Prisons and Jails

For Some Convicted Sex Offenders, Finishing Their Sentences Doesn’t Mean They Get To Go Home

Several states are civilly committing sex offenders when their prison terms end. Observers say nationwide data on the practice is needed to shed light on how widespread it is and whether it is effective.

  • By Rachel Gottlieb

Bail Reform Faces Backlash

New York rolled back key parts of its 2019 bail reform law amid fears of rising crime. Those concerns are echoed in communities nationwide—especially in places forging ahead with their own laws—despite data that shows bail reforms don't negatively impact public safety. Plus, more news to use from around the country in this week's State and Local Roundup.

  • By Elizabeth Daigneau

Efforts Spreading to Curb Generational Incarceration

Spaces for imprisoned parents to bond with their kids and bills to keep them geographically close to those children are gaining traction across the nation.

  • By Rachel Gottlieb

Digitized ID Eases Re-entry for Formerly Incarcerated

To streamline the re-entry process for released inmates, the Maryland Re-Entry Passport program launched an online portal that stores digitized copies of personal documents.

  • By Kaitlyn Levinson

Critics Take Aim at State and Local ARPA Spending on Prisons and Jails

The American Civil Liberties Union is among those raising questions about federal Covid aid from the American Rescue Plan Act going to corrections projects.

  • By Kery Murakami

Housing Program Shows Signs of Helping Homeless While Reducing Arrests

A new study finds an initiative in Denver has the potential to break a cycle of police spending hundreds of hours arresting people repeatedly for minor infractions.

  • By Molly Bolan

5 Ways to Improve Jobs for People Incarcerated in US Prisons

COMMENTARY | To understand how best to reform and improve prison jobs and better meet the needs of people in prison, decision-makers can build on the existing evidence and listen to those who are incarcerated.

  • By Alice Galley, Urban Institute

Lawmakers in One State Weigh Payouts for Those Wrongly Convicted

A bipartisan Pennsylvania bill would award damages to individuals based on the number of years they spent incarcerated.

  • By Harrison Cann

A Pennsylvania Prison Gets a Scandinavian-style Makeover

COMMENTARY | And shows how the U.S. penal system could become more humane.

  • By Synøve Nygaard Andersen and Jordan Hyatt, The Conversation

Economic Development Efforts Thriving in Repurposed Prisons

In recent years, former correctional facilities in seven states were converted into apartments, a sports complex, a movie studio and more, initiatives that are generating jobs and boosting local economies, according to a new report.

  • By Molly Bolan

Why Government Should Do More to Drive Down the Cost of Prison Calls

COMMENTARY | Incarcerated people are charged exorbitant rates to make calls or send emails, making it difficult for them to contact loved ones. But more connection with the outside world could help in reducing recidivism.

  • By Rochelle Swartz

Conditions at Mississippi’s Most Notorious Prison Violate the Constitution, DOJ Says

“The problems at Parchman are severe, systemic, and exacerbated by serious deficiencies in staffing and supervision,” the report said.

  • By Jerry Mitchell, ProPublica
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Senate Takes Step To Limit Phone Rates For Inmates

A measure passed unanimously by a committee would require the Federal Communications Commission to set “just and reasonable” prices for calls from jails and prisons. States and localities often collect revenue from the fees.

  • By Kery Murakami

When Counties Need Fines, More Women Go to Jail

"Heavy reliance on monetary sanctions as a source of revenue creates an obvious conflict of interest for local governments: They need people to violate the law in order to keep themselves out of the red," researcher Kate O'Neill says.

  • By Kim Eckart-Washington , Futurity

Some States Are Cloaking Prison Covid Data

A half-dozen corrections agencies provide less detail than they did a year ago.

  • By Michael Ollove, Stateline

Canceled Fines and Fees, $0 Cash Bail. Will Pandemic-era Criminal Justice Changes Stick?

A group that advocates for incarcerated people provides states and localities recommendations for keeping citizens who committed minor offenses out of jails and prisons.

  • By Jean Dimeo

Counties and States Embrace Fentanyl Test Strips in Battle Against Opioids

Arlington County, Virginia announced that it would begin distributing the strips to addiction-prone people leaving the county jail, the latest in a growing number of government agencies to turn to the tests as a way to prevent overdoses.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

South Carolina Brings Back the Firing Squad for Executions

Amid a lethal injection drug shortage, the state has put no inmates to death in a decade. Those on death row must now choose between the electric chair and firing squad if drugs are unavailable.

  • By Andrea Noble

Local Corrections Costs Rose by $25 Billion in Last 40 Years

But the coronavirus has ushered in creative lower-cost alternative jail programs that could last long after the pandemic, local leaders say.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

America’s Rural-Jail-Death Problem

Every day, in small towns and cities across the country, thousands of people are booked into local jails, many for minor crimes. Some never come home.

  • By Katie Rose Quandt, The Atlantic

Illinois Becomes First State to Abolish Cash Bail

Judges will instead use a risk assessment tool to determine a defendant's fitness for release. The change is part of a broader criminal justice reform bill Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed this week.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram