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Tell Congress to Pass the Abolition Amendment and Abolish Slavery

Today, millions of incarcerated people are forced to work for private corporations, state-owned corporations, and correctional agencies for little to no pay. Those who refuse to work are often beat, denied visits and calls, and put in solitary. Tell Congress to end the exception in the Thirteenth Amendment that allows slavery as punishment for crime by passing the Abolition Amendment. No slavery, no exceptions!

Demand that Prison Profiteer Tom Gores Sell the NBA Detroit Pistons

Owner of the Detroit Pistons, Tom Gores, also owns one of the nation’s largest and most predatory prison telecom corporations: Securus. Despite being forced off the LACMA Board of Trustees, he continues to exploit families struggling to stay in touch with incarcerated loved ones by charging egregious call rates. Sign this petition to tell the NBA to force the sale of the Detroit Pistons unless Gores reforms and sells Securus — he can’t keep both!

Find a Prison Phone Justice Campaign and Take Action

Families are fighting for free access to communication with their incarcerated loved ones. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when visits were suspended in facilities across the country, communication was even more important than ever. Visit ConnectFamiliesNow.com to find a campaign and take action for national, state, and local prison phone justice.

Capitalizing on Justice

Capitalizing on Justice features the works of incarcerated artists from across the nation who have used their talents to express the ways they and their loved ones have been commodified. Spanning a variety of genres and styles, the works in this exhibition were made using limited resources: state-issued materials, prison contraband, and yard scraps. They were shipped in makeshift envelopes and tattered boxes from as deep in our criminal legal system as Arkansas’ death row and come together to make a strong statement against the prison industry.

View the Exhibition

What’s New

Worth Rises and Color Of Change Demand Biden-Harris Administration End Prison Profiteering

Worth Rises and Color Of Change released a Policy Blueprint for Ending Carceral Profiteering that calls on the Biden-Harris Administration to stop corporate profiteering off of incarceration and gives the Administration a concrete roadmap to doing so. Corporate exploitation throughout the carceral system harms people detained on the inside, families and communities on the outside, and taxpayers and public safety at large. It’s time to put an end to it. Read the full report here.

Worth Rises Publishes 5-Year Impact Report with Stunning Results

Worth Rises once seemed like a far-fetched idea. No one could imagine advocates taking on the powerful prison industry. Today, only five years after our founding, we are on the path to victory. We’ve passed legislation to make calls free for incarcerated people, diverted hundreds of millions of dollars in investments from the prison industry, and put millions of dollars back into the pockets of families with loved ones behind bars. Read the full report!

Worth Rises Releases Database Exposing 4,000 Prison Profiteers

What started off as a series of periodic reports, is now an interactive, dynamic digital data tool exposing over 4,000 corporations and investors that profit off mass incarceration and mass surveillance and their devastating impacts on our nation, especially our most marginalized communities. Corporations are assigned harm scores, marked for divestment, flagged from supporting prison labor, and more. Check it out!

California Becomes Second State to Make Prison Phone Calls Free

Alongside local families and advocates, Worth Rises successfully passed legislation in California to make prison phone calls free! In September 2022, Governor Newsom signed the bill, officially making California the second state to do so. This major victory will impact nearly 100,000 incarcerated people and save families more than $33 million, annually. Read more about the victory!

FDR Safety Terminates Contract to Develop New Execution Protocol

After months of pressure from Worth Rises, Tennessee-based FDR Safety has terminated its contract with Alabama to approve the safety of a new nitrogen gas protocol for death penalty executions. The announcement came hours after local faith leaders delivered an open letter and more than 3,000 signed petitions from the public expressing moral outrage.

Alabama Terminates Lease with Private Prison CoreCivic

In September 2021, after months of pressure from Worth Rises and other advocates, Alabama halted its plans to build two new mega prisons and terminated its 30-year lease agreements with CoreCivic. We are excited to join our coalition partners in celebrating this milestone victory for the people of Alabama! We plan to stay vigilant as the state considers other options to expand its correctional system.

#EndTheException Launches with Introduction of the Abolition Amendment

On Juneteenth, Worth Rises joined over 70 organizations in launching #EndTheException, a national campaign supporting the Abolition Amendment to end the exception in the Thirteenth Amendment that allows slavery as punishment for crime. The event featured powerful poetry and remarks from sponsors Senator Jeff Merkley and Congresswoman Nikema Williams. Watch the replay!

Connecticut Makes History as the First State to Make Prison Communication Free

Worth Rises leads the Connecticut Connecting Families coalition to the biggest prison phone justice victory yet! In June 2020, Governor Lamont signed legislation that would make Connecticut the first state to make all prison communication free with a minimum of 90 minutes per person per day and protect visits from replacement. Read more about the victory!

New TED Talk: The Multibillion-Dollar U.S. Prison Industry — and How to Dismantle It

In a powerful TED Talk, Worth Rises Executive Director Bianca Tylek pulls the veil off the guarded prison industry and explains the opportunity we have to dismantle it, using telecom and the prison phone justice movement as a case study. Watch now!