Jail and Prison Conditions — Galsworthy Criminal Justice Reform Program

Galsworthy Criminal Justice Reform Program

Jail and Prison Conditions

Even if an inmate's sentence is not oppressively long, their treatment while incarcerated can still constitute subhuman treatment. Prisons are not medical facilities, but they regularly are forced to deal with mental health problems and care for elderly and terminally ill inmates. Food, if it's even edible, usually lacks enough nutrition for inmates' health to not deteriorate. Plus, with a lack of opportunities to see family, read, or gain skill sets, inmates are placed in buildings which lack any resemblance of the civilized world.

Short-staffed and overcrowded. And for the state’s largest jail, that’s just the start

“Oahu Community Correctional Center is the state’s largest jail facility, with more than 1,000 detainees. And like the state’s other jails, it’s over-capacity. The jail, with its peaked-roof modules surrounded by barbed wire, is the latest version of facilities that have been on a Kalihi site since 1914. Detainees at OCCC are awaiting trial, serving short sentences, or are inmates in work furlough programs. Members of the media were allowed inside Wednesday to take a first-hand look. It was originally designed to hold 628 detainees. It has a current capacity of 954, but as of Wednesday, there were 1,071 held there.“

Hawaii News Now

November 20, 2019

UnderstaffingPhillip ReevesDecember 8, 2019Hawaii News Now, HawaiiComment

NYC pushes forward with plans to convert Rikers Island into public space

“New York’s City Planning Commission certified an application on Monday that would rezone Rikers Island as a public space. The application launched the beginning of the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) for the conversion, which would ban jails from operating on the 400-acre island after December 31, 2026. The application is just one step involved in the controversial plan to replace Rikers with four borough-based jails, which was approved by the City Council in October.“

The Architect’s Newspaper

December 3, 2019

Prison DesignPhillip ReevesDecember 5, 2019The Architect's Newspaper, Rikers Island, New York CityComment

Human Rights Defense Center: Kansas still unfairly bans books in prisons

“A watchdog group says the Kansas prison system unfairly censors publications despite new policy and the elimination of a banned book list. The Human Rights Defense Center has produced a list of more than 200 books and magazines that have been intercepted by administrators in recent months, including the Pulitzer Prize winner “The Overstory,” by Richard Powers, and books by John Grisham, Neil Gaiman, Toni Morrison, Nora Roberts and other popular authors. Seattle-based HRDC in May revealed the Kansas Department of Corrections maintained a list of banned books for easy reference by mailroom staff. Corrections secretary Jeff Zmuda eliminated the list amid widespread criticism when he arrived July 1.“

Topeka Capital-Journal

December 2, 2019

Access to Outside World, EducationPhillip ReevesDecember 2, 2019Topeka Capital Journal, Kansas, Human Rights Defense CenterComment

Why I Started a Book Club in the Harris County Jail

“The book clubs Drew and I started demonstrate that people in every pod in the jail have the capacity for education and enrichment, and they have an interest in learning. The clubs also improved the disciplinary climate in the pod. A high security classification should not bar participation in GED classes or other rehabilitative services. We know these programs make jails safer and reduce rates of recidivism when people reenter society. A 2018 RAND analysis found that prisoners participating in correctional education programs were 28 percent less likely to reoffend. Almost everyone locked in a cage in Harris County will someday be back in our community. We must stop purposely throwing away the key to their rehabilitation.“

Texas Observer

December 2, 2019

Education, Access to Outside WorldPhillip ReevesDecember 2, 2019Texas Observer, Harris County, HoustonComment

How This Prison Collaborated on a Larger-Than-Life Work of Art

“For three days in October, giant faces were visible from the air over the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, California. They were portraits of 48 currently or formerly incarcerated people, correctional officers and victims of crimes, assembled in a large-scale mural made up of paper strips. A few days later the mural was gone, disintegrated by the Southern California wind and sun and carefully taken apart by the prisoners who live there. In collaboration with the men depicted in the artwork, the French artist JR created an ephemeral window into the lives of those affected by the U.S. prison system.“

The Marshall Project

November 25, 2019

Access to Outside WorldPhillip ReevesNovember 25, 2019The Marshall Project, California, California Correctional Institution, Tehachapi, JRComment

How College In Prison Turns Around Lives And Saves Taxpayers Money

“BPI is part of Bard College, a small, private university in New York State. It enrolls just over 300 students, all of them serving time inside six different New York State prisons. The show is four hours long, but the stories of individual prisoners and the program as a whole are gripping. One of the most interesting things about BPI is the very high level of the college courses taught there. Rather than remedial instruction, the students are learning about The Brothers Karamazov and high-level mathematics.“

Forbes

November 23, 2019

EducationPhillip ReevesNovember 23, 2019Forbes, Bard Prison Initiative, PBS, Ken BurnsComment

What Does Death by Incarceration Look Like in Pennsylvania? These Elderly, Disabled Men Housed in a State Prison.

“This month, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections permitted The Appeal to photograph inside SCI Laurel Highlands, a prison in the southwestern part of the state that houses a large population of people who require long-term and personal care. The prison provides skilled nursing, hospice and palliative care for some of the oldest men in the Pennsylvania prison system.“

The Appeal

November 20, 2019

Death in PrisonPhillip ReevesNovember 20, 2019The Appeal, Pennsylvania, SCI Laurel HighlandsComment

For Some Illinois Prisoners, One Good Eye Is Enough

“It’s easy to underestimate the brutality of boredom, but people in prison will tell you that keeping your mind occupied is essential to survival. Paulette Fiedler, a 69-year-old prisoner at Logan Correctional Center in Illinois, keeps her mind alive by reading — she plows through book after book. So, Fiedler said, when she got cataracts in both eyes, she wanted them fixed as soon as possible. But the prison doctor told her that she’d have to make a choice. Which eye did she want fixed, the right one or the left one? Multiple Illinois prisoners say they have been denied eye surgery because of a “one good eye” policy that only entitles them to have one functioning eye.“

WBEZ Chicago

November 19, 2019

Prison Programs, Jail & Prison ConditionsPhillip ReevesNovember 19, 2019WBEZ Chicago, IllinoisComment

College Behind Bars

“In less than two years, the number of higher education programs in prisons went from an estimated 772 to fewer than a dozen. Meanwhile, studies have continued to find higher education to be one of the most effective ways to combat recidivism: higher education in prison correlates with a 43 percent reduction in recidivism, and every dollar invested in it saves five in future corrections costs—not to mention the positive impact on in-prison behavior and the savings on public subsidies for people struggling to find jobs upon release.“

Boston Review

November 19, 2019

EducationPhillip ReevesNovember 19, 2019Boston ReviewComment

Equal Justice Initiative sounds alarm over sharp rise in Alabama prison slayings

“The Equal Justice Initiative said today there have been 13 homicides in Alabama prisons this year, part of a sharp increase over the last decade that has raised the homicide rate far above the most recently available national rate. The 13 slayings this year represent a rate of about 62 homicides per 100,000 inmates. The national homicide rate in state prisons was 7 per 100,000 in 2012, 2013, and 2014, the most recent numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics.“

Birmingham News

November 18, 2019

Death in PrisonPhillip ReevesNovember 18, 2019Birmingham News, Alabama, Equal Justice InitiativeComment

'American horror story': The prison voices you don't hear from have the most to tell us

“Alabama Department of Corrections has its version of what's going on inside Holman, Kilby, Staton and the state's other prisons in its official news releases. Nearly every day, accounts released by state officials are reported without verification, despite the fact multiple federal institutions have found that ADOC's own employees have lied in their record-keeping and under-counted violent incidents as severe as murder. To get the other side of the story, the Advertiser paid for phone calls and stamps to include these men in the narrative about their own lives, which they are often excluded from telling by nature of their incarceration.“

Montgomery Advertiser

November 15, 2019

Jail & Prison ConditionsPhillip ReevesNovember 15, 2019Montgomery Advertiser, AlabamaComment

GQ, Nat Geo and Cosmo are banned in Arizona prisons. A judge said the rules need to explain why.

“Wright said the banning of Prison Legal News is another way some penal institutions try to prevent inmates from knowing their rights. Under Silver’s directive, the state of Arizona and its corrections department can no longer violate prisoners’ First Amendment rights, which include the right to read — something that also impacts non-incarcerated people once prisoners are released, Fathi said.“

Washington Post

November 12, 2019

Education, Access to Outside WorldPhillip ReevesNovember 12, 2019Washington Post, Prison Legal News, ArizonaComment

New York’s Jails Are Failing. Is the Answer 3,600 Miles Away?

“In recent months, city officials have set out to find answers, touring facilities across the United States and in Europe. In late September, they touched down in a place far different from New York: Norway, a welfare state with a low crime rate whose population is fairly homogeneous and smaller than New York’s.“

New York Times

November 12, 2019

Prison DesignPhillip ReevesNovember 12, 2019New York Times, Rikers Island, NorwayComment

Major Sacramento County jail project stalls after inmate advocates rally against expansion

“For months, activist groups have protested the expansion, arguing the county should be more focused on reducing and aiding its existing inmate population rather than planning for its growth. Asantewaa Boykin, co-founder of the Anti Police-Terror Project, told the board at its Tuesday meeting “handcuffs are not therapeutic, forced compliance does not equal wellness.”“

Sacramento Bee

November 7, 2019

Prison DesignPhillip ReevesNovember 7, 2019Sacramento Bee, SacramentoComment

Prison Education Project provides hope to inmates

“This endeavor is the vision of Marcia Klotz an English and Women’s studies professor. “Education offers a way to imagine a different kind of future,” Klotz said. “That’s what we signify when we come out here.” Peterson has about 10 months left on his sentence. He is looking forward to a handful of future Friday afternoon lectures. “It takes us out of the prison dynamic,” he said. “It’s a good re-introduction to society. All of us here will be going home and I want this to continue long after my release date.”“

NBC 4 Tucson

November 4, 2019

EducationPhillip ReevesNovember 4, 2019NBC 4 Tucson, ArzionaComment

Guest Commentary: Lying jailhouse informants shouldn’t put innocent Coloradans behind bars

“To a jury, it looked like the jailhouse informant was telling the truth. In reality, he never shared a room with Lawrence. His testimony was inconsistent with both the physical evidence and earlier statements he gave to law enforcement. The prosecution also denied that the jailhouse informant got a deal. However, his probation sentence for burglary was terminated shortly after he agreed to testify. The prosecution failed to meet its constitutional obligation to disclose this information to the defense. As a result, Lawrence’s lawyers could not adequately expose the jailhouse informant’s motivations and credibility to the jury.“

The Denver Post

November 4, 2019

InformantsPhillip ReevesNovember 4, 2019The Denver Post, DenverComment

Incarcerated Artists, Seen Through the Lens of Their Creativity

“This direct observation of life inside — a documentary expression of lived experience, common throughout art history but here suffocated by the walls of imprisonment — is a constant trope in the show. Bear’s Heart (Nokkoist) was a Southern Cheyenne artist captured by the U.S. Army and taken to Fort Marion in St. Augustine, Florida, following the Red River War. His work often recorded the forced journey and a ledger drawing attributed to him depicts the train used to transport him and other captives, a conflicted, colorful construction that is part whimsical and part ominous.“

Hyperallergic

November 4, 2019

Access to Outside WorldPhillip ReevesNovember 4, 2019HyperallergicComment

Can We Build a Better Women’s Prison?

“These were all problems Johnson remembered well, and she walked out the door feeling relieved that she could leave. But she was also brooding about what she’d heard, and how to incorporate the women’s wishes into the sheriff’s office’s reform effort. What would a state-of-the-art women’s jail — one focused on rehabilitation and second chances instead of punishment and retribution, with an eye to women’s specific needs — look like?“

Washington Post Magazine

October 28, 2019

Prison DesignPhillip ReevesOctober 28, 2019Washington Post MagazineComment

New Orleans Advocates Oppose Jail Expansion Plan Ahead of Public Hearing

“The plan, submitted in August by Sheriff Marlin Gusman’s office, proposes increasing the city’s jail population cap. The proposal also would expand a temporary facility to house people with mental health conditions, as well as 150 state prisoners who are on work release or are kitchen workers.“

The Appeal

October 7, 2019

Prison DesignPhillip ReevesOctober 25, 2019The Appeal, New OrleansComment

Lockdown, longer shifts, hiring bonuses: State Penitentiary adjusts operations amid staff shortage

“Thursday morning, staff at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln were informed via memo that a “staffing emergency” was being declared at the prison because of a shortage of staff and unsafe conditions for prison workers. The emergency allows the prison to launch a temporary new work schedule involving 12-hour workdays for security staff as Corrections and the labor union work on “long-term solutions” to high turnover of new recruits and record-high overtime expenses for the remaining staff to fill vacant posts.“

Omaha World-Herald

October 24, 2019

UnderstaffingPhillip ReevesOctober 24, 2019Omaha World Herald, NebraskaComment