March 2024
North America
Access to legal rights
Social ties
United States
A pair of lawsuits filed this month claim that two county jails in Michigan banned in-person family visits for inmates several years ago as a way to boost county revenues from the increased number of phone calls and electronic messaging that resulted.
North America
Foreign prisoners
Justice
Canada
Newfoundland and Labrador has informed the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) that it will no longer incarcerate people detained solely for immigration purposes in its provincial jails as of March 31, 2025, according to information obtained by Radio-Canada.
Farther and farther away
Inside Outside
Africa
North America
South America
Asia
Europe
Middle East
Facilities
Prison Insider, represented by Clara Grisot, contributed twelve compositions to the book InsideOutside to articulate, in a few words, the current challenges of prison life. Third piece: institutions.
Women
Europe
Justice
Health
Social ties
United Kingdom
Pregnant women are now less likely to be sent to prison under new guidelines which will force courts to consider how jail time affects a woman who is either due to give birth or has recently had a baby.
Middle East
Health
Material conditions
Torture
Israel
Juma Abu Ghanima died five days after reports emerged that his health was seriously deteriorating, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Society Prisoners’ Club (PPS) said in an official statement.
Europe
Justice
Overcrowding
Alternatives
France
As the number of prisoners continues to soar, France has among Europe’s most overcrowded prisons. But with the range of imprisonable crimes also growing, Emmanuel Macron’s government shows little interest in rehabilitating convicts outside the cell walls.
Europe
Justice
Overcrowding
Alternatives
Netherlands
Due to the shortage of prison guards, outgoing Minister Franc Weerwind (Legal Protection) is taking two additional measures to reduce the pressure on prisons acutely. For instance, people who still have to serve a prison sentence of up to two months will have to do so at a later date.
Central America and the Caribbean
Facilities
Violence
Haiti
Haiti’s national penitentiary is on fire after a blaze broke out in the building on Thursday morning, according to Reuters. A video posted to social media reportedly showed black smoke coming out of the facility.
Europe
Justice
Material conditions
Protest
Overcrowding
Italy
Prisoners in the northern Italian city of Parma are on hunger strike over poor sanitation and overcrowding, the latest in a spate of protests in the country’s jails where cases of suicide and self-harm are at an all-time high.