genuine…

Since the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, a number of protesters and rioters of the dumpster-fire and ski-mask variety have found themselves detained for noble acts that change the world– like toppling statues of racists or torching cop cars or inflicting necessary violence. No good deed, it seems, goes unpunished. But, many of these…

Di Jason Lee Byas. Originale pubblicato il 7 dicembre 2020 con il titolo Against the Criminal Justice System, Pt. IV: Free All Prisoners. Traduzione di Enrico Sanna. Pubblicato originariamente sul blog Students for Liberty il 6 febbraio 2015 Gli ultimi tre articoli di questa serie riguardavano l’ingiustizia della pena e del diritto penale, e la giustizia di…

Di Jason Lee Byas. Pubblicato il 16 novembre 2020 con il titolo Against the Criminal Justice System, Pt. I: No One Should Ever Be Punished. Traduzione di Enrico Sanna. Pubblicato originariamente sul blog Students for Liberty il 25 agosto 2015. Mentre dolore, sofferenza, costi della giustizia penale statunitense vanno alle stelle, crescono le richieste di…

​Jason Lee Byas. Título original: Against the Criminal Justice System, Pt. I: No One Should Ever Be Punished. Traduzido por Gabriel Serpa. Enquanto toda dor, todo o sofrimento e todos os custos elevados, ocasionados pela justiça criminal, se agravam e fogem do nosso controle, mais e mais pessoas se posicionam em favor de uma reforma…

The last three posts of this series have been focused on the injustice of punishment and criminal law, and the justice of a tort-based pure restitution system. Even if punishment itself were legitimate, however, we would still have reason to reject the main form of punishment that exists today.Prisons– especially as they exist in the United States–…

As the pain, suffering, and sheer cost incurred by the criminal justice system in America spirals further and further out of control, more and more people have come to push for reform. Even Texas Governor Rick Perry, who once proudly declared to have never struggled with issues like the death penalty, has begun to advocate…

Quakers, the religious sect with which I most closely identify, have a long history of radical action. Historically, Quakers were leaders in the American abolitionist movement and adherents have long been allies of black liberation, womens’ rights, and other social justice struggles. Today, that tradition continues, with many meetings (the equivalent of a congregation) explicitly…

With the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel causing so much mainstream controversy, other BDS movements often get overlooked. Alongside the current ongoing prison strike that started August 21st and is stated to go on until September 9th, there is also a BDS movement concerning companies that profit from prisons and prison slave…

Starting August 21st, prisoners nationwide went on strike, demanding better working and living conditions. There are currently strike actions confirmed at: Northwest Detention Center, Georgia State Prison, Broad River Correctional Institution, Lee Correctional Institution, McCormick Correctional Institution, Turbeville Correctional Institute, Kershaw Correctional Institution, Lieber Correctional Institution, Hyde Correctional Institution, New Folsom Prison, Toledo Correctional Institution,…

Most of us in the radical labor movement are well aware of the historical bait-and-switch pulled with May Day and the modern American holiday established by the state known as Labor Day. Despite this many anarchists still take Labor Day as an opportunity to spread the message of worker liberation and freedom from capitalism. In…

A hot topic among the left right now is the issue of gun control. While  radical leftists have traditionally been in favor of gun rights, some have begun to justify gun control measures in the hope that it might de-fang white supremacist movements and end gun violence against marginalized communities. Many groups, including Dream Defenders…

The cages are rattling again all across the nation. Today marks the launch of yet another nationwide prison strike. Following the wave of strikes this year, from the MLK Day strike to the Juneteenth strike, prisoners are once more organizing to have their demands heard and things only look to get louder and more organized…

Di Ryan Calhoun. Originale pubblicato il 31 gennaio 2016 con il titolo End Youth Imprisonment Now. Traduzione di Enrico Sanna. La settimana scorsa Obama ha messo fine all’isolamento per i minorenni rinchiusi nelle carceri federali. In un editoriale in cui annunciava una serie di atti esecutivi, il presidente cita i danni psichici causati dall’isolamento ai…

Di Jason Lee Byas. Originale pubblicato il 4 agosto 2017 con il titolo Locked In: The True Causes of Mass Incarceration and How to Achieve Real Reform. Traduzione di Enrico Sanna. Tra tutte le funzioni dello stato, il carcere, soprattutto in grandi numeri, è probabilmente una della più brutali, distruttive e disumane. Tra tutte le…

Of all the State’s activities, incarceration – especially on a mass-scale – is probably one of the most brutal, disruptive, and inhumane. Of all the state’s activities, the census is probably one of the most… boring. But if we care about the former, we should care about the latter. As it stands, the census counts…

This is the first part in a series. Be sure to check out parts 2, 3, 4 and 5. Gun control is a big issue to many leftists. The Democratic Party has campaigned for years on a platform of gun control. Such measures, they claim, are the only ways to reduce gun violence and save lives. They claim they…

(Content Warning: Discussion of suicide and suicide attempt) The ACLU reports that due to Chelsea Manning’s attempted suicide on July 5th in the Fort Leavenworth military prison she could face additional charges including “resisting the force cell move team;” “prohibited property;” and “conduct which threatens.” The punishment could include, “indefinite solitary confinement, reclassification into maximum…

(CW: This article will include discussions of rape and sexual assault) On January 18th, 2015, Brock Turner was discovered on top of an unconscious woman. The woman had her underwear removed and her dress pulled up and Brock was making sexual advances on her. Brock had been discovered by two students at Stanford, where Turner…