Even Without Internet Access, Prisoners Are Trying to Benefit From A.I.; The New York Times, April 21, 2026

Evan Gorelick

Photographs by Alex Kent

, The New York Times; Even Without Internet Access, Prisoners Are Trying to Benefit From A.I.

"Prisons have long restricted inmates’ access to technology, concerned they could use it to break the rules or commit crimes. The internet is mostly off limits, along with A.I.-powered chatbots.

But as hype about the technology has infiltrated prison yards and cellblocks, many inmates are eager to try it out. They’re attending workshops and classes to learn about A.I. They ask friends to send printouts of chatbot answers by snail mail. Some inmates even use contraband cellphones to gain access to the technology.

The result? A.I.-generated legal documents, essays, business plans and even a bespoke board game or two."

In final act of mercy, Pope Francis donates entire private bank account to prisoners; National Catholic Reporter, April 29, 2025

 CAMILLO BARONE, National Catholic Reporter ; In final act of mercy, Pope Francis donates entire private bank account to prisoners

"At the end of his life, Pope Francis made one last symbolic gesture: He emptied his personal bank account to donate 200,000 euros to the prisoners he had long championed.

It was a final act of love toward those he had called his "brothers and sisters behind bars," an act that Bishop Benoni Ambarus, auxiliary Bishop of Rome and director of the Office for Prison Pastoral Care, said captures the very essence of Francis' pontificate.

Ambarus has witnessed firsthand the pope's commitment to the incarcerated. Even as his strength visibly declined, Francis refused to abandon the most forgotten members of society during Holy Week."

GQ, Nat Geo and Cosmo are banned in Arizona prisons. A judge said the rules need to explain why.; The Washington Post, November 12, 2019

Lateshia Beachum, The Washington Post; GQ, Nat Geo and Cosmo are banned in Arizona prisons. A judge said the rules need to explain why.

"The Arizona Department of Corrections must define clear rules about what prisoners can read, according to a district judge...

The judge’s decision underscores the problem of censoring inmate reading material and the indeterminate manner in which jails and prisons prohibit or grant what incarcerated people can read, prisoner rights advocates say."