Criminal Justice & Incarceration Archives

“The Carceral State” Online Class

Garrett Felber and abolitionist organizer Stevie Wilson talk about the growth of the carceral state and resistance movements.

“Riots,” Racism, and the Police: Students Explore a Century of Police Conduct and Racial Violence

Teaching Activity. By Ursula Wolfe-Rocca. Students explore three documents produced in the wake of three major episodes of racial violence (1919, 1967, 2014) to understand the long trajectory of police violence in Black communities.

Justice in Everyday Life: The Way It Really Works

Books - Non-fiction. Howard Zinn. 1974. Howard Zinn's book on the way justice really works in the U.S. and how it can change for the better.

Repair: Students Design a Reparations Bill

Teaching Activity. By Ursula Wolfe-Rocca. In this activity, students take on the role of activist-experts to improve upon a Congressional bill for reparations for Black people. They talk back to Congress’ flimsy legislation and design a more robust alternative.

Chokehold: Policing Black Men

Book — Non-fiction. By Paul Butler. 2018. 320 pp. A former federal prosecutor explains how the criminal justice system works against the people and how we can disrupt its abuse.

March 13, 2020: Breonna Taylor Shot and Killed by Louisville Police

Louisville police officers opened fire on the apartment home of 26-year-old Breonna Taylor, shooting and killing her.

Passionate Declarations: Essays on War and Justice

Book - Non-fiction. By Howard Zinn. 2003. 368 pages. A selection of passionate, honest, and piercing essays looking at political ideology in the United States.

Race Against Time: A Reporter Reopens the Unsolved Murder Cases of the Civil Rights Era

Book - Non-fiction. By Jerry Mitchell. 2020. 432 pages. An account of one journalist's search for the long-buried truths that could bring killers to justice for the assassination of Medgar Evers, the firebombing of Vernon Dahmer, the 16th Street Church bombing in Birmingham, and the Mississippi Burning case.

Just Mercy for Young Readers (book cover) | Zinn Education Project

Just Mercy: A True Story of the Fight for Justice (Adapted for Young Adults)

Book - Non-fiction. By Bryan Stevenson. 288 pages. 2018. This young adult adaptation provides readers a glimpse into the lives of the wrongfully imprisoned.

One Long Night: A Global History of Concentration Camps

Books - Non-fiction. By Andrea Pitzer. 2017. 480 pp. Starting with 1890s Cuba, this book is a chronological and geopolitical history of concentration camps that is filled with prisoner perspectives.

A Queer History of the United States for Young People

Book - Non-fiction. By Michael Bronski, adapted for by Richie Chevat. 336 pages. 2019. A young adult readers edition of the original text explores the history of LGBTQ+ experiences in the U.S. since 1500.

Teaching Social Activism in Prison | Zinn Education Project

Teaching Social Activism in Prison: The Leap Manifesto and Incarcerated Youth

Article. By Rachel Boccio. Rethinking Schools, Winter 2018. A Connecticut educator who taught English to incarcerated young men for 20 years describes what happened when she introduced her students to the Canadian “Leap Manifesto.”

Slavery by Another Name

Film. By Sam Pollard, Catherine Allan, Douglas Blackmon and Sheila Curran Bernard. 2012. 90 min. Reveals the interlocking forces in the South and the North that enabled “neoslavery” post-Emancipation Proclamation.

Blood in the Water: The Attica Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy

Book – Non-fiction. By Heather Ann Thompson. 2016. The hidden history of the infamous 1971 Attica Prison Uprising.

Philando Castile by Pollen | Zinn Education Project

July 6, 2016: Philando Castile is Killed by Police

Philando Castile, an African American, was shot to death by a police officer at a traffic stop. Castile had worked as a nutritional supervisor at an elementary school.

Race to Incarcerate: A Graphic Retelling

Book - Non-fiction. By Marc Mauer and Sabrina Jones. 2012. Based on the popular book Race to Incarcerate, this graphic adaptation is a key resource to introduce a study of U.S. prison system to middle school readers and above.

Attica Prison Uprising

Resource list. Overview with links to articles, books, primers, films, and websites about the Attica Prison Uprising for the classroom.

The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander, 10th anniversary edition

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

Book - Non-fiction. By Michelle Alexander. Introduction by Cornel West. 2010, updated 10th-anniversary edition released in 2020. A critical analysis of the role the justice system plays in the oppression of African Americans in the United States.

The Real Cost of Prisons Comix

Book - Non-fiction. By Ellen Miller-Mack, Craig Gilmore, Lois Ahrens, Susan Willmarth, and Kevin Pyle. 2008. This comic book presents the human stories behind the statistics.

June 25, 2002: Tamir Rice Born

Tamir Rice was born on June 25, 2002.

April 19, 1989: Central Park Five Arrested

The New York Police falsely accused four African American teenagers and one Latino teenager who became known as the Central Park Five.

Hell in a Very Small Space | Zinn Education Project

July 4, 1976: Marion Prisoners Stage Bicentennial Hunger Strike

Inmates at United States Penitentiary (USP) Marion staged a hunger strike on the U.S. bicentennial in protest of inhumane treatment by the prison administration.

Aug. 15: 1975: Joan Little Acquitted

Joan Little was acquitted, using the defense that she used deadly force to resist sexual assault.

Rodriguez Brothers | Zinn Education Project

July 24, 1973: Twelve-Year-Old Santos Rodriguez Killed By Police

Twelve-year-old Santos Rodriguez and his 13-year-old brother David were pulled from their home in Dallas, Texas, handcuffed, and put inside a police car. Santos was killed when one of the officers played Russian roulette to try to force the boys to confess to a crime.

Attica Prison Uprising | Zinn Education Project

Sept. 9, 1971: Attica Prison Uprising

The Attica Prison Uprising began.