PLS promotes the safe, humane and lawful treatment of MA prisoners through litigation, advocacy, and outreach.
Boston, MA
Joined December 2011
- Tweets6.4K
- Following932
- Followers2.9K
- Likes6.5K
Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts retweeted
Older people are locked up at a record rate in the US. Keep in mind that rates of medical problems are always *much* higher for older people.
Aging in prison is horrific. Is this how the government thinks aging populations should be treated? How does this make communities safer?
ALT Graph titled: Older people in state prisons are plagued with chronic health conditions
Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts retweeted
📅 Save the date! On February 20, 2025, Unlock the Box and Human Rights Watch @hrw are hosting a virtual event to expose the human rights crisis occurring on U.S. soil every day. Solitary confinement is torture and leaves a devastating impact on individuals, communities, and our justice system.
You don't want to miss this insightful and powerful conversation between lawyers, human rights experts, activists, and solitary survivors. 💡 Click here bit.ly/40DHG5q to get notified about the event!
👀 Stay tuned for our speaker lineup announcement...
🎨 Artwork credit: 'Solitary Confinement' by anonymous person in solitary. From 'Drawing Alone: Making Art in Solitary Confinement' and 'Art and Art Therapy with the Imprisoned: Recreating Identity.'
Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts retweeted
Congrats to the 2,500 people on this list and their loved ones! Thank you, @POTUS, for hearing advocates like FAMM and our allies, for recognizing the critical need for #SecondChances, and for using your powers to make them possible!
whitehouse.gov/briefing-room…
Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts retweeted
Join us on Monday Feb 10, 7-8:30pm for the Keeping Families Connected campaign Kick Off! KFC is launching our campaign to improve visitation for people who are incarcerated. We'll connect with others, share updates, and take action together. bit.ly/visitation2025
ALT JOIN US FOR A CAMPAIGN KICKOFF EVENT! Join us on Zoom, Monday February 10th, 7-8:30 pm, for an important update! We are launching our campaign to improve conditions for visits for people who are incarcerated and their loved ones. This legislation, a longtime companion bill to No Cost Calls, is being filed again, and we invite you to kick off this new year’s campaign. Connect with others, hear critical updates and upcoming action opportunities, and find ways to get involved. All are welcome! For other questions or to get in touch with us, please email [email protected]. RSVP at bit.ly/visitation2025. with "Keep Families Connected No Cost Calls" logo of speech bubble with outline of people and MA state.
Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts retweeted
Please spread far and wide A NEW GOVERNOR'S COUNCIL ALREADY MADE HISTORY BUT WILL IT BRING CHANGE TO MASSACHUSETTS? #mapoli
@BINJreports @Fara1
cc:@AbenedettiCPCS @CPCSnews @PLSMA
@BobMcGovernJr @JonathanCohn
@ProgressiveMass @PeoplesParity
horizonmass.news/2025/01/13/…
Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts retweeted
Leah Hastings (@PLSMA Staff Attorney), Hamza Berrios (Empowering Descendant Communities), and B. Arneson shed light on the harsh realities of ICE detention at Plymouth County Correctional Facility, MA.
Read more here: worldpeacefoundation.org/blo…
Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts retweeted
“No one expects to see so many elderly people inside, but in my prison, as well as prisons across the country, there are old or aging people as far as the eye can see.”
prisonjournalismproject.org/…
Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts retweeted
Jails & prisons say they're "understaffed." They've offered raises, built new facilities & lowered employment requirements – still, nothing's worked
Why? Because “understaffing” is not a recruitment issue. It's an untreatable symptom of mass incarceration
prisonpolicy.org/blog/2024/1…
ALT Graph titled: State prisons and local jails have lost thousands of full-time workers since the COVID-19 pandemic began
Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts retweeted
Tomorrow is our last virtual event of the semester and we would love for you to be there! 4:30 PM EDT. Join us!
Register on zoom at bit.ly/HKSCarceralHealthRSVP
There's still time to register for @HKS_PCJ's event, Broken Bars: Reimagining a Blueprint for Healthcare in and Beyond Carceral Settings. Experts will discuss tech, policy & community solutions for equitable, patient-centered care.
hks.harvard.edu/centers/wien…
Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts retweeted
Please give this ⏬ thread a boost! This breaks down some very irresponsible local coverage about the #NoCostCalls policy. Folks are encouraging @NBC10 @NBC10_Tamara to retract this inaccurate stenography for the Bristol County sheriff. #mapoli xitter.cf/BiancaTylek/status/186…
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THIS. Local media ran a story this week that is plainly irresponsible and harmful copaganda, parroting claims from the Bristol Country Sheriff that free calls have increased crime in his jail. Here's why that's ridiculous. 🧵
turnto10.com/i-team/inmate-c…
Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts retweeted
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THIS. Local media ran a story this week that is plainly irresponsible and harmful copaganda, parroting claims from the Bristol Country Sheriff that free calls have increased crime in his jail. Here's why that's ridiculous. 🧵
turnto10.com/i-team/inmate-c…
Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts retweeted
This isn't journalism, it's sheriff propaganda ~ vibes ~
Your own article finds that the five-year high of reported crime within Bristol County HOC was in 2021, years before #NoCostCalls became law. Make them prove the asserted causal link. #mapoli
cc: @JessPish @BiancaTylek
ALT (WJAR) — A troubling trend is emerging from correctional facilities, as a growing number of inmates commit crimes behind bars. Data obtained by the NBC 10 I-Team show nearly 35 criminal charges have been brought against inmates at the Bristol County House of Corrections this year, which is a roughly 50% increase from last year. “There has been an increase in assaults,” Lt. Eric Cardosa said.
ALT While inmate crime is up this year, numbers were also high in 2019 and 2021. Back in 2019, 23 drug charges were filed against inmates at the Bristol County House of Corrections. Comment bubble JOIN THE CONVERSATION (8) Charges hit a five year high in 2021, with 24 assault and battery charges, 14 drug charges, three vandalism charges, and three charges involving lewdness.
#ICYMI - Inmate crimes have increased in Mass following a new law that allows them to make free, unlimited phone calls @NBC10
turnto10.com/i-team/inmate-c…
Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts retweeted
"To Mac Hudson, community liaison for @PLSMA, the president’s actions demonstrated “what it is to have white privilege.” Biden used that privilege “unashamedly” said Hudson, who was incarcerated for more than 30 years."
bostonglobe.com/2024/12/02/m…
Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts retweeted
Grateful to collaborate w/ my former student, & now wonderful colleague in the fight for immigrant justice, Leah Hastings @PLSMA. Also grateful for the vision & leadership of so many in this space, including folks at @BeyondBondBos @MuslimJustice @AARWboston.
Though immigration law is federal, state and local leaders can take steps now to protect immigrant communities and make good on these promises.
Leah Hastings and @sshermanstokes recommend four specific measures: trib.al/CAbJHaa
Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts retweeted
Last week, PLS called for urgent reforms at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center. Harsh restrictions and lack of meaningful out-of-cell time create a cycle of violence. We need solutions that reduce violence and prepare people for successful reentry. bostonglobe.com/2024/11/12/m…
Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts retweeted
@PLSMA Staff Attorney Leah Hastings shares her favorite quote:
"You trust somebody else. You do not turn away." - June Jordan.
#staffspotlight #civillegalaid
Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts retweeted
Thanks @BostonGlobe for your reporting & glad to be quoted alongside the inimitable Heather Yountz. Plymouth Jail continues to be rewarded for it's flagrant violations of bare minimum detention standards. Read our report with @PLSMA here: bu.edu/law/files/2024/09/ICE…
Some sheriffs scoffed at immigration enforcement. Plymouth extended its agreement with ICE. trib.al/hcajDSP
Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts retweeted
Boston Bar Foundation grantee @PLSMA is calling on state officials to reform conditions at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley. Read more about their advocacy via the @BostonGlobe here:
bostonglobe.com/2024/11/12/m…
Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts retweeted
Join in thanking @goodwinlaw & @PLSMA for suing to end putting people who need help with addiction behind bars in Massachusetts.
MA is the only state that sends men civilly committed for Substance Use Disorder to carceral facilities for treatment, which hinders successful treatment. Thank you @goodwinlaw for being co-counsel on our class action lawsuit seeking to end this harmful practice.
Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts retweeted
🎙️This week's episode of Disrupting Peace features Kentel Weaver of @TppNonprofit who is formerly incarcerated and is now a restorative justice practitioner.
Listen to his story ⬇️
Spotify: bit.ly/3Z4HM5y
Apple: bit.ly/3yNyqkc
