Posts tagged Oregon
Oregon Prison Industry Program Nets Record $28.5 Million as Prisoners Earn $1.25/Hour

“DOC spokesman Jim Lockwood quickly made assurances that prison officials would not force prisoners to work without compensation. Ultimately, the DOC replaced prisoner wages with a point system. At the end of each month, a prisoner’s accumulated points are converted into a monetary amount ranging between $8 and $77 for most prison jobs. Prisoners can earn more working for OCE, which pays an average of $158 per month, according to the agency. That is equivalent to around $1.25 per hour rather than the maximum $0.61 per hour for non-OCE prison jobs.“

Prison Legal News

April 2, 2019

Read More
Prison ProgramsPhillip ReevesPrison Legal News, OregonComment
Oregon Senate OKs ban on using dogs to force inmates from cells

“The bill stems from an incident in the Columbia County Jail in 2017, which was caught on video and received media coverage. An inmate was mauled by a dog in his cell for failing to come out. The 48-year-old was awarded $251,000 in a lawsuit settlement late last year.  Since that time, the jail voluntarily stopped using dogs for this purpose.“

KTVZ Oregon

March 21, 2019

Read More
Police ViolencePhillip ReevesKTVZ Central Oregon, OregonComment
Mentally ill languish in Oregon jails, in breach of federal court order

“The frequent delays, some of them lasting more than a month, trample the rights of mentally ill people accused of minor or serious crimes, as judges have ruled they cannot be left to languish in county jails. Since January 2018, court, jail and hospital officials collectively failed more than 200 times to get people out of jail and into treatment within the court-ordered seven-day timeline, The Oregonian/OregonLive found by analyzing data obtained under a public records request.“

The Oregonian

February 24, 2019

Read More
Mental HealthPhillip ReevesOregon, The OregonianComment
Oregon’s prison commissaries offer Amazon-like array of goods, rack up $17 million in sales

“In Salem, the commissary warehouse is staffed by state employees and inmates from Oregon’s women’s prison, Coffee Creek Correctional Institution in Wilsonville. It’s a coveted assignment that goes to women who have clear disciplinary records for six months. They can’t have any major misconduct within the past year. The state requires that commissary workers have a high school diploma or general education diploma. “

The Oregonian

January 7, 2019

Read More
Access to Outside WorldPhillip ReevesThe Oregonian, OregonComment