United States
North America
Discipline
Material conditions
United States
A prison in the US state of Minnesota was placed into lockdown on Sunday after dozens of inmates refused to return to their cells.
North America
Activities
Social ties
United States
Missouri Prisons have unleashed a new form of cruelty—banning books sent by friends and family to incarcerated individuals. This is more than just a policy, it’s an attack on freedom and human dignity.
North America
Mental health
Torture
United States
The research is clear – it’s bad for prison violence, terrible for inmates and poses increased risks for society.
North America
Minors
Facilities
United States
California’s three remaining youth prisons closed their reinforced steel doors for good today, marking the demise of what was once the nation’s largest network of youth prisons.
North America
Justice
Facilities
United States
The state cut incarceration in half, while crime plummeted.
North America
Activities
Rehabilitation
Work
United States
Art helped soften Dwayne Burns’ rage while he was inside, as it did for many others. Now outside, he runs a program that helps inmates earn income from their talent.
USA: disaster in prison
Interview
Crises
North America
Facilities
Work
United States
J. Carlee Purdum is the director of the Prisons and Disasters Risk Network, which aims to inform the public about the growing impact of disasters on prisoners. She discusses with us how prison labour is embedded in emergency disaster response. Interview.
North America
Work
United States
USA: the Holmesburg prison experiments
Interview
North America
Women
LGBTQI
Long-term prisoners
Justice
Health
Mental health
Material conditions
Torture
United States
Violence, acts of protest, prison conditions, justice reforms: find out what is new about prisons and justice in this country. Prison Insider monitors the press on a regular basis.
USA: inside the kids’ cells
Interview
North America
Minors
Material conditions
United States
They are 60,000. Who? The minors incarcerated in America’s prisons. Richard Ross is a photographer. His ‘Juvenile in Justice’ work has been giving them a voice for the past two decades.
USA: "This is the real Miami"
Insights
Focus
LGBTQI
Violence
Social ties
United States
Xandan is incarcerated at Lane Murray Unit, a state prison located in Texas. He tells us how a typical day goes by.
United States: meeting my hero
Testimonial
Sunny Jacobs: Life Outside
Testimonial
North America
Death penalty
Social ties
Rehabilitation
Work
United States
How is life after release? Sunny Jacobs was sentenced to death and spent seventeen years in detention for a crime she did not commit. She tells Prison Insider about the many challenges one faces upon release. She now works actively towards the abolition of the death penalty.
Sunny Jacobs: Life Beyond
Testimonial
North America
Mental health
Death penalty
Religion
United States
How can you escape prison with your mind? Sunny Jacobs was sentenced to death and spent seventeen years in detention for a crime she did not commit. She tells Prison Insider how yoga, meditation and prayer helped her find freedom behind prison walls.
Sunny Jacobs: Life Inside
Testimonial
North America
Mental health
Material conditions
Death penalty
Activities
United States
What is daily life on death row like? Sunny Jacobs was sentenced to death and spent seventeen years in detention for a crime she did not commit. She tells Prison Insider about her detention conditions and the burden of complete isolation.
United States: inadequate mental health treatment
Analysis
Opinion
North America
Mental health
Material conditions
Suicide
United States
How the prison system respond to the needs of mentally ill prisoners?
Estados Unidos: Nueva York trasladará mujeres y transexuales de la peligrosa cárcel de Rikers
News
North America
Women
LGBTQI
United States
This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: Spanish
United States: addressing the structural inequalities underlying a failing prison health system
Analysis
Opinion
North America
Mental health
Drugs
Material conditions
Suicide
United States
ICPR and Prison Insider asked several experts worldwide to share their insights in the framework of the project ‘Understanding and reducing the use of imprisonment in 10 countries’. Homer Venters is a physician and epidemiologist working at the intersection of incarceration, health and human rights…
United States: there’s an aging crisis in New York’s prisons and we need to solve it
Analysis
Opinion
North America
Elderly prisoners
Long-term prisoners
Access to legal rights
Health
United States
ICPR and Prison Insider asked several experts worldwide to share their insights in the framework of the project ‘Understanding and reducing the use of imprisonment in 10 countries’. Rodney Holcombe, New York State Director for Criminal Justice Reform, addresses the New York prison system and the it…
United States: surge in life sentences
Analysis
Opinion
North America
Long-term prisoners
Justice
Death penalty
United States
Ashley Nellis, Ph.D. is a Senior Research Analyst at the Washington DC-based NGO, The Sentencing Project, which has been active in the struggle to reform American law and practice on life sentences. Here, Ashley discusses America’s now commonplace use of life sentences and calls for bolder approach…