About Us
End Prisonism Organization (EPO) is a developing nonprofit organization working to confront prisonism—the systemic dehumanization of incarcerated people and the harmful conditions it creates for correctional staff, families, communities, and society.
Founded by James Trust after serving more than 12 years in federal prison and experiencing over 15 correctional institutions, EPO combines lived experience, public education, research, community engagement, and policy development to help build a more humane and effective system of correction and rehabilitation.
Our History
End Prisonism Organization grew from James Trust’s firsthand experience inside the federal prison system. Across more than 15 institutions, he witnessed how dehumanizing environments affected incarcerated people, correctional employees, families, and the ability of institutions to accomplish their rehabilitative mission.
After returning home, James began developing the concept of prisonism to give language to a problem society often accepts as an unavoidable part of incarceration. What began as a personal observation has developed into a broader organizational framework for research, education, public engagement, and institutional change.
Our Mission
Our mission is to identify, expose, and reduce prisonism by advancing humane correctional practices, credible research, public education, citizen leadership, and practical reforms that improve safety, accountability, rehabilitation, and human dignity.
Our Vision
We envision a future in which correctional systems are no longer defined by dehumanization, institutional neglect, or punishment without purpose.
EPO seeks to help establish a new era of correction and rehabilitation—one in which incarcerated people are treated as human beings, correctional professionals are properly supported, families are recognized as stakeholders, and communities are strengthened through successful reintegration.
Our Philosophy
EPO is guided by a simple principle:
People are sent to prison as punishment—not for punishment.
Accountability and human dignity are not opposing ideas. A correctional system can hold people responsible while still protecting their humanity, supporting its workforce, maintaining institutional safety, and preparing people to return to society.
Ending prisonism does not mean eliminating accountability. It means eliminating the unnecessary dehumanization that prevents accountability from producing meaningful change.
Our Theory of Change
EPO believes lasting reform begins by helping people recognize prisonism, understand its consequences, and participate in developing better alternatives.
Our approach follows five connected steps:
- Define the problem: Establish a clear, credible understanding of prisonism.
- Document its effects: Use research, public records, institutional data, and lived experience to demonstrate how prisonism affects incarcerated people, staff, families, and communities.
- Educate the public: Translate complex correctional issues into accessible articles, reports, presentations, and community conversations.
- Develop practical solutions: Create standards, policy recommendations, pilot projects, and institutional tools that can be applied in the real world.
- Build public participation: Prepare citizens, professionals, researchers, and people with lived experience to advocate for sustainable correctional reform.
This is how EPO intends to move prisonism from an overlooked condition to a recognized public issue—and from recognition to measurable institutional change.
Our Organizational Commitments
EPO is committed to:
- Protecting human dignity while recognizing personal accountability
- Supporting the safety and well-being of correctional employees
- Centering credible research and verifiable evidence
- Valuing lived experience without treating it as a substitute for evidence
- Communicating honestly about our progress and organizational development
- Building solutions with affected communities and correctional professionals
- Remaining independent, nonpartisan, and focused on practical reform
- Measuring our work through transparent goals and public reporting
- Developing leadership among citizens directly affected by incarceration
- Pursuing change without sensationalism or dehumanizing language
Our Ten-Year Direction
Over the next decade, EPO intends to develop from a grassroots organization into a nationally recognized center for correctional research, public education, leadership development, and institutional reform.
Our long-term direction includes:
- Establishing the Prisonism Research Institute
- Publishing original research, reports, and public-record investigations
- Developing the Prisonism Standards Manual
- Building a national citizen leadership network
- Creating educational programs for colleges and communities
- Training volunteers, researchers, and people with lived experience
- Developing partnerships with correctional professionals and institutions
- Supporting community improvement and reintegration projects
- Advancing practical policy recommendations
- Creating measurable standards for identifying and reducing prisonism
These goals represent EPO’s direction—not claims that every program is already fully operational. We are building the organizational foundation, partnerships, and public support necessary to pursue them responsibly.
Explore the Complete EPO Blueprint
The End Prisonism Organization Blueprint presents the complete framework behind our mission, governance, research agenda, public-education strategy, leadership model, organizational standards, and long-term development.