prison Archives

HIGH DRAMA

Unruly, argumentative Governor’s Council inflames Parole Board Hearings There was high drama on display again at a Massachusetts Governor’s Council meeting at the State House last week. During two nomination hearings on June 15, councilors argued with each other, used their podiums to air their pet peeves, and insulted and

JEAN TROUNSTINE June 20, 2022

PHONE CHECK

Mass is still gouging the families of prisoners on phone fees. Will lawmakers finally change that? For the past 10 years, Beverly Ross has spent hundreds of dollars a month on a middle-school teacher’s salary to ensure that her son knows his father, who is incarcerated in a Massachusetts

ASHLEY PETTUS April 11, 2022

DAY-LONG HEARING ON CORRECTIONS SEES PLEAS FOR FREE CALLS AND AN END TO LIFE W/OUT PAROLE

150-plus Advocates testify about “broken” Mass criminal legal system

JEAN TROUNSTINE October 7, 2021

SPECIAL FEATURE: A YEAR OF DISASTER AT OLD COLONY

“People call saying, “I just can’t bear it.” “The walls are closing in on me; I can’t talk to my family; I’ve lost it.”

JEAN TROUNSTINE May 3, 2021

SPECIAL FEATURE: THE COMMITMENTS

Some who are civilly committed for addiction in Mass face abusive prison conditions. Still, some families say it’s better than the alternative

DAKOTA ANTELMAN February 11, 2021

REVOCATION NATION: REINCARCERATION FOR TECHNICAL PAROLE VIOLATIONS IN THE AGE OF COVID-19

Jonathan Best had been out of prison for two years when he ended a rocky relationship with his girlfriend. Like many men and women on parole—a form of early release, in which the remainder of one’s sentence is served in the community—he suffered from depression and anxiety. At the

JEAN TROUNSTINE September 15, 2020