Information, topic by topic, on prisons across the world

April 25, 2017

United States: bill to eliminate death penalty in Louisiana advances past committee

News

North America Justice United States

Every day and night, former Louisiana prosecutor A.M. Stroud thinks about Glenn Ford, the man he wrongfully sent to prison for almost half of his life and who would have been executed by the state had he not been exonerated 30 years after his conviction.

April 24, 2017

United States: we’re jailing way more people who’ve been convicted of exactly nothing

News

North America United States

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s promise to close the notoriously overcrowded and brutal Riker’s Island jail made national news last month, but less famous policymakers all over the country struggle with jail overcrowding on a regular basis (see, for example, Kansas, Indiana and Upstate New Yor…

April 24, 2017

United States: fourth Arkansas execution in eight days prompts questions about inmate’s movements

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North America Death penalty United States

Arkansas executed a death-row inmate late Thursday in the state’s fourth lethal injection in eight days, concluding a frantic execution schedule officials said was necessary to carry out death sentences before one of their drugs expired.

April 24, 2017

United States: women inmates file second suit against state prison doctor

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North America Women Health United States

Three inmates who claim they were sexually abused by a physician at the state women’s prison have filed a federal lawsuit against the doctor and two other medical staffers.

April 21, 2017

United States: the price of justice doesn't cover the bills

News

North America United States

The money cities generate from bail bonds and conviction fines and fees is not enough to be relied upon.

April 21, 2017

Canada: Ontario faces lawsuit over solitary-confinement practices

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North America Discipline Canada

Ontario is facing a $600-million lawsuit on behalf of thousands of mentally ill inmates who have served time in solitary confinement since 1985, yet another addition to a glut of litigation currently facing governments in the country over their handling of prisoners in isolation.

April 20, 2017

United States: state prisons putting emphasis on rehabilitation and education

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North America United States

As California prison officials shift toward inmate programs centered on rehabilitation and education, they are evaluating new regulations for awarding time credits for good behavior and reaching milestones.

April 20, 2017

Canada: Ontario ombudsman calls for sweeping changes to inmate segregation

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North America Canada

Ombudsman’s probe was launched after inmate Adam Capay was held in segregation for 4 years

April 19, 2017

United States: prisons and jails are forcing inmates to pay a small fortune just to see a doctor

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North America Health United States

The fees are designed to discourage inmates from seeking care, which could have dangerous consequences.

April 18, 2017

United States: does solitary confinement make inmates more likely to reoffend?

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North America Discipline United States

As a teenager, Adam Brulotte relished the attention he received from getting into fights at parties. When he was 18 years old, he was arrested for burglary and aggravated assault after punching a man and breaking his jaw in seven places.

April 17, 2017

United States: innovative prison programs boost opportunities for female inmates

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North America Women United States

For five years, inmates haven’t even had the opportunity to obtain high school equivalency diplomas at the Lackawanna County Prison in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The GED program was scrapped during a county budgeting crisis in 2012 and has yet to be reinstated.

April 11, 2017

United States: official says hunger strike over at South Mississippi prison

News

North America United States

The Mississippi Department of Corrections announced Tuesday that a hunger strike at the South Mississippi Correctional Institution at Leakesville has ended, as the prison system continues to push a crackdown on contraband there and elsewhere.

April 10, 2017

United States: New York raises age of criminal responsibility in 'lightning rod' reform

News

North America United States

Polarizing bill approved in state budget to stop charging 16- and 17-year-olds as adults, sparing teens of criminal records: ‘I lost some years of my life back there’

April 6, 2017

United States: Moore v. Texas: US Supreme Court enforces constitutional prohibition against executing intellectually disabled defendants

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North America Death penalty United States

A recent Supreme Court judgment in the US is being hailed as a triumph by death penalty abolition advocates.

April 4, 2017

United States: LGBT youth are disproportionately in jail

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North America United States

A disproportionate number of queer youth, particular lesbians and bisexual girls, end up in jail or prison in the United States, according to a study released today by researchers at UCLA. Worse, those youth are considerably more likely to be raped during their time in custody.

March 14, 2017

Canada: prison watchdog sees sharp decline in use of solitary confinement

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North America Discipline Canada

Correctional investigator Ivan Zinger notes positive penitentiary trends in report.

March 3, 2017

Canada : visiter des prisons pour éviter d'y être détenu un jour

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North America Canada

This article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the French version.

February 27, 2017

Canada: family doctors push to ban solitary confinement in prisons

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North America Discipline Canada

Canada’s family doctors are calling for an all-out ban on the use of solitary confinement in Canadian prisons.

February 1, 2017

Canada: conjugal visits increase success of prisoner rehabilitation

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North America Social ties Canada

It looks like a normal three-bedroom family home. A ceiling fan whirrs over a pair of sofas in the living room. The hallway shelves carry a pile of bed sheets. A refrigerator hums quietly in the kitchen as sunlight peaks in through a curtained window.

January 31, 2017

United States: number of U.S. prisoners serving life sentences has quadrupled

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North America Long-term prisoners United States

The number of U.S. prisoners serving life sentences has more than quadrupled over the past three decades, and those eligible for parole are waiting longer to be released, according to a report released Tuesday.

January 27, 2017

Canada : job training program for inmates stuck in the past, says prison watchdog

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North America Canada

Teaching inmates to build office chairs and sew isn’t preparing those incarcerated in federal institutions for the modern job market, says Canada’s prison watchdog.

January 25, 2017

United States: following the money of mass incarceration

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North America United States

The cost of imprisonment — including who benefits and who pays — is a major part of the national discussion around criminal justice policy. But prisons and jails are just one piece of the criminal justice system and the amount of media and policy attention that the various players get is not necess…

January 25, 2017

Elderly inmate's death highlights lack of aging strategy in Canada's prisons

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North America Canada

“If people are sufficiently senile that they can’t remember the nature of their crime, what’s the point?”

January 24, 2017

United States: white women are going to prison at a higher rate than ever before

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North America Women United States

Mass incarceration of women was one of the important issues highlighted by the Women’s March on Washington.