Health and Environmental Justice Struggles in America’s Prisons During a Global Pandemic

Abstract

How do carceral systems intersect with and influence environmental justice and public health? And how might an abolitionist perspective address environmental justice and public health? Drawing on a broad range of literature and a case study from Southern California, we argue that mass incarceration is anathema to the pursuit of public health and environmental justice because carceral systems are inherently anti-ecological and produce illness and disease within and beyond the walls of confinement. Furthermore, we consider the myriad ways that incarcerated and formerly incarcerated persons and their allies are mobilizing to articulate these linkages in an effort to promote abolition, robust public health, and environmental and climate justice for all.