Missouri Department of Corrections

Advocates are crisscrossing Missouri to foster empathy for the incarcerated.

At 18, Bobby Bostic was sentenced to 241 years in prison. Now out on parole, he’s sharing the healing power of writing in juvenile detention centers.

The Missouri Justice Coalition is going around the state to focus on prison conditions and outline the case for reform. The tour hits St. Louis next month and Rolla in December.

Tommy Boyd is serving a 30-year sentence for statutory sodomy.

The Prison Policy Initiative put Missouri and Kansas on a list of “famously hot states” that lack universal air conditioning in prisons. During excessively hot summer days, inmates say that it can feel like a "pizza oven" inside — and the state isn't doing enough to fix the issue.

A prison nurse said she felt trapped between two corrections officers as one described plans to kidnap, drug and rape her. Her attorney said there were “daily ‘rape jokes’ from other corrections officers and retaliation by the warden and other jail personnel.”

Proposal before a Cole County judge includes back pay, future compensation for time on pre- and post-shift duties.

Corrections officials say the move is necessary to stem the flow of drugs into Missouri prisons. But criminal justice reform advocates warn it could violate inmates’ privacy and further isolate them from their families.

About half of all people released from prison in Missouri return within five years. But decades of research has shown prison education programs can help break the cycle.

Terrell Robinson has served 12 years in prison for violations he said were never even explained to him.