Category: State Prisons

Opera Star Helps Sing Sing Inmates Find Freedom Through Music

Mezzo soprano Joyce DiDonato performs at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility in 2015 with other Carnegie Hall musicians and inmates. OSSINING, N.Y. -- When opera singer Joyce DiDonato walked past a group of scary looking prisoners during her first visit to the notorious Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, she kept telling herself: "Don't make eye contact.

The New York Times’ review of New York prisons shows deep racial biases

An inmate, left, meets with guests before a graduation ceremony for the Osborne Foundation's FamilyWorks program at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, N.Y., Oct. 19, 2016. In part because it is less than an hour from New York City, Sing Sing has far more opportunities for family visits and educational programs; the state uses it as a reward for inmates with good records at other prisons.