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bson.bsky.social
brian nam-sonenstein
@bson.bsky.social
2.9K followers 3.9K following 340 posts
senior editor & researcher @prisonpolicy.org; 1/2 of @beyondprisons.bsky.social; fmr editor and founder shadowproof.com

Nobody is free until everybody is free
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bson.bsky.social
Vika’s cake from today.
An ornate cake sits on a wooden counter. It has white frosting speckled with bits of brown and dotted with brown chocolate mini spheres. Frilly white frosting around the edges. Three brown poached pears sit on top.
November 13, 2025 at 11:55 PM
bson.bsky.social
mainebeacon.com/mills-vetoes...
Mills vetoes slate of progressive bills, including measure to close Long Creek Dan Neumann contributed reporting to this piece. Gov. Janet Mills issued a series of vetoes Wednesday on bills passed by the legislature, including a measure to close Maine’s last youth prison, a tax fairness bill to bolster underfunded affordable housing programs, and legislation that would prevent companies owned by foreign governments from conducting electioneering on Maine ballot initiatives.
November 13, 2025 at 8:20 PM
bson.bsky.social
"It made me feel less than a human being, let alone a woman. Even though we are in prison, we are still women."
A quote from an incarcerated woman named Evelyn, in Texas: “I had a fibroid on my uterus, so I had a lot of bleeding. But, the pads are so cheap and they don’t absorb well. I would go through three of them a night and still bleed through my clothes onto my sheets. It was so embarrassing and shameful, I would get up early and wash myself, my clothes, and my sheets, even though this was against the rules. I would get in trouble, but I couldn’t just stay with my clothes and sheets like that. It made me feel less than a human being, let alone a woman. Even though we are in prison, we are still women.” – Evelyn (Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, 2018)
November 12, 2025 at 4:25 PM
bson.bsky.social
We identified at least 6 categories of prison disciplinary rules that can be used to target people for having their periods, and 5 categories of sanctions that can result in loss of access to menstrual products: www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2025/11...
In Vishniac’s analysis of prison disciplinary policies, we found that at least six types of rules that can be used against people for menstruating: Damaging property: Rules designed to prevent damage to prison property result in punishing people for bleeding on prison-issued property, using more menstrual products than allotted, and supplementing their limited menstrual products with other materials like toilet paper, paper towels, or rags. Maintaining personal hygiene: Rules that mandate tidiness and personal cleanliness can be used against people who are menstruating when they have inadequate menstrual products and limited changes of clothing. ⤵ Contraband: Rules restricting the type of property people can have in their cell, as well as the amount of allowed property that people can have in their cell and how that property is used, can turn basic or makeshift hygiene products into prohibited items. Movement: Rules that govern the physical movement of people throughout prisons inevitably impact people who are menstruating by limiting access to bathroom, shower, and laundry facilities. Work assignments: Rules requiring participation in work assignments — or impose sanctions for unauthorized absences — unfairly punish people who are menstruating and cannot maintain their usual job performance or tolerate being at work. “Feigning” illness: Rules supposedly designed to reduce the unnecessary and expensive use of healthcare resources undoubtedly results in the dismissal of real, severe symptoms experienced in menstruation. In addition to rules that put people who menstruate in the crosshairs of the disciplinary system, many of the sanctions for breaking them further restrict access to menstrual products, including: Confiscation: A common sanction for being found in possession of “contraband” is confiscation — and it is easy to see how prisons can classify menstrual products as contraband if people have more than the allotted number of products, have traded for menstrual products, or use products acquired in an unauthorized manner. Work assignments: Sanctions that result in the loss of work assignment or lowered pay can make it even more challenging for people to afford menstrual products, and requiring additional labor as a punishment can be impossible for people who do not have access to menstrual products or who are experiencing menstruation-related symptoms and medical conditions, including pain and heavy bleeding. Fines, fees, restitution and assessed costs: Sanctions requiring monetary payment disproportionately impact women, trans, and nonbinary people, who tend to enter prison with fewer financial resources than men, and who need to spend what little they have on menstrual products from the commissary. Loss of privileges: Revoking access to the commissary prohibits people from accessing menstrual products (when it is the sole provider of them) and disallows people from safely supplementing the menstrual products they have when needed. Other privileges are often revoked as well, including visitation, recreation, and programming, all of which are tied to lower rates of prison misconduct and recidivism. Restrictive housing: Sanctions that confine people to their cells or restrict access to personal property inevitably limit access to necessary menstrual products when they are otherwise unavailable in restrictive housing or disciplinary segregation.
November 12, 2025 at 4:22 PM
bson.bsky.social
Let’s delete social security!
March 19, 2025 at 9:20 AM
bson.bsky.social
One of the most succinct descriptions of how prison disciplinary policies work, sent in to us from an incarcerated person. www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/disc...
January 28, 2025 at 3:13 PM
bson.bsky.social
asked for his comments on the housing crisis in #portlandme, Mayor Dion announces he's asking lawmakers to sponsor a bill to build a new Cop City here www.mainepublic.org/maine/2025-0...
January 8, 2025 at 8:34 PM
bson.bsky.social
Not only have these wages risen and kept pace with inflation, but they also tend to be higher than workers who need more education/training (eg EMTs, social workers). Corrections work also doesn't crack the top 10 most dangerous jobs in America, but it pays better than 4 out of 10 of those jobs
A chart comparing the median annual wages (2023) for corrections workers, loggers, roofers, construction workers, and delivery drivers to their fatal work injury rate in 2022. We see corrections workers had a tiny work injury rate (2 per 100k) compared to the others (100 per 100k for loggers, 58 for roofers, 39 for construction workers, and 30 for delivery drivers)
December 10, 2024 at 9:11 PM
bson.bsky.social
Understaffing is often blamed on low wages, but we found that corrections wages have risen steadily over the past decade and have largely kept pace with inflation
A chart showing wages paid vs wages adjusted for inflation among corrections workers. Looking at median annual wages, we see wages paid have steadily risen over the last decade, and have kept pace with inflation.
December 10, 2024 at 9:11 PM
bson.bsky.social
Some highlights from our briefing...

Jails and prisons faced understaffing before 2020, but staffing numbers have cratered since. Not pictured, but we also saw a significant uptick in part-time employment, suggesting departments are trying to cope, but offsetting only ~10% of FT losses
A chart showing the loss of full time corrections workers in jails and prisons from 2013-2023, with a large dip beginning in 2020. State prisons lost 49,730 workers since 2020, while local jails lost 16,982
December 10, 2024 at 9:11 PM
bson.bsky.social
November 28, 2024 at 10:11 PM
bson.bsky.social
ok last one again bc i am sleepy. Brat Curse's s/t album is very solid, and I'm particularly fond of "space junk" -- also on my writing playlist. hope you have enjoyed this or at least not been super annoyed by it!
Brat curse's self titled album is yellow with Brat Curse in big blue letters at the top with blue drop shadow. Centered is a black and white pic of the singer/guitarist, drummer, and bassist.
November 20, 2024 at 9:27 PM
bson.bsky.social
youbet's "Way To Be" is also a very catchy album with a really interesting mood that I'm not sure how i'd describe. they played some shows with truth club (mentioned earlier) and I bet that would have been a really fun show to see.
Album cover for youbet's "Way to be." It's a black cover with a thin blue border that looks to be an image of the universe with lots of stars possibly. In the black center it says Way To Be in dot matrix letters with what looks to be a waterfall of dots coming out of the O in To. Theres some kind of blue streaks down the middle almost like a lava flow at night but electric blue. Theres a weird tiny pink squid or something just above that, I'm not sure. Then it says youbet in cursive in the lower right corner.
November 20, 2024 at 9:13 PM
bson.bsky.social
C.O.F.F.I.N and Mini Skirt's "Split 7" is a fun short split EP. DIY Nightmare gets stuck in my head so easily.
Album cover for COFFIN and Mini Skirt's "Split 7." It's a photo of someone sitting from the legs down wearing dirty flip flops and holding a glass beer bottle, with two more beer bottles on the ground in the lower left corner. In the top right is a yellow and black label with COFFIN and MINI Skirt and "Split 7" with a sunburst/sunflower type logo.
November 20, 2024 at 9:07 PM
bson.bsky.social
Dumb's "Club nites" is fun and has good range
Album cover for Dumb's "Club nite" which has a white background, and says "Another album by dumb" in blue pen at the top. Below it says CLUB NITES in all caps and has a photo of the band. To the right is a pen drawing of a castle with a fence and two figures labeled "me and you" with an arrow showing them going around the fence to get to the castle. The castle is labeled "the club"
November 20, 2024 at 9:04 PM
bson.bsky.social
i'm back for more.

upchuck is another band I've had on heavy rotation this year. "bite the hand that feeds" is a flawless album.
Album cover for Upchuck's "Bite the hand that feeds." It's black and white but on the left is the bands name in spiky almost indecipherable letters. In the middle is a vertical row of boxes with pictures of each band member. To the right is the lead singer doing a high leg kick and spitting a plume of water.
November 20, 2024 at 9:01 PM
bson.bsky.social
Pardoner’s “Playin’ on a cloud,” sharp pins’ “turtle rock” and prefab sprout’s “swoon” all very catchy imo
Pardoner’s “playin on a cloud” album cover which has a mustard yellow background. Top left is an angry cloud with bloodshot eyes hovering over brick. Below is a weird looking star shaped guy with a creepy smile on a red background. To the right of him is a planter with a goofy face and long curly branches coming out Album cover for sharp pins “turtle rock” which has a turtle made out of carrots and caviar Honestly I wish I could describe this album cover for prefab sprouts “swoon” but I have no idea what’s on it. There’s a green and black background with some weird white figure in the middle and “SWOON” in huge red letter going down the right side
November 19, 2024 at 11:40 PM
bson.bsky.social
All Dogs’ “Buddy” and “kicking every day” — bummed they broke up a while ago
November 19, 2024 at 11:40 PM
bson.bsky.social
Washer’s “Here comes washer” and “all aboard.” Dying to see them live.
Album cover for washer’s “here comes washer” which is a green background with a painting of a blue pigs face with a red nose and yellow teeth. Above is a white banner that says “here comes” in cursive and “washer” in big bold caps letters Washers “all aboard” album cover which is a painting of a leg with a red shoe stepping on a train set with “all aboard” in multicolored blocks in the lower left
November 19, 2024 at 11:40 PM
bson.bsky.social
Meat Wave’s “Delusion Moon” and “The Incessant” were my writing soundtrack for some very long and tedious projects
Meat Wave album cover for “delusion moon.” There’s a black square within a white background. Above the square it says the bands name and below it says delusion moon. In the black square is a gold circle connected to a white thread leading off screen. Rainbow colors drip from the gold circle Meat Waves album cover for The Incessant, which is just kind of blurry red and black
November 19, 2024 at 11:40 PM
bson.bsky.social
Truth Club’s “Running From The Chase” and “Not an Exit” are easily top of the list. I saw them in Brooklyn this summer and it ruled
Truth club album cover for “running from the chase” in which the band members are floating in water face up in a circle but one of them is face down in the middle Truth club album cover for “not an exit” which is kind of like an abstract smear of black and red
November 19, 2024 at 11:40 PM
bson.bsky.social
(Or this one I couldn’t decide)
Album cover for Archers of Loaf’s “Icky Mettle,” which I have no idea how to describe but it’s a bunch of blues and yellow colors and the bands name is in the lower left corner in yellow handwriting script
November 19, 2024 at 11:08 PM
bson.bsky.social
Post a perfect album from the '90s that isn’t Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, or Alice in Chains.
Album cover for Archers of Loaf’s 1995 release “Vee vee” which features the front grill of a car with green ribbons spilling out, “vee vee” on a metal plate stamped on the hood. A blonde woman in a grey shawl looks over her shoulder from behind the car, and in the background is a building that says “Archers of Loaf” in big red letters.
November 19, 2024 at 11:00 PM
bson.bsky.social
Here’s a graphic we made @prisonpolicy.bsky.social based on @joshuapvaughn.bsky.social’s excellent excellent reporting on Dauphin County PA’s welfare fund. I’ll link his article in the next post.
How did the county jail spend incarcerated people's money? Examples of expenditures from the Dauphin County, Pa., jail's Inmate Welfare Fund from 2019 to 2023 Appropriateness of Welfare Fund expenditures (most to least appropriate) $30,000 Recreational equipment $ 10,000 Program supplies $ 5,000 Library books $ 45,000 total: Things that benefit incarcerated people $ 500,000 Heating system repair $ 300,000 recreation area construction $35,000 courthouse upgrades $835,000 total: facility maintenance (including non jail facilities) $ 800,000 body cams $ 300,000 gun range memberships $ 290,000 consultants $ 160,000 new staff uniforms $74,000 new vehicles $9,000 employee appreciation meals $3,000 new fridge for staff break room $3,000 fitness trackers for officers $ 1,639,000 total: Things that benefit staff only (including staff of other county departments)
November 17, 2024 at 2:54 AM
bson.bsky.social
Instagram.com/tinysaltybones
November 15, 2024 at 2:48 PM