Before Abolition: Inside-led Activism to Reform Perpetual Confinement

• In Event: Advocacy, Activism, and Performance

Abstract

From 1984 to 2024, the number of persons sentenced to life-without-parole (LWOP) has risen from 3,192 to 56,245. This did not occur from nothing. Scholars have attributed this dramatic transformation to harsh sentencing policies and tough-on-crime rhetoric in the late 20th century, the deterioration of rehabilitation as a goal of the penal system, pro-LWOP advocacy by anti-death penalty activists, and rare usage of mechanisms like clemency. The proliferation of life sentences generally, and LWOP specifically, has sparked a contemporary abolition movement that originated in prisons in the mid-to-late 20th century. In this paper, I draw on theories of social movements to explore inside-led advocacy aimed at reforming perpetual confinement during its transformative years. I use archival data related to prison activism in Louisiana and Pennsylvania to illustrate how life-sentenced persons challenged the conditions of their own imprisonment and were thus among the earliest activists who sought to end “death by incarceration.” I conclude by discussing the importance of studying the origins of social movements around the legal system, contextualizing the relevance of this scholarship for understanding contemporary abolitionism.

Author

• Clayton Drummond, Western Carolina University