In a case where counties had to bear the cost of incarceration, local prosecutors and judges dismissed more cases. For one researcher, this raised a key question: If local governments had to pay for prison sentences, would incarceration rates decrease?
A veto-proof majority of the D.C. City Council passed a bill to open early release to people convicted of crimes they committed before they were 25, saying they deserve the chance for rehabilitation. Victims’ advocates are skeptical.
President-elect Joe Biden's sweeping criminal justice proposal focuses on prevention and diversion in an attempt to prod states away from locking people up.
The Biden administration will reinvigorate “pattern and practice” investigations into police departments and correctional facilities, while also looking to more aggressively examine prosecutors.
A new report from the University of Texas at Austin says that the state’s correctional system has not taken the adequate steps to reduce Covid cases and deaths among incarcerated people and staff.
A new report from the Prison Policy Initiative says that most people in jail are eligible to vote, but ultimately won’t be able to due to barriers to voter registration and lack of access to ballots.
A new law will require California correctional facilities to place transgender people in housing units that align with their gender identity, not their sex assigned at birth.
In California, many wildfires are fought by incarcerated people trained to be firefighters. Their criminal records barred them from continuing in the field after release—until now.
While many jails acted quickly at the beginning of the pandemic to release people and reduce overcrowding, a new analysis shows those efforts have slowed.
The Justice Department says much of the abuse in the state’s prisons stems from overcrowding. Advocates say overcrowding is caused by laws that result in harsh prison sentences that are out of sync with the rest of the country.
The lawsuit alleges three private companies that provide telecom services in prisons lied to state and local governments about the cost of doing business.
A new report from the ACLU and Prison Policy Initiative found that state responses to outbreaks in correctional facilities have been largely inadequate.
COMMENTARY | The rapid spread of Covid-19 in jails and prisons puts us all at risk. Prosecutors’ should flex their authority to reduce the chance of infection among the incarcerated population by limiting new arrests, pushing for early releases when prudent and ensuring sanitary conditions for those in custody.
People in jails with medical vulnerabilities and short times left on their sentence are suing for release—and if that fails, they want masks, gloves, and the space to socially distance.
Some jurisdictions have released many pretrial detainees in an effort to decrease jail populations during the pandemic, taking steps bail reform advocates sought for years.
A sheriff's office in Wyoming recently began using body-worn cameras on deputies working inside the county jail, the first in the state to test the technology in a correctional setting.