Second Chance and the Human Right to Learn

Abstract

This article substantiates the need for consolidated government support and coordination of postsecondary correctional education in the United States. The author uses the case of New York as a point of entry to critically examine the human right to learn and transform with dignity – for the millions of people languishing in prisons under mass incarceration— situating the history of higher education in prison within a dynamic network of education providers that emerged across the state. The analysis contends that withholding the right to learn violates a basic human right to (inter)personal growth, and that freedom to learn is fundamentally debased when education embedded in meaningful human relations –absent exploitation, indoctrination or predatory practices— is foreclosed. As such, the threat of fully online modalities and delimited education content comprise a form of censorship that undermines the true value of embodied and diverse learning experiences, with particular ramifications for people in prison.