Skip navigation
× You have 2 more free articles available this month. Subscribe today.

Publications Reviews

PLN is part of the prison press in the literal sense of the word. In addition to PLN there are many other newsletters and journals out there that carry news and information that complements what we do. In many cases their area of interest or focus is a lot narrower or more specific, in others it takes a different format. We urge our readers to support the alternative press. The corporate media denies the existence of political prisoners in the U.S. yet in reality the U.S. holds well over 100 political prisoners and prisoners of war. Below are several magazines and newsletters which cover political prisoners in the U.S. Help break the circle of silence on prison issues!

Pro-Family Advocates of Washington (PFA-W) publishes a bimonthly 8 page newsletter aimed at preserving the legal and moral rights of the families and children of Washington state prisoners. Recent issues have focused on the telephone kickbacks received by the WA DOC, family visiting, legislation and more. PFA-W also holds regular meetings. They urgently need donations to continue their work. Subscriptions are $10 a year. Contact: PFA-W, 221 S.W. 153rd St, Suite 244, Seattle, WA 98166-2398. (206) 433-1651.

Resistance is the bi-monthly bulletin of the Anarchist Black Cross (ABC) emergency response network. It focuses on support for political prisoners and prisoner activists who suffer repression as a result of their activism. For more information contact: NY ABC, P.O. Box 1034, Bronx, NY 10454. (718) 295-0190.

Voices Behind the Walls is a brand new 12 page newsletter produced by Pennsylvania prisoners. The first issue focuses on overcrowding and double celling in PA; defending against positive urinalysis charges; due process rights at disciplinary hearings and more. Subscriptions are $12 for prisoners; $20 for free people; $40 for institutions. Contact: VBTW, P.O. Box 474, Harrisville, PA 16038.

Impact is a monthly newsletter published by labor organizer Staughton Lynd. Each issue contains information on worker activism and it also covers prison labor issues, the reaction of unions to prisoner workers and more. Subscriptions are $15 a year. Write: Impact, P.O. Box 2125, Youngstown, OH 44504.

The Bridge is a bimonthly newsletter published by the Prisoners' Self Help Litigation Clinic. Each issue contains news and information about legal and political developments affecting New Jersey state prisoners, but it is useful to pro se litigants anywhere. More importantly, it is a great model for other states to have a group like this that helps prisoners help themselves. They also have numerous booklets on pro se litigation. For more information contact: PSHLC, 2 Washington Place, Newark, NJ 07102.

Freedomways is the bi-monthly newsletter of the Prison and Jail Project, a religious grassroots group that is reporting the descent into barbarism of Georgia state prisons and jails. They have extensively covered the U.S. Department of Justices closure of various county jails as "unfit for human habitation" and the reign of terror imposed by GA prison commissioner Wayne Garner. Subscriptions are $10 a year. Write: Freedomways, P.O. Box 6749, Americus, GA 31709.

Turning Point is the quarterly newsletter of the Missouri chapter of CURE. Each issue focuses on commentary and news affecting Missouri prisoners and their supporters. It has frequent death penalty coverage too. Subscriptions are $2 for prisoners; $10 for non-prisoners and $25 for organizations. Contact: MO CURE, P.O. Box 29041, St. Louis, MO 63112.

Journal of Prisoners on Prisons is a biannually published 93 page magazine that, as the title says, contains the writings of prisoners on the subject of prisoners. Their latest issue covers Irish Republican Prisoners of War (POW) in their own words. Articles include the rich history of prison struggle against British jailers over the centuries; women POWs; life in English jails; interviews; poetry; humor and much more. Subscriptions are $4 for prisoners; $10 for individuals and $20 for institutions. Write: JPP, Box 54, University Centre, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, R3T 2N2, Canada.

This Just In is a 6 page monthly "Bulletin for News of Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War" in the United States. Each issue contains news and information about some of the more than 100 PP's and POW's languishing in US prisons. Each issue gives insights into the daily lives of prisoners as few other journals do. Subscriptions are $10 a year. Write: TJI, 103 Bartlett Ave. Pittsfield, MA 01201.

Outlook on Justice is the 24 page quarterly magazine of the New England American Friends Service Committee. It mainly covers Massachusetts prison issues, which includes the transfer of MA prisoners to Texas jails, lockdown at Walpole, inhuman conditions in control units, organizing efforts by prisoner rights activists and much more. It also contains news in surrounding New England states such as New Hampshire and Delaware. Subscriptions are $2 a year for prisoners; $10 for non prisoners. Write: AFSC, 2161 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, MA 02140.

Walkin' Steel is the irregularly published tabloid paper of the Committee to End the Marion Lockdown. Their latest issue looks back on the 1972 Attica rebellion; reports on conditions at the federal penitentiary at Marion (worse than ever); the incarceration of battered women; how the criminal justice system impacts women; a tribute to long time human rights advocate Rev. Seiichi Michael Yasutake; and book reviews. CEML's main purpose has been to organize for the abolition of control units. For more information contact: CEML, P.O. Box 578172, Chicago, IL 60657-8172. (313) 235-0070.

Crossroad is a quarterly magazine devoted to New Afrikan PP's and POW'S. In addition to covering issues related to the release of these prisoners it also reports theoretical issues and daily struggles in the New Afrikan community. Their tenth anniversary issue includes an index of the contents of all prior issues; discussions on segregation and colonialization; oppression of prisoners in Indiana; solidarity with Cuba; the story of Japanese-American reparations and much more. Subscriptions are $5 a year for individuals and $15 for institutions. Contact: Spear and Shield Publications, 1340 W. Irving Park Rd. Suite 108, Chicago, IL 60613.

Out of Time is the bimonthly newsletter of the Lesbian Committee to Support Women Political Prisoners. Each issue contains news and developments surrounding women PP's and POW's in U.S. prisons. This includes PLN's own columnist Laura Whitehorn as well as many others. One role the Committee has undertaken is helping provide women PP's with commissary money. It details organizing efforts around the PP's and a lot more. Subscriptions are $10 to: Out of Time, 3543 18th St. Box 30, San Francisco, CA 94110.

As a digital subscriber to Prison Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.

Subscribe today

Already a subscriber? Login