EchoBridge Initiative · Told from Colorado
How America built its prisons, and who pays for it.
Two sides, one site: the story of mass incarceration from 1865 to today, and a plain-words guide to the policies on your ballot.
Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility, Ordway, Colorado. Photo: Jeffrey Beall, CC BY 4.0.Start here
Side 1 · The Story
Understand how we got here
One clause in the Constitution, the prison boom, the towns built around it, and the heat inside, told one real place at a time.
Read the story →Side 2 · Policy
Know what's on your ballot
All 14 statewide measures on Colorado's Nov 3 ballot in plain words: what a YES and a NO really do, what it costs, and who's paying for it.
Election day: Tuesday, Nov 3
Open the policy guide →From the story
Chapter 1 · 1865 to todayOne clause, 160 yearsEach record is a short read, a real place and the document that proves it. Tap a source number to see where every fact comes from.The 13th Amendment, 1865. U.S. National Archives, public domain.
Prison towns · Fremont CountyCañon CityColorado had a prison before it was a state. The territorial penitentiary in Cañon City was built in 1871 and became a state prison in 1876. It still runs today as the Colorado Territorial Correctional…Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility. Jeffrey Beall, CC BY 4.0.
Heat · Inside the walls85 to stay aliveThe 85 to Stay Alive campaign, led by Texas Prisons Community Advocates, asks for an indoor temperature standard of 65 to 85°F in prisons, the same range Texas already requires in county jails. It also calls…Huntsville Unit walls, Texas. Mark Britain, CC BY-SA 2.0.