Wednesday, July 22 2026:

• 'Rejected': How Federal Prisons Stonewall Grievances and Deny Care for Years, The Marshall Project. June, 2026. "The rate at which the [Federal Bureau of Prisons] granted grievances has fallen from just under 7% in 2000 to less than 2% in 2023.Of all medical grievances decided in 2023, fewer than 1% were granted."
• Perceived impacts of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) implementation: Qualitative findings from 13 Massachusetts jails, Ekaterina Pivovarova et al. December, 2025. "MOUD implementation was perceived to reduce acute mental health crises, such as risk for suicide, and the demand on mental health services at intake to the facility."
• Investing in Prison Libraries: A Cost-Effective Path to Safer Communities and Second Chances, Erin Boyington, Amelia Bryne, & Emily Durkin. June, 2025. "Every dollar spent on prison education yields $5 in savings on future incarceration costs over three years, a nearly 400% return."
• Critical Connections: The Power of Free Communication in Prisons and Jails, Worth Rises. May, 2026. "Free communication policies have saved incarcerated people and their families $622.5 million to date."
• Medicaid Expansion and Mortality Among Formerly Incarcerated Individuals, Benjamin A. Barsky et al. July, 2026. "In this cross-sectional study... of data on 2.2 million formerly incarcerated people in 17 states, Medicaid expansion was associated with a 14% lower monthly odds of death."
• Summary of National Survey of States' Earned and Good Time Earning Options, Focusing on States That Have Few OffenseBased Exclusions, Vera Institute of Justice. May, 2026. "In several states, the combined effect of earned-time and program credits produces [sentence length] reductions of 30-50% for many people convicted of violent offenses."