Posts by Daniel Throop
Prison Labor Debate Behind the Walls
On Monday April 27th, 2026 NPDL.org stages a prison labor debate behind the walls. The prestigious Fulton Debating Society of Boston College travels to a Connecticut state prison, Cheshire CI, to challenge the undefeated T.R.U.E. Unit debate team. Academic analysis versus lived experience-whose perspectives will prevail? Tune in and find out for yourself. Just use this…
Read MoreMonmouth University Joins the Prison Debate League!
On Wednesday April 8th, 2026 the Monmouth University Debate Hawks are joining the League! NPDL.org welcomes another great university partner to our amazing network of debate coaches and teams. Monmouth Coach Joe Patten and his squad are generously traveling from New Jersey to York Correctional Institution (CI) in Niantic, Connecticut to debate the…
Read MoreNPDL Stages Historic Officer-Integrated Prison Debate Team
NPDL.org stages yet another historic event! Tune-in and watch the Harvard Debate Council and The Convictionists intellectually collide behind the walls of Maine State Prison on Wednesday April 8th, 2026. The Convictionists feature an integrated NPDL cohort of residents and a Maine correctional officer. All cohort members spent twelve weeks learning and growing together equally…
Read MoreNPDL’s 1st Community Team Wins Big at NCA
NPDL recently worked in partnership with the American Debate Association, the American Forensic Association, and Boston College’s Fulton Debating Society to stage our first public debate event at the National Communication Association’s 109th Annual Convention. We proudly forwarded a co-ed team of formerly incarcerated students from 3 different states to make the case for prison voting rights…
Read MoreThe Origins of NPDL.org
At the beginning of my incarceration within the Massachusetts state prison system access to postsecondary educational opportunities were mostly nonexistent. Educational attainment was capped at the high school diploma/GED level, so possession of such credentials meant the doors to advanced learning were solidly closed. My peers and I creatively used an existing program platform (Toastmasters)…
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