• Founder of the Prison Moratorium Project
• Former Youth Section Chair of the Democratic Socialists of America

Kevin Pranis is a criminal-justice policy analyst, an anti-prison activist, and co-founder of the New York-based Prison Moratorium Project (PMP). He served as PMP’s Board Chair from 1996 to 2002.

Pranis attended the University of Chicago, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Latin American Studies and a master’s degree in Social Sciences.

After completing his studies in 1994, Pranis served as the Project Director of Amigos de las Americas, an outreach organization that seeks to imbue Hispanic youths with a sense of ethnic self-identification that will help them confront America’s allegedly rampant racism and injustice.

Pranis next took a job as a case worker for the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, through which civil and criminal attorneys, social workers, and paralegals are assigned to represent inner-city New Yorkers -- mostly nonwhites -- who are accused of various crimes. Pranis said that the money which was spent to construct and operate prisons should be used instead to fund college tuition and scholarships for low-income students. “New York state is diverting millions of dollars from colleges and universities to pay for prisons we can’t afford,” he declared.

In 1996 Pranis established the Prison Moratorium Project for the express purpose of working to eliminate all prisons in the United States -- particularly private-sector, for-profit prisons. Affiliated with the U.S. chapter of the Socialist International, PMP condemns the American “prison-industrial complex” for its "overrepresentation of Blacks and Latinos within the system," its "devastation of entire communities," and its "focus on retainment [sic] rather than reform and rehabilitation."

Pranis in the 1990s was the Youth Section Chair of the Democratic Socialists of America. He maintained a close relationship with that organization until at least 2000.

From 2000 to 2003, Pranis was a Soros Justice Fellow with George Soros’ Open Society Institute (OSI). According to Ann Beeson, Director of OSI’s U.S. programs, “America’s criminal justice system is broken, and too often perpetuates inequality rather than ensuring justice… The Soros Justice Fellows are developing innovative solutions to expose the deep flaws in the current system and to restore justice for all.”

In his April 2003 report on Arizona’s prison system, Pranis wrote:

“[O]ne of the most harmful, and least discussed, impacts of prison growth has been its impact on other state spending priorities, especially higher education.... [O]ver the last 24 years, corrections and state universities have competed for the same 21% to 25% of the state’s General Fund dollars. During that time, higher education’s share of the budget fell from 19.1% to 12.4% while corrections’ share rose from 4.3% to 10.7%.... The most disturbing finding, however, is that the state now spends significantly more General Fund dollars to put African Americans and Latinos behind bars than to put them through state universities…. By following the lead of other states and investing in alternatives to incarceration, Arizona could not only eliminate the need for new prison beds, but also do more to enhance public safety and build strong communities.”

Today Pranis produces “action research” on sentencing and correctional policy “in the form of published reports, strategy memos and technical support to leading research and advocacy groups.” His clients include such organizations as Families Against Mandatory Minimums, Good Jobs First, the Justice Policy Institute, the American Friends Service Committee, and the Maryland Justice Coalition.

Pranis also serves as a consultant to the Service Employees International Union, where he helps to direct “customer education activities in [the] higher education sector, including material development, research, training and coordination with key allies.”

In addition, Pranis is Director of the Not With Our Money (NWOM) campaign, which unequivocally opposes for-profit prisons. In this role, Pranis teaches student activists how to “fight against the industry that is notorious for its human rights abuses.” Says Pranis:

“Private prisons make up the fastest growing segment of the U.S. prison and jail population ... Reports of widespread abuse in facilities run by Corrections Corporation of America … including guard brutality, denial of medical care and retention of prisoners beyond the time required by law, have led to calls for a ban on private prisons.”