Parole boards speak in riddles. Denials are handed out with logic that would make Lewis Carroll proud. One man was denied parole because he followed an officer’s orders: a CO told him to walk out of bounds, then he was written up for doing exactly that — and denied parole for it. That’s not satire. That’s real life.

We want to capture this absurdity, shrink it down, and send it through the mail. Parole Logic, Postcard Size takes real quotes and stories from California parole hearings — the kind of “logic” that keeps people incarcerated for decades — and pairs them with bold, satirical illustrations. The result? Postcards that are equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking.

But we’re not stopping at art. We’re turning postcards into a mini-campaign: mailed directly to legislators, policymakers, and community leaders who too often never see the human impact of parole decisions. Imagine a state senator opening their mail to find a colorful postcard that reads, “Parole denied: You followed an officer’s orders and walked out of bounds — with the officer. Still your fault.” The humor catches them off guard, the absurdity hits home, and the message sticks. Families and allies can join in too — displaying them, collecting them, or mailing them on.

This project is playful, public, and political. It jostles patterns. It makes people laugh, then think. And it transforms the parole board’s broken “logic” into art and activism that can’t be ignored.