‘It is our duty of care to protect and treat those whose liberty we have denied’ By John Fabricius | The test of a civilization is the way that it cares for its helpless members. Pearl Buck The news surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic brings to mind my experiences […]
Grace Gámez, PhD, ReFraming Justice (RFJ) Project Coordinator & Founder AFSC-Arizona works to reduce incarceration through state sentencing reform, fighting prison and detention expansion, and improving conditions of confinement. Maybe the most important piece of this work is not just including, but following the lead of people who […]
by Joe Watson | Unless you have zero sense of civic duty, you probably know that today is Election Day in multiple states and municipalities across the country. Here at home in Tucson, there’s a mayoral election, plus the fate of multiple city council seats and citywide initiatives […]
by James Kilgore, Guest Blogger | When I was released by the California state prison system way back in 2009, I was told that, if I wanted to parole to Illinois where my family lived, I would have to be on an electronic monitor. I thought nothing of it. […]
For many years AFSC-Arizona has been working to reform sentencing and prison laws in Arizona. Now, we are excited to announce that we are partnering with the national group, Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM). FAMM is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization located in Washington, DC that has advocated for […]
While I was incarcerated at Marana State Prison, another inmate gave me a poem she wrote called “What No One Wants to Hear”. *It’s a pretty heavy poem- it captures a lot of the emotion of being incarcerated- anger, sadness, isolation, and inhumanity. I had been in and […]
On Monday, December 1, AFSC Arizona released Still Buried Alive: Arizona Prisoner Testimonies on Isolation in Maximum-Security (2014), a report on solitary confinement in the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) that catalogues the testimonies of prisoners who have first-hand experience with isolation. One of the more prevalent themes raised […]