About

The National Political Prisoner Coalition is a U.S.-based advocacy organization that documents, supports, and works to free political prisoners held in U.S. custody — past and present. We maintain a public database of cases, publish journalism on incarceration and dissent, coordinate letter-writing and commissary support, run a podcast, and organize public events to keep these stories visible. Our work is grounded in solidarity with the families and communities of the imprisoned and in the historical record of how the United States has used its criminal-legal system to neutralize political movements.

We use a working definition adapted from international human rights frameworks: a political prisoner is someone whose incarceration is connected to their political beliefs, organizing, identity, or speech — either because they were prosecuted directly for those activities, because the state used pretextual or fabricated criminal charges to remove them from political life, or because they were sentenced disproportionately compared to non-political defendants who committed similar acts.

This includes Black liberation prisoners from the COINTELPRO era, Indigenous activists targeted during the Pine Ridge period, Puerto Rican independentistas, anti-nuclear and anti-war resisters, environmental and animal-liberation defendants prosecuted under the AETA and FBI "green scare" framework, anti-fascist and Black Lives Matter defendants from the 2020 uprising, Muslim political prisoners caught in post-9/11 entrapment cases, whistleblowers prosecuted under the Espionage Act, and Palestine-solidarity organizers detained or deported in 2024–2025.

We do not require ideological alignment with a prisoner to include them — we require that the case meet the definition.

Letters from the outside are one of the most concrete forms of solidarity you can offer. The basics:

1. Use the prisoner's full legal name and ID number on the envelope (you'll find both on each prisoner's profile in our database).
2. Address it to the correct facility — prisoners are transferred frequently, so check our records and the BOP/state inmate locator before mailing.
3. Follow that facility's mail rules: no glitter, no foil, no card-stock thicker than 1/16", no Polaroids, no stickers, no staples. White paper and a basic envelope are safest.
4. Include a return address. If you don't want to use your home address, a P.O. box works.
5. Don't discuss legal strategy, pending appeals, or unverified rumors — assume mail is read.
6. Do write about your day, the weather, what you're reading, what's happening in your community. Mundane news is precious inside.

We sell a Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Kit in our store with paper, envelopes, stamps, an updated address list, and a one-page guide to prison mail rules.

Yes. NPPC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by U.S. law. You'll receive an email receipt at the time of donation; for cumulative annual gifts of $250 or more we send a year-end acknowledgment letter for your tax records. Our EIN is listed in the footer of our Annual Report.

Yes. We accept appreciated stock and other securities, donor-advised fund (DAF) recommendations, and several major cryptocurrencies (BTC, ETH, USDC). For stock or DAF gifts, contact us at info@politicalprisonercoalition.org for transfer instructions. Crypto donations can be made directly through our donate page.

We have a few standing volunteer roles: writing case profiles, transcribing podcast episodes, running letter-writing nights at local bookstores or community spaces, helping run our table at conferences and book fairs, photo research for prisoner profiles, and translation (Spanish, Arabic, French, Portuguese). Fill out our volunteer form on the Volunteer page and someone will follow up within two weeks. We also welcome attorneys, paralegals, and law students for case-research and FOIA work.

Use the contact form and select "Submit a case." Include the person's full name and any aliases, location of incarceration and inmate number if known, the charges they were convicted of, your reason for considering this a political case, and any links to news coverage, court documents, or support sites. Our research team reviews every submission. We don't promise inclusion — we apply our working definition rigorously and try to verify court records before publishing — but we read every submission and write back.

Yes. We regularly send speakers to universities, community spaces, faith communities, and conferences, and we partner with bookstores, infoshops, and student groups to run letter-writing nights — we'll bring stamps, paper, address lists, and prisoner bios; you bring the room and the people. Email info@politicalprisonercoalition.org with your city, date range, expected audience size, and any compensation or honoraria you can offer (we'll absolutely come for free if you can't, but it helps cover travel).

Use the contact form and select "Profile correction." Tell us the prisoner's name, the specific field that's wrong, the correct information, and (where possible) a source we can verify it against — court records, BOP locator, the prisoner's own correspondence, a reputable news article. We update the database within a few business days and we're grateful for the correction. Our research is human work and human work has errors.

Email info@politicalprisonercoalition.org and we'll cancel or change it. Include the email address you donated with and the amount, so we can find the right subscription.

Monthly and yearly recurring gifts can be stopped at any time and there is no minimum commitment. Cancelling stops all future charges; it doesn't reverse a payment already taken. If a charge has just gone out and you'd like it back, say so and we'll refund it.

If you want to change the amount rather than stop giving, tell us the new figure — you don't need to cancel and start again.

Directly into prisoner support and the work that sustains it.

The largest share goes to material support for people inside and the people holding their families together: commissary deposits, travel costs so families can actually make visits, postage for legal mail, and re-entry assistance for the recently released. The rest keeps this archive and the site running — research, verification of case records, and the staff time behind them.

Our financials are reported in our Annual Report, which is the place to look for the breakdown rather than taking a summary's word for it.

We don't take money from law-enforcement organisations, prison contractors, or state agencies. Individual donations are what keeps that possible: every dollar from a supporter reduces our dependence on grant cycles and on funders who might prefer we were quieter.