The Criminalization of Mental Illness
by Jerry Blassingame & Allie Hargrove A person with a mental illness is more likely to be incarcerated than to receive medical help. We incarcerate about two million people a year who have [...]
‘Ex-Con,’ ‘Ex-Offender’ and ‘Ex-Inmate’ Are Words That Reduce Millions to Stereotype
by Jerry Blassingame, as published in The Root When President Donald Trump signed the recent First Step Act into law, many people considered it to be the most important criminal justice reform [...]
New Expungement Legislation
by Jerry Blassingame What if someone cut off your legs? Well, that would be challenging. It would be difficult to move in ways that you are accustomed to moving. We don’t realize how important [...]
Is Expungement Necessary?
Here at Soteria, we see the ways in which a criminal record can haunt returning citizens. There are significant implications that plague every returning citizen in our program. Before we consider [...]
The Effects of Mass Incarceration on Economic Mobility
Let’s start by defining these two words: Mass incarceration is a term used by historians and sociologists to describe the substantial increase in the number of incarcerated people in the United [...]
Returning Citizens Housing Initiative Now Underway
Soteria Community Development Corporation (CDC) is pleased to announce the new Returning Citizens Housing Initiative, a comprehensive re-entry Housing Initiative facilitated by the Soteria CDC [...]