In conversations about prison reform in California these days, you might hear about reducing overcrowding, dismantling the death penalty, and changing the Three Strikes sentencing law. You also might hear about Norway. Norwegian prisons are unique — in everything from their design and architecture to the length of sentences, to how guards are trained to treat incarcerated people. It’s one of the reasons why California officials are looking to Norway as an example for change. There was even a recent assembly bill dubbed the “Norway Prison Bill,” which would have created a job training program modeled after prisons in Norway. Last summer, some formerly incarcerated graduates of the Uncuffed program traveled to Norway to see how prisons work over there. What they found was something that felt very different, but in some ways, very familiar.In the second part of the episode, Greg Eskridge from Uncuffed, Rahsaan "New York" Thomas from Ear Hustle, and Juan Haines from San Quentin News react to what they've heard.Learn more, sign up for Uncuffed news, and support the program at
www.weareuncuffed.org Follow us @WeAreUncuffed on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Transcripts are available within a week of the episode coming out, at
www.kalw.org/podcast/uncuffed