Prisons and Jails
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.
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.
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.
Some States Are Cloaking Prison Covid Data
A half-dozen corrections agencies provide less detail than they did a year ago.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
States Offer Perks to Inmates who Get the Covid-19 Vaccine
North Carolina is the latest state to offer incentives—commissary credits, bonus visits and early release—to motivate inmates to receive vaccination shots.
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