Video

COVID-19 and Prisons Webinar Centering Human Dignity Across Decarceration, Reentry, and Operations

During this webinar, former and current corrections and legislative leaders grapple with strategies for releasing people who are in prison, including pathways that currently exist for directors of departments of correction and those that will require gubernatorial or legislative action. Panelists also discuss what types of reentry supports will be needed for those being released under these unique circumstances, such as strategies for securing housing, medical, and cost-of-living support. Finally, to address issues affecting those who will remain in prison, one state department of corrections operations director discusses how to align prison operations with public health recommendations while centering human dignity.

Speakers

  • Scott Semple, Former Commissioner, Connecticut Department of Corrections; Consultant, Restoring Promise
  • Mike Lawlor, Former Undersecretary to Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy; Associate Professor, University of New Haven
  • Andre Stancil, Deputy Director—Prison Operations, Colorado Department of Corrections
  • Richard Cho, CEO, Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness

Moderators

  • Juan Gomez, Executive Director, MILPA Collective; Co-Director, Restoring Promise
  • Alex Frank, Project Director, Vera Institute of Justice; Co-Director, Restoring Promise

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On the Fifth Anniversary of Juneteenth as a National Holiday, California and Colorado Chart a Path Toward Ending Prison Slavery

Millions of incarcerated people remain trapped by the 13th Amendment’s exception clause. But recent wins in California and Colorado show how states can lead the way to ending prison slavery.

This year marks the fifth anniversary of Juneteenth becoming a federal holiday, and the 161st anniversary of the event it commemorates: General Order No. 3, which Union General Gordon Granger delivered to Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, bearing the belated news that “all slaves are free” following the January 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. By ...

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June 19, 2026
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