The article "Reform for Radical? An Abolitionist Framework" offers five questions to determine whether an organization is participating in abolitionist reforms. I will examine whether Humane Prison Hospice Project meets these requisites.
Does the organization/reform shrink the system doing harm?
No, implementing end-of-life care in prisons does not lessen the footprint of the carceral system.
Does the organization/reform rely on modes of political, economic, and social organization that contradict prevailing arrangements?
No, the structure of Humane as a non-profit, with an executive director, a board of directors, with very little diversity, working in collaboration with the government does not challenge prevailing arrangements.
Does the organization build and shift power into the hands of those directly impacted, who are often black, brown, working class, and poor?
Yes and no, Humane gives tools to those who are incarcerated through training and they allow the groups of currently incarcerated volunteers to have some say in the program. They do not, however, involve communities directly impacted in their short-term or long-term decision-making processes. There is only 1 person who has experienced incarceration in the organization, and he is not the one making decisions.
Does the organization/reform acknowledge and repair past harm?
No, not beyond the scope of end-of-life care in prisons.
Does the organization improve, or at least does not harm, the material conditions of directly impacted people?
Yes. They improve the conditions of those experiencing incarceration by providing peer-supported end-of-life care where there was previously none.