Yesterday activists from WISDOM, a statewide social justice coalition which targets the criminal justice system, staged a protest about the severe restrictions for people on parole in the state, resulting in an enormous number of people being returned to prison for petty violations of their parole conditions. They also targeted false alarms and ultra-strict regulations in Wisconsin’s GPS monitoring program as one of the issues contributing to a high recidivism rate in the state. In addition to the challenges in the parole system, Wisconsin has the highest per capita incarceration rate of African Americans of any state. Read the story about the WISDOM action here.
Technology in corrections is trending. So is the use of electronic monitoring, especially with exclusion zones-areas where people are programmed not to go. In this piece I wrote for Truthout I explore some of the implications of “techno-corrections,” particularly their potential to segregate urban areas, keeping the “good people” in and the “bad people” out. Since large percentages of the population now carry GPS with them at all times, linking that to urban planning and “virtual gentrification” is one possible step for the future.
Link to my story here.
Voice of the Monitored 