prisoners

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Century Later, Conjugal Visits to End in Mississippi

Leaving 5 states that allow them, down from 17 in 1993

(Newser) - Only six states allow prisoners conjugal visits—and the state where the practice began roughly a century ago, Mississippi, is poised to halt (but not legally ban) those visits Feb. 1. The prison commissioner in the state, where 155 of some 22,000 inmates had such visits last year, blames...

Israel Frees Palestinians in US-Brokered Deal

PM Netanyahu takes heat from political right and left alike

(Newser) - Israel has released more than two dozen Palestinian prisoners convicted in deadly attacks against Israelis as part of a US-brokered package to restart Mideast peace talks. After departing on buses from Israeli jails overnight, the prisoners received hero's welcomes upon their return to the West Bank and Gaza with...

How a Model Prison Became America's Scariest

USP Lewisberg: from rehabilitation to hardcore 'attitude adjustment'

(Newser) - A prison that once encouraged upbeat activities among inmates is now home to the nation's nastiest criminals and severe prison tactics—a transformation that may say a lot about our prison system in general. An academic article , summarized by Justin Peters at Slate , recounts how the USP Lewisberg facility...

Report: Inmates Control 65% of Mexico's Prisons

According to review of 101 most populated prisons

(Newser) - Mexico's prisons are in "critical condition," says an official, and a new report seems to confirm it: Sixty-five of Mexico's 101 most populous prisons were controlled by the inmates themselves last year, according to the National Human Rights Commission; that's up 4.3% from 2011....

NYC Inmates Cost Nearly $168K Per Year

That's almost as much as four years of Ivy League tuition

(Newser) - In New York, the annual cost of one inmate is almost as much as four years of Ivy League tuition: $167,731. That's $460 per day for an average of 12,287 prisoners, and it's quite a bit higher than what other big cities spend: $47,063 a...

59 Days Later, California Prisoners End Hunger Strike

40 had been striking since July 8

(Newser) - California inmates have ended a nearly two-month hunger strike to protest the prison system's isolation policies, prison officials said today. More than 30,000 inmates, who said gang leaders are often held for decades in isolation units, had been refusing meals when the strike began July 8. By this...

Money Is Driving End of &#39;Draconian&#39; Drug Sentences
Money Is Driving End of 'Draconian' Drug Sentences
analysis
Aug 13, 2013 12:15 PM CDT

Money Is Driving End of 'Draconian' Drug Sentences

Brad Plumer looks at the DOJ's budget

(Newser) - In announcing yesterday that it planned to do away with "draconian" mandatory minimum sentences for low-level drug offenders, the Justice Department is righting an injustice, right? As Eric Holder explained it, "Too many Americans go to too many prisons for far too long, and for no truly good...

Israel to Release Longtime Prisoners Amid Palestine Talks

Some have been 'in jail for decades': minister

(Newser) - With Israel-Palestine talks potentially beginning next week , Israel will release some "heavyweight (Palestinian) prisoners in jail for decades," says top minister Yuval Steinitz. Details are fuzzy, but it's possible 350 prisoners could be released over several months, a Palestinian official tells the BBC ; some 100 of them...

30K California Inmates Join Hunger Strike

Prisoners demand end to indefinite isolation

(Newser) - More than 30,000 inmates in California refused meals yesterday in what could be the start of the biggest prison hunger strike in American history—although corrections officials won't consider it a hunger strike until inmates miss nine consecutive meals. Inmates at more than 20 of the state's...

Calif. Prisons Sterilized Women Without State OK

148 had procedure between 2006 and 2010: report

(Newser) - The California prison system had at least 148 women sterilized between 2006 and 2010—without the state signing off on the move. Another 100 women may have faced the same fate since the 1990s, the Center for Investigative Reporting finds, based on state records and interviews. The inmates were pregnant...

Colo. Fire Forces Evacuation of 900 Prisoners

4 blazes have destroyed dozens of homes

(Newser) - Wildfires are raging in Colorado, and one of them caused more than 900 prisoners to be evacuated from a state prison early today. The medium- and low-risk prisoners were taken by bus to other prisons, a spokesperson tells the AP . The fire hasn't actually reached the Colorado Territorial Correctional...

Inmates Host Raunchy Party at Prison Nightclub

Venezuelan prisoners invite friends, family to bash

(Newser) - For a fun night, visit the local ... prison? Seems inmates in Venezuela have built their own nightclub and hosted an inaugural bash including strippers and a light show, AFP reports. According to a local paper, the inmates at a prison on Margarita Island invited friends and family over for the...

Single Round Fired at Gitmo as Tensions Mount

Lawyer says detainees growing more desperate

(Newser) - The US military is admitting a Guantanamo guard fired "one non-lethal round" at prisoners in a Jan. 2 incident, possibly marking the first gunfire response inside the detention camp, reports the Miami Herald . (Rubber bullets may have been used during a 2006 prisoner uprising.) The event occurred on...

Palestinians Sneak Sperm Out of Israeli Prisons

Fertility doctor cooks up smuggling scheme

(Newser) - The wives of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons are getting pregnant in an odd way—by smuggling out the prisoners' sperm, NBC News reports. But the families won't say how they get the sperm past a glass separation, body search, and an airport-style scanner. "If I told you...

Afghanistan Tortures Prisoners: Report

The NDS has 'secret places' for torture, official says

(Newser) - Afghanistan is torturing nearly a third of prisoners handed over by NATO and using secret facilities to do it, according to an anticipated UN report . What's more, several hundred prisoners interviewed for the report offered "credible and reliable evidence" that more than 50% of them have been abused...

Escaped Convict Told Judge: 'You'll Hear From Me'

Fellow escapee's mother offers police a lead

(Newser) - The bank robbers who scaled the side of a high-rise Chicago prison are still eluding police, though officials have an informant: The mother of one of the men says they visited her in the suburbs. Kenneth Conley's mom told the pair she couldn't help them. "Then she...

Chicago Inmates Escape ... From 17 Floors Up

Bank robbers hunted after daring escape

(Newser) - Cops in Chicago are hunting two bank robbers who pulled off a daring escape from one of the world's only high-rise prisons yesterday morning. Cellmates Joseph "Jose" Banks and Kenneth Conley are believed to have squeezed through a narrow window and scaled down 17 stories to the ground,...

NC Inmates: Guards Tortured Us With Hot Sauce

State probing claims prisoners were forced to kiss snakes

(Newser) - Prison officials in North Carolina are calling for a criminal investigation after inmates alleged correctional officers forced them to rub habañero sauce on their genitals, resulting in painful blisters. A state Department of Public Safety spokeswoman says officials have asked the State Bureau of Investigation to review conduct at...

Jesse Jackson Convinces Gambia to Free US Prisoners

President suspends dozens of executions: Jackson's group

(Newser) - Gambia's president has agreed to release a pair of Americans imprisoned for treason, thanks to the work of Jesse Jackson, CNN reports. President Yahya Jammeh will also indefinitely suspend the executions of dozens of death-row inmates, says Jackson's Rainbow Push Coalition, after Jammeh planned to execute all of...

Pagan Prisoners: Let Us Wear Robes or Go 'Skyclad'

British prisoner says hooded robe should be kosher, too

(Newser) - Pagans say they're fed up with prejudicial treatment in British prisons. Two in particular are complaining that prison rules won't let them pray as Pagans traditionally do—either wearing a druidic robe or going "skyclad" (known to the rest of us as naked). Other prisoners can wear...

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