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4 Insurgents Escape in Iraqi Jail Riot

4 likely al-Qaeda in Iraq members escape

(Newser) - Four prisoners who belong to the insurgent group Al-Qaeda in Iraq broke out of jail during a riot today that killed six police officers and seven prisoners in the western city of Ramadi, police said. Authorities have imposed a curfew on the city, the capital of Anbar province, as they...

Shoe-Throwing Journo Beaten, Brother Alleges

Iraqi military denies claim and says man is healthy

(Newser) - The journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush during a news conference 2 days ago has been beaten in custody, his brother told the BBC. The brother alleges that Muntadar al-Zaidi, 28, has a broken arm, broken ribs and internal bleeding, but the Iraqi military says the journalist is...

Prisons Aim to Change Ban on Phone Jamming

Rampant cell use facilitates crimes committed behind bars

(Newser) - Cell phone use is a growing problem among prison inmates, but the obvious solution—signal jamming—is illegal under a 74-year-old federal law. Prisoners can easily smuggle the increasingly tiny handsets, and for the unrepentant among them, “whatever illegal activities you were doing outside, you can continue that uninterrupted,...

Balfour's Troubles Go Way Back

Hudson murder suspect had abusive mother, imprisoned father

(Newser) - William Balfour grappled with depression and rage for years before his arrest in the Jennifer Hudson family killings, the Chicago Tribune reports. The son of a convicted killer, Balfour lived in and out of correctional facilities, suffering physical abuse at home and smoking dope to quell his anger. After serving...

Winehouse Ex Back in the Pokey

Winehouse hubby violated bail

(Newser) - It’s shockingly back to prison for Amy Winehouse’s soon-to-be ex-hubby, the Independent reports. Blake Fielder-Civil reportedly broke the terms of his early-release bail by failing a drug test. He had earlier claimed to be clean, thanks to his forced stint in rehab. After failing the test, Fielder-Civil supposedly...

Kiefer Had to Kick Butts in Slammer

Star spent 48 days in big house without smoking

(Newser) - Not surprisingly, Kiefer Sutherland didn’t find prison a pleasant experience. “There’s no smoking,” the actor tells Vogue. Though he made it 48 days without cigarettes, the 24 star still hasn’t quit. Sutherland, 41, went on to complain about the lack of privacy, made worse by...

German Inmate Mails Himself Free

Warden unsurprised by crazy escape, calls for more guards

(Newser) - German police are on a manhunt for a convicted drug dealer who escaped from prison by mailing himself in a cardboard box, the BBC reports. The 42-year-old man crawled into the box after a long shift of making stationery. An unwitting express courier then loaded the box onto his truck...

Hathaway's Ex 'Deteriorates' in Prison

Con man Follieri can't handle 'filthy, smelly' conditions, bad food

(Newser) - Moving from his $37,500-a-month Trump Tower apartment into a windowless dorm room shared with 120 other inmates has not been good for Raffaello Follieri’s health, the New York Post reports. The convicted con man’s lawyer told a judge that Anne Hathaway’s ex has blood in his...

Hooker Bookers Fume After Spitzer Let Off

Club VIP managers face sentencing as ex-governor walks

(Newser) - The prostitution agency that once served Eliot Spitzer is hardly happy that the disgraced former governor is getting off, at their expense, Salon reports. Spitzer evaded federal charges for patronizing a prostitution ring, prompting an attorney for one of the agency’s bookers—who is facing 6-16 months in jail—...

Why Prisons Are Going Green
 Why Prisons Are Going Green 
Nov 2, 2008 4:54 AM CST

Why Prisons Are Going Green

Daytime eco-projects cut costs and boost social behavior

(Newser) - Forget the chain gang and license plate production. Many of today's US prisoners are busy collecting rainwater and recycling old uniforms, AP reports. Facing costs in the billions and a rising prison population, more officials are putting inmates to work on daytime eco-projects. "It reduces cost, reduces our damaging...

EU Honors Chinese Dissident, Enraging Beijing

Hu Jia is serving a prison sentence for 'subversion'

(Newser) - A move by the European Parliament to award a major human-rights prize to a Chinese dissident has Beijing outraged on the eve of a summit on the economic crisis, the Telegraph reports. The government denounced as “gross interference in China's domestic affairs” news that the jailed Hu Jia had...

American Detainees Faced Gitmo Treatment Inside US

Isolation, sensory deprivation nearly drove one insane

(Newser) - An American detainee held in a US military brig was driven nearly insane by months of punishing isolation and sensory deprivation, documents obtained by the AP show. The Bush administration labeled two citizens and a US resident “enemy combatants” and held them for years without criminal charges at military...

Holy Mackerel! Fish Cans Grease Prison Black Market

Smoking ban leads to fishy dealings at federal prisons

(Newser) - Stacks of macks have replaced packs of smokes in the underground economies of federal prisons, the Wall Street Journal reports. Inmates, barred from using cash, use cans of mackerel from the prison commissary for everything from gambling to buying hooch to paying for legal papers. The going rate for a...

Alcatraz Garden Blooms Despite Years of Neglect

Once cared for by prisoners, plants still thrive on 'The Rock'

(Newser) - The hardened inmates on San Francisco’s Alcatraz Island had tough neighbors who endure to this day: sun-kissed geraniums, snapdragons, gazanias, and roses. Thanks to an ambitious restoration project, “The Rock” is blooming, the Sacramento Bee reports. After work began 5 years ago, gardeners discovered 145 plant varieties that...

Kremlin Foe Denied Bid for Parole
Kremlin Foe Denied Bid
for Parole
Aug 22, 2008 10:40 AM CDT

Kremlin Foe Denied Bid for Parole

Oil tycoon, Putin opponent remains in Siberian prison

(Newser) - A Russian court has rejected Mikhail Khodorkovsky's request for parole on Friday, ordering the jailed oil tycoon to serve out the remainder of his sentence in a ruling his lawyer called politically motivated. Khodorkovsky, the former head of Yukos oil company and once Russia's richest man, was sentenced to 8...

Navy Accuses Sailors of Abusing Detainees

Six guards in Iraq face charges

(Newser) - The US Navy will court-martial six sailors who are charged with abusing detainees at a US prison camp in Iraq, Reuters reports. The sailors are accused of beating prisoners and confining them in an unventilated room with pepper spray, a Navy statement says.

Advocates Work to Get Ex-Cons in Voting Booths

New laws make tens of thousands eligible to vote again

(Newser) - Grass-roots activists in states across the country are working to register an unusual bloc of potential voters: former felons. While nearly all states limit the right of convicted criminals to vote, most offer avenues back to the voting booth in varying degrees, the Washington Post reports. In the potential swing...

Facebook, MySpace Offer Prime Evidence

Profiles, photos can haunt defendants, help prosecutors

(Newser) - Social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace have offered crime-solving help to detectives and become a resource for employers vetting job applicants. Now the sites are proving fruitful for prosecutors, who have used damaging Internet photos of defendants to cast doubt on their character during sentencing hearings and argue for...

In Japan, Jailhouse Chic Rules Fashion

Aprons, bags made by convicts are hot sellers this season

(Newser) - Japan's fashion-forward set is flocking to a line made by an unlikely group—prison inmates. Aprons, bags, and pouches emblazoned with the character for "jail" inside a circle are selling out just as quickly as inmates at a juvenile prison in Hokkaido can make them, the AP reports. "...

Ex-Inmates Say Russia Keeps 'Torture Prisons'

Prisoners speak out after 4 were allegedly killed this spring

(Newser) - Overcrowding and disease are comparatively minor problems for inmates in Russia's alleged "torture prisons," where convicts are said to suffer regular beatings. Officials insist that they probe all complaints, but NPR has yielded harrowing stories from ex-inmates after four were reportedly clubbed to death this spring. "God...

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