'Legal Plunder' @joshpage.bsky.social @joesoss.bsky.social @uchicagopress.bsky.social is recommended in our Year in Books by Managing Editor @adammcgee.bsky.social as "innovative and refreshingly frank."

WaPo reports that ICE is planning 7 massive human warehouses holding 5,000 to 10,000 people. Recalls the acting ICE director 2015 statement that he wanted to see a “business”-oriented approach to deportations, “like [Amazon] Prime, but with human beings”. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

New at The Watch: A comprehensive primer on the drug boat strikes open.substack.com/pub/radleyba...

A curated selection from our favorite decarceral books of the year, with topics ranging from prison book programs and dangerously bad prison food to disability justice and the fight to stop the world’s tallest jail from being built.

Just a reminder that earlier this year FCC Chairman Carr caved in to phone companies and sheriffs, voting to saddle low-income families with higher costs by reversing the phone & video rate caps that were previously set for incarcerated people.

This has been *such* a saga, but better late than never: Texas prisoners who died during convict leasing and were often buried where they dropped in unmarked graves have been honored and commemorated. www.houstonchronicle.com/neighborhood...

Thanks @bailproject.org for the interview! Cash bail does not just fuel injustice and compromise public safety. It also enables widespread financial extraction that harms families and communities and intensifies inequality. #LegalPlunder cc/ @joesoss.bsky.social

Incarcerated workers in North Carolina prisons often earn less than a dollar a day, yet prisons and vendors charge them exorbitant prices for many goods. “They’re always looking for ways to make more money, primarily off of us,” says one incarcerated man.

160 years ago, the 13th Amendment was ratified, ending slavery. But that amendment came with a sinister loophole: a Slavery Clause that allowed for slavery “as punishment for crime.” We need to pass @repnikema.bsky.social’s and my Abolition Amendment to #EndTheException once and for all!

"Incarcerated trans Americans experience sexual violence at more than 12x the rate of other incarcerated people" That stat comes from the DOJ itself – and still, the administration wants to tear down the few protections that exist, making prisons & jails even more dangerous for everyone.

Somali people are my neighbors, students, and friends. These attacks are despicable.

If you're interested in hearing about my new book with @joesoss.bsky.social, Legal Plunder: The Predatory Dimensions of Criminal Justice, join us virtually this Wednesday for a spirited discussion with @finesandfeesjc.bsky.social.

Trump just commuted the 7-year sentence of David Gentile, a private equity leader who helped defraud thousands of people out of some $1.6 billion, almost as soon as his prison stint began. "I lost my whole life savings," one person wrote, adding, "I am living from check to check."

$1.6bln: The amount of his fraud scheme 7: Years of his sentence 10,000: Victims of his fraud 1,000: Letters from victims to the court 13: Days he served 1: Pardon from Trump www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/u...

The spoils of mass deportation! #LegalPlunder

Join FFJC Co-ED Joanna Weiss for a conversation with the authors of Legal Plunder, @joesoss.bsky.social & @joshpage.bsky.social, exploring how our fines & fees system took shape and what it will take to dismantle it. 🗓️ 12/3, 12 PM ET 📍 Online or at New York Law School 🎟️ tinyurl.com/3bnpprvb

The Times identified 120+ instances in which guards were described as having punched, kicked or stomped on inmates, smashed their fingers in cell doors, held their legs apart and struck their genitals with batons, and even waterboarded them — all while they were handcuffed or otherwise restrained.

This week Inquest covered the growing real estate trend of prison flipping, and the inner workings of extractive capitalism's merger with mass incarceration. Get the full recap: mailchi.mp/inquest.o...

The House has passed H.R. 5214, a bill to return DC to cash bail. Cash bail creates two tiers of justice, one for people with money and one without. DC abolished it more than 30 years ago and crime has dropped precipitously since. H.R. 5214 is wrong and we will continue to fight its passage.

The United States is experiencing historic drops in crime across almost all categories. But crime statistics don’t necessarily change how safe Americans feel — those beliefs are driven by political preferences.

Very much looking forward to this event in NYC with @finesandfeesjc.bsky.social. Please join us in person or online for a spirited discussion about Legal Plunder. cc/ @joesoss.bsky.social

Thanks @inquest.bsky.social for featuring an excerpt from Legal Plunder: The Predatory Dimensions of Criminal Justice.

For much of this nation's history, health care for incarcerated people was provided directly by state prison or health authorities. But today, roughly two dozen states use for-profit health care contractors.

Book talk! @FinesandFeesJC on Legal Plunder – A moderated discussion with Josh Page, Joe Soss, and Joanna Weiss Dec 3, 2025 11:00 AM CT Register for the webinar or in-person talk at NYU Law here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

They did an excellent job with this one. I’m always impressed with how LWT communicates the wonkiest things in an engaging way (like how local station funding allocations work, and how this has hurt local rural stations far more than NPR the national org and better funded, usu larger city stations)

This is far worse than anyone expected. Trump's HUD plan would cut *two-thirds* of permanent housing and push as many as 170,000 formerly homeless people back onto the street—redirecting funds to work mandates, forced treatment, and encampment sweeps. All as mass internment camps are being built.

"Mark my words, one wrong step in this town’ll land you in a whole heap of social services."

So cool! Prince *loved* libraries. For example, this is one donation he made from his charity a few days after 9/11 to save the Louisville Free Public Library, the first library in the community to serve African Americans.

The Flex Loan, a new type of payday loan pioneered by Advance Financial in Tennessee, allows residents to borrow up to $4,000 at a 279.5% interest rate. It has burdened low-income borrowers while generating huge profits for lenders. (Published May with @tennesseelookout.com)

This has not gotten much attention, but it should. Virginia under Youngkin returned to an insanely harsh system where people convicted of any felony lose their voting rights FOR LIFE. Dems' win this week mean they'll get to advance a constitutional amendment to end lifetime disenfranchisement.

I wrote for @slate.com about a legendary (and violent) Tennessee sheriff who more likely than not murdered his wife and the people who want to keep him on a pedestal. slate.com/news-and-pol...

How and why did police in liberal democracies become militarized? Drawing on colonial history, our video of the week shows how methods honed during empire were imported into domestic policing through an “imperial boomerang.” Feat. @juliango.bsky.social at @aissr.bsky.social buff.ly/pFAv0pr

"The notices state that “Payment in full is due now” & list an array of potential consequences for failure to pay, including collection litigation & negative impacts on their immigration cases. Fines that aren’t paid in full will accrue interest." Children in detention can't work. And are CHILDREN.

I think Houston might actually have outdone NYC in terms of creativity in its puppy Halloween costume contest.

It’s worth noting that in the few months when the 2024 rules were active, most facilities & providers successfully implemented the rates without issue, saving incarcerated people and their families millions of dollars.

🚨NEW: The FCC has voted to raise calling rates for incarcerated people – a move that bends to the will of telecomm companies, jails and prisons, while saddling poor families with higher costs. Now, prices could hike as much as 83% 🧵

Just incredibly, unnecessarily cruel. And I’d be shocked if there wasn’t wanton corruption going on here, too.

Does spending thousands on gun range memberships or fitness trackers for jail staff really sound like it benefits the “general welfare” of incarcerated people? Prisons & jails across the US are abusing “inmate welfare funds” – and getting away with it:

stellan skarsgård seems like a good dude

Not only does Iowa impose some of the highest fees in the nation — affecting tens of thousands of people each year — it also charges poor people for legal aid even if they are acquitted or the cases against them are dropped.

Great post from @worthrises.bsky.social on how the "big beautiful bill" is showering public funds on the prison industry, supercharging profits and transforming detention and incarceration in America. #LegalPlunder worthrises.org/blogpost/202... @biancatylek.bsky.social @joshpage.bsky.social

Excellent report on asset seizures in Minnesota and Minneapolis #LegalPlunder minnesotareformer.com/2025/10/09/m...

From the companies profiting off the administration's dragnet to the hell of Alligator Alcatraz, our reporters trace the brutal rollout of President Donald Trump's police state. That includes the tiny, inexperienced firm that somehow landed a $1.3 billion detention deal to hold 5,000 human beings.

something i learned this week! mailchi.mp/boltsmag/new...

I've been writing about the war on drugs for more than 20 years. There are some cases that have stuck with me -- names that have never left my head. For the last couple years, I've been working with The Intercept on a podcast to tell their stories. It launches in a week.

Excited to read this! Thanks @joesoss.bsky.social & @joshuapage.bsky.social

So exhausting..

In prisons across the U.S., basics such as deodorant, shampoo, sneakers, thermal clothes for winter are often only available to people who can afford them. But earning enough in jobs behind bars is nearly impossible.

If they had a right-wing, “tough-on-crime” coded mayor there would be endless national profiles about him and how he finally brought sanity back to Chicago.