Wesleyan College in Prison Program

Wesleyan University has developed a program that will allow male prisoners in a Connecticut penitentiary to gain college credit.  The college-in-prison program is accredited, allowing faculty and students from the college to teach for-credit courses to inmates.  Wesleyan students are also running a program at a local women’s prison.  However, this program is not yet accredited, and [...]

Over 1300 Days of Freedom

Over 1300 days of freedom were gained today for a woman granted parole by Alabama’s Parole Board. AWRN is happy to have been a part of her reentry plan development and parole hearing advocacy. All the best to her and her family as she moves forward toward achieving her goals.  She is an incredible, strong [...]

A Sign of Success to Come

As AWRN has said before, a parole hearing is an event that has been a long time coming for women in prison preparing for and awaiting the day they will be released.  AWRN will be holding a training in early October for community-active citizens and providers willing to be the link between a woman and [...]

Parole Hearing Info Now on Our Site!

AWRN is proud to announce that we have put together our resources in order to create a list of things to expect at Alabama parole hearings! This list includes many facts about the hearing procedure, things to prepare ahead of time, as well as general information on what to expect.  We hope that this will [...]

Utah: Female Incarceration Rates Decreasing

Utah has seen a recent drop in female inmate numbers due to several reentry preparation programs offered at prison.  Though the prison system lacks much federal spending for such programs, the community has proven to help fill the gaps by providing services to inmates.  Everything from becoming a Big Brother or Big Sister, to helping [...]

California’s Technical Violation Policy–Lessons for Alabama?

In an opinion piece published in yesterday’s NY Times, the point was made that,  The heart of the problem is California’s poorly designed parole system. A vast majority of states use parole to supervise serious offenders who require close monitoring. California has historically put just about everyone on parole. According to a federally backed study released [...]

NC Women’s Prison to Close

A specialized women’s facility in North Carolina is scheduled to close due to state budget cuts.  This facility, though quite small, gave female prisoners the opportunity to work and effectively prepare themselves for re-entry.  Now, the inmates will be sent to a minimum security prison where it is unlikely they will receive work release options, [...]

Salon.com: Progress in Alabama prisons

Alabama now lets HIV-positive inmates out on work release — but de facto segregation of the HIV-positive continues By Rachel Maddow and Margaret Winter The article can be found here.  Many thanks to Maddow and Winter for writing a spot-on analysis of the state’s decision. AWRN’s response to the article can be found here.

“Group Working To Make Women’s Prisons More Women Friendly”

Please watch this video to see conversations with women at Tutwiler prison.  Special thanks to the Alabama Department of Corrections for making the conversations possible. The Commission on Women and Girls in the Criminal Justice System met one on one with 10 inmates at Tutwiler Prison in Elmore County Monday. They came to the Wetumpka [...]

Join the AWRN Book/Film Club

As you may have noticed from our blog, the news, life, etc. the issue of women’s imprisonment is complicated.  So many issues are a part of the conversation, from prison conditions and incarceration rates, to health care, poverty, and reentry services.  Lucky for all of us, and especially women behind bars, there is a plethora of books and films [...]