My fellow pastor and I pass along the gray walls of our county jail and descend to the bottom floor. Each time I cross this threshold—after handing my badge to the attendant and stretching my arms to be patted down—my body still acts like I’m descending into hostile territory. Here, I’m more …
Beyond the Verdict: Finding Hope and Solidarity After “Still Convicted”
For years, I lived in and out of a system that monetized bondage while prioritizing finality over truth. I came to understand that the system was not searching for the truth but rather for what it could prove—or, more accurately, what I could not prove: my innocence. Without making excuses for …
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Counting the Cost of Reentry
I spent about ten years of my life incarcerated. Not all at once, but in pieces: going in, getting out, and going right back in again. That cycle is something people like to talk about in statistics, but living it is different. It’s not just bad decisions or bad luck—it’s the way the system was …
Locked in Solidarity 2025
Locked in Solidarity, CCDA’s awareness & action week on mass incarceration, was February 10-14, 2025. We were able to gather with a contingent of our members who helpfully informed us of what’s happening on the ground and what we should highlight. The theme this year was Interrupting …
Behind the Scenes of ‘The Return’
Christina Foor is joined by Maya Moore Irons, Jonathan Irons, and Bo Cornelius to discuss The Return. In January 2025, we stepped inside two maximum-security prisons together—Jefferson City Correctional Center and Algoa—to bring encouragement through music and capture Jonathan’s return to …
The Realities of Restorative Justice
For the last several years, Healing Communities PA partnered with the Metropolitan Christian Council of Philadelphia on the Restorative Cities Initiative™️, a grassroots “porch front to city hall” model of bringing restorative practices to every part of community life, particularly in BIPOC …
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Justice Through Healing
Equal Justice USA today is a much different organization than it was more than 20 years ago at our founding. Then we were focused sharply on ending the death penalty through state campaigns, and we’ve succeeded on that front. As important as those wins are, what we learned from those …
For People in Prison, a Listening Ear Can Make All the Difference
by Paige Deur Matthew grew up in a Christian family. At nineteen, he gave his life to Christ and began to see his life transform. Four years later, he found his life falling apart as he sunk into depression. “This was at the beginning of my marriage when I was supposed to be happy, but I …
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