Information, topic by topic, on prisons across the world

February 19, 2019

France : les “mardis noirs” des gardiens de prison

News

Europe France

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

February 19, 2019

France : le défi du suivi des "radicalisés" et des "revenants" hors des prisons

News

Europe Facilities Religion France

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

February 18, 2019

‘Mexico’s Alcatraz’ prison to be turned into a cultural centre

News

Central America and the Caribbean Mexico

Hundreds of inmates will be transferred to make way for Walls of Water arts venue. Mexico is to close one of the world’s last remaining prison islands and turn it into a cultural centre named for a communist writer once held there.

February 18, 2019

UK: ‘Prison isn’t working’

News

Europe United Kingdom

Justice secretary says ‘robust community order regime’ would be better alternative.

February 18, 2019

Mexique : cárceles no reintegran

News

Central America and the Caribbean Mexico

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: Spanish

February 18, 2019

Guatemala: en 10 años creció en 300% la prisión preventiva

News

Central America and the Caribbean Guatemala

This article is not available in English.

February 18, 2019

Un avocat égyptien jeté en prison pour un gilet jaune

News

Africa Middle East Egypt

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

February 18, 2019

La Belgique dispose de 20 ans pour rénover les cellules de ses prisons

News

Europe Belgium

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

February 15, 2019

USA: it costs about 50 times more to make a call from an Illinois jail Than from an Illinois state prison

News

United States

This article is not available in English.

February 15, 2019

USA: Why more prison closures may be coming to New York

News

Facilities United States

Citing a decline in crime, Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday proposed closing up to three state prisons by Sept. 1.

February 13, 2019

UK: at Birmingham prison, government takeover from G4S extended for another six months

News

Europe United Kingdom

Birmingham Prison is to remain in government hands for a further six months due to the “fragile” state of the jail, the government has said. The Prison Service stepped in to operate HMP Birmingham last August after an inspection uncovered soaring violence, drug use and appalling living conditions.…

February 13, 2019

USA: from life in prison to published author

News

United States

Drug deals and gun violence were everyday realities for Chris Wilson growing up. Straddling homes in D.C.’s Lincoln Heights neighborhood and Prince George’s County’s Temple Hills community, Wilson watched his mother fall victim to both domestic abuse and drug abuse. Many of his friends were locked…

February 13, 2019

New Zealand: how sport in prison could help stop reoffending

News

Oceania New Zealand

A sports programme which is being piloted in New Zealand prisons aims for a reduction in reoffending. Not only does physical activity help prisoners with their wellbeing and mental health, but it could help them into employment, according to UK Professor of Criminological Psychology Rosie Meek. “Sp…

February 12, 2019

USA: Alabama will build 3 prisons for men, Ivey announces

News

Facilities United States

Gov. Kay Ivey announced today that her administration will seek bids for building three regional prisons for men to replace aging, cramped facilities that the Alabama Department of Corrections has said are too costly to maintain and repair. The governor said new prisons are a necessary part of a la…

February 12, 2019

USA: emergency declared at Kansas prison because of staffing shortage - 95 jobs unfilled

News

United States

Kansas prisons have been under-staffed for years. Inmate populations are overcapacity. Uprisings in recent years have caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. Now, the state’s corrections agency is declaring an emergency at one of its largest prisons – El Dorado Correctional – because of…

February 12, 2019

Haiti: all inmates escape from Aquin

News

Central America and the Caribbean Haiti

All 78 inmates of a prison in southern Haiti have escaped from captivity, according to the country’s police. The detainees reportedly made their escape from Aquin prison while police were distracted by anti-government protests nearby Haiti’s national police force said it has launched an investigati…

February 12, 2019

USA: women in prison in Florida get some needed attention

News

Women United States

Florida legislators, no matter their party — and no matter their gender — have shown a heartening amount of empathy for incarcerated women on an issue that affects them, uniquely. On Monday, the state Senate Criminal Justice Committee unanimously approve the Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act. The…

February 11, 2019

USA: want to shrink the prison population? Look at parole.

News

United States

This article is not available in English.

February 10, 2019

Colombia: El ‘estigma’ de las cárceles en zonas residenciales

News

South America Colombia

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: Spanish

February 9, 2019

USA: why the justice department can’t be trusted to investigate abysmal conditions in federal prisons

News

United States

The humanitarian crisis at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center will have come as a shock to many. It is horrifying. If there is one institution, however, which has no grounds for shock, nor the performance of it, it is the Justice Department. As a late-January polar vortex hit New York with fr…

February 7, 2019

Ireland: two deaths in 10 days at Midlands prison

News

Ireland

Suicide is suspected as the cause of death in both instances, but investigations are ongoing. It is highly unusual for two deaths to occur in such a short time span in a single prison.

February 7, 2019

Switzerland’s prison population swells 50% in less than 30 years

News

Switzerland

The number of prisoners in Switzerland rose 50% from 1988 to 2017. Much of this is due to population growth. Switzerland’s population grew 28% over the same period. However, population growth doesn’t account for all of the increase in prison numbers. In 1988, there were 70 prisoners per 100,000. By…

February 6, 2019

USA: Mississippi’s prison bribery scandal is in the past, but the state still hasn’t learned its lesson

News

United States

Since 2014, a massive bribery scandal involving some of the most powerful prison industry corporations in America has hung like a cloud over Mississippi’s already-troubled corrections system, which locks people up at a higher rate than almost any other state.

February 6, 2019

USA: Coyote Ridge prison inmates go on strike

News

United States

Prisoners at the Central Washington corrections center are objecting to being served “breakfast boats,” a boxed meal with food such as a muffin and cold cereal, instead of a hot breakfast.