Maureen Onyelobi and Jeffery Young made history on June 8 at Minnesota Correctional Facility-Shakopee, becoming the first incarcerated people in the United States to earn juris doctor degrees from an ABA-accredited law school while incarcerated.
Minnesota DOC
Posted inLocal & State
118 Men at Rush City Prison Launch Canteen Strike, Demand Meeting With DOC Central Office
One hundred and eighteen men incarcerated at Minnesota Correctional Facility-Rush City have launched a peaceful canteen strike and are calling on Department of Corrections officials to come to the prison directly to address what they describe as extreme and violent conditions of confinement.
Posted inOpinion
Minnesota prisons’ refusal to implement the law
A firsthand account from inside Faribault Correctional Facility describes how the Minnesota DOC is failing to implement the MRRA Act, leaving thousands of incarcerated people unable to earn early release they are legally entitled to.
Posted inOpinion
What needs fixing in Minnesota’s prison system
Minnesota Department of Corrections problems at Rush City Correctional Facility raise serious concerns about staff misconduct, prison wages, communication access and humane treatment inside Minnesota prisons.
Posted inOpinion
Stillwater prison’s ‘honors unit’ looks promising only on paper
The Minnesota DOC’s new “Honor Unit” at Stillwater offers perks, but incarcerated voices say it ignores unsafe conditions, relies on inequitable scoring, and props up a failing prison.
Posted inOpinion
Prison must be a place of last resort
Zhi Kai H. Vanderford, incarcerated for nearly 40 years, says prison is no longer about rehabilitation — it’s a failed system that devastates families and communities.
Posted inOpinion
When a piece of paper becomes a barrier to freedom
For over a year, Minnesota inmates have been unable to buy typing paper — essential for legal filings, education, and religious coursework. Andrew Krosch exposes how a simple failure to bag paper reflects a much larger systemic problem.