An alarming fact during the holidays: Most incarcerated parents have never received a visit from their child, mostly because they’re too far. Every child deserves the opportunity to visit their incarcerated parent.

What's commissary like during the holidays? Exploitative – as usual.

Holiday cheer doesn't extend to commissary. Prisons know how devastating it is to spend the holidays behind bars – and they know it's a chance to exploit incarcerated people and their families:

"I don’t know if the mail rule has stymied the flow of drugs into the prison... But as we get closer to the holidays, I do know I will miss my mom’s loopy cursive handwriting on a Christmas card." When prisons ban physical mail, families suffer.

"Officials allowed her only a small ration of menstrual products... On her worst days, she tore up her own T-shirts and used them as makeshift pads" Behind bars, managing menstruation is difficult, uncomfortable, and often downright dangerous:

Trump just ordered his administration to reschedule marijuana to Schedule III. But rescheduling maintains federal criminalization and leaves gaps. That's why we’re pushing for an end to federal marijuana criminalization + comprehensive reforms 🧵

This is a great reminder that governors can–and SHOULD–use their pardon powers more frequently. Pardons are powerful and can help fix injustices in the criminal legal system, but, sadly, across the U.S., they're severely underused.

A reminder on #InternationalMigrantsDay: States are not powerless to the current administration's war on immigration. When state & local governments fight for their communities and resist collaborating with ICE, far fewer people get swept into the system:

NEW: CCJ released a new comprehensive analysis of arrest trends from 1980-2024, the first full analysis since federal reporting halted in 2020. Main finding: Arrests fell sharply in 2020 during the pandemic—and have stayed down since then. shorturl.at/Xs1PQ

From a young age, LGBTQ people are disproportionately targeted by and overrepresented in the criminal legal system. An alarming fact given the escalating criminalization of gender-affirming care for trans kids.

Trump has mostly used his pardon power to reward political allies, corporations & insurrectionists. He has neglected those who need it the most, including Black, brown, low-income, & other marginalized folks. He must change course & prioritize clemency for communities harmed by mass incarceration.

As Pres. Trump prepares to boast his administration's "accomplishments" from 2025, we want to highlight all the changes he's made to the U.S. criminal legal system this year. 🧵 Spoiler: It's really bad.

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.

What's it like to live under Trump's war on immigration? Some in Memphis call it "a war zone, with helicopters circling over neighborhoods, National Guard officers patrolling downtown, and unmarked law enforcement vehicles in the streets" And it wouldn't be possible without help from local police🧵

For months, I've been talking to providers and researchers across the country to understand how the Trump administration's immigration policies are impacting reproductive health. The story is out today in @rewirenewsgroup.com. I hope you'll give it a read: rewirenewsgroup.com/2025/12/17/i...

From PPI's useful analysis: state and local entities that seek to block immigration authorities' access to jails have lower rates of ICE arrests

Trump classifying fentanyl as a “weapon of mass destruction” is not about saving lives from drugs. It’s a rapid militarization of the failed war on drugs, designed to make the system more punitive. And it will leave everyone worse off.

And for formerly incarcerated Black folks, the disparity is even worse, thanks to the prison penalty:

What's the difference between states like Florida, where ICE arrests are sky-high, and states like Illinois with much lower rates of arrests? It's all about police & jails. Arrest rates out of homes, workplaces, etc are similar – but reining in sheriffs makes all the difference.

PJP contributors asked people in their prisons what their holidays are like. Here’s what they said.

Can't help but think of the hundreds of thousands of unhoused people who are hit hardest by extreme weather – and are often entangled with the criminal legal system.

Among the 35 jail births identified in the news over 10 years, jail staff ignored repeated cries for help or medical assistance in at least 24 cases. The carceral system is no place for pregnant people.

Sanctuary cities, counties, and states are not immune from ICE's arrest & deportation agenda – but these policies can and DO make a difference in limiting the criminalization of immigration:

Prisons & jails are already inherently harmful, and placing people in solitary confinement can be lethal to their mental health:

As much of the U.S. faces a polar vortex, a reminder of what it's like to experience brutal temperatures behind bars:

With rising prices and low pay, incarcerated people struggle to meet even their most basic needs. “Since my grandmother passed away, I do not receive any money at all because my family cannot afford to spare any due to the price of utilities and their own groceries."

🚨Trump's deportation agenda isn't possible without the cooperation of local jails and police – and new data confirms it. Our latest briefing examines 2025 arrest data to reveal the full scope of which states have thwarted ICE's mission, and which have greatly enabled it 🧵

From exposing the role of jails in Trump's deportation agenda to examining the state of youth confinement, 2025 was a busy year for PPI. Here are some of our most important reports, briefings, & advocacy partnerships over the last 12 months 🧵

And yet are paid less than $3/day for full-time work (per @prisonpolicy.org www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2017/04...)

From @prisonpolicy.org: New analysis of government data from ICE via the Deportation Data Project shows federal agents reliant on local jails and police to reach their arrest numbers.

As Jelly Roll points out the restrictions of his own parole, it's a good time to remind everyone that across the country, parole systems are largely dysfunctional – and, sadly, most people don’t have the resources to push back. www.foxnews.com/entertainmen...

The U.S. unemployment rate is at a four-year high of 4.4%. Now, try wrapping your head around the idea of a 43% unemployment rate. That’s the reality formerly incarcerated Black women face, thanks to the prison penalty:

Can't believe we have to say this, but tampons aren't contraband. And yet in NY state prisons, body scanners (that COs demanded) are picking up menstrual products, leaving people barred from visiting with their incarcerated loved ones.

The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate of any independent democracy on Earth – and its system of mass incarceration is plagued with human rights violations. We're calling for a just & equal world and stand with those fighting for freedom. #HumanRightsDay

Help us send 2,000 books to readers who are incarcerated this winter through our Books Not Bars program

🚨NEW DATA: The federal government stopped providing reliable data on deaths in prisons. The UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project has stepped in to fill the gap. Their latest data shows more than 4,800 people died behind bars last year. More here 👇 uclaprisondata.org

While the rich get richer, the U.S. criminal legal system continues to punish poor people and push them deeper into poverty. Pre-incarceration, the median annual income of someone behind bars is less than $20,000.

Thanks to Medicaid cuts, many rural hospitals will be forced to close. This will have disastrous consequences for entire communities across the U.S. – especially incarcerated people who have no choice about where they receive medical care.

Toilet flush restrictions, shower limits, deadly disease outbreaks. These inhumane conditions aren't out of a dystopian fiction story – they're real-life in California prisons. So much for being a "progressive" state.

The biggest beneficiary of prison labor isn't a private company – it's the prisons themselves.

Holiday cheer doesn't extend to commissary. Prisons know how devastating it is to spend the holidays behind bars – and they know it's a chance to exploit incarcerated people and their families:

Instead of focusing on how people have changed, far too many parole boards heavily base their decisions on static factors. This is not a system that rewards "reform."

Behind bars, people have restricted access to period products – and the ones they do have access to are low quality. This leaves many menstruating people left to: 🔴 Free bleed 🔴 Hoard tampons 🔴 Make their own tampons And any of these outcomes could lead to severe punishment.

Walmart sells 11-ounce bags of Chex Cheesy Pizza Snack Mix for less than $4. In North Carolina prisons, a 4.25-ounce bag of that same product costs $8.75. That's less than half the product for 2x the price. Carceral greed at its finest.

Incarcerated women and trans people in the U.S. are punished for their periods. They describe: 🟣 making their own tampons out of unsanitary items 🟣 facing penalties for having more tampons or pads than allowed 🟣 being humiliated by prison staff — yes, even women My latest for @19thnews.org:

“The quality of products provided or available for purchase is usually extremely poor — so poor that they do not fulfill their intended function... People have to use six pads at a time to prevent leakage, but they have strict limits on how many they are allowed.”

"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.

Lockdowns in Illinois prisons rose 285% from 2019 to 2024. The measures are intended to keep staff safe, but it comes at a steep cost for residents.

ICE sent more immigrant kids to detention in shelters than ever before & is using kids to entrap sponsors & family. “They are using kids as bait & then the kids are stuck,” NIJC's Marie Silver told @propublica.org: https://www.propublica.org/article/ice-detentions-immigrant-kids-family-separations

Pres. Trump's wave of pardons has dominated headlines. But here's the important part that's been left out: Pardons are essential to bringing a measure of justice to an unjust system – and the U.S. should not shy away from them, even if they benefit controversial figures. 🧵