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.
“Since 2009, the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) has banned every issue of PLN, claiming that the advertisements in the magazine raise security concerns. FDOC’s blanket ban on PLN makes Florida an outlier. No other state, county or even our federal government has a de facto ban on PLN because of its ads. Nevertheless, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit upheld the ban. Soon, the Supreme Court will have a chance to weigh in.“
The Crime Report
October 29, 2018
Read More“‘Federal monitoring of email messages makes it excessively difficult for inmates to communicate confidentially with their lawyers,’ said Megan Graham, a teaching fellow with the Samuelson Clinic. ‘It places these inmates at an unfair disadvantage if their lawyers must rely on more costly or time-consuming methods of communications, while federal prosecutors face no such obstacles’.“
Berkeley Law
October 18, 2018
Read More“American penal policies make sense if prisoners are monsters. If not, they’re just making monsters out of their jailers. History suggests it’s the latter.“
The Crime Report
October 15, 2018
Read More“Denying treatment has proved fatal in jails and prisons across the country. ‘People who re-enter the community after a period of incarceration are 50 to 120 times more likely to overdose and die than the general population. This is because they go through detoxification and withdrawal, diminishing their tolerance,’ Leo Beletsky, a professor of law and of health sciences at Northeastern University, told The Appeal.“
The Appeal
October 11, 2018
Read More“In 1967, a 56-year-old lawyer met a young inmate with a brilliant mind and horrifying stories about life inside. Their complicated alliance—and even more complicated romance—would shed light on a nationwide scandal, disrupt a system of abuse and virtual slavery across the state, and change incarceration in Texas forever.“
Texas Monthly
October 11, 2018
Read More“Yet even as Texas curtails its use of solitary confinement, the state leads the nation in offenders held in long-term isolation. Nearly a third of Texas prisoners held in solitary have been there for six years or longer, according to a new report this week by the Association of State Correctional Administrators (ASCA) and the Liman Center for Public Interest Law at Yale University.“
Texas Observer
October 10, 2018
Read More“The Houston Chronicle reports the change comes after its disclosure that Texas prison inmates without teeth were routinely denied dentures. The newspaper had reported that state prison policy had said chewing isn’t a medical necessity and that inmates could eat pureed food.“
CBS 11 Dallas
October 5, 2018
Read More“Rubio is referring to a new policy by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, in which the general prison population is being reintegrated with those with sensitive needs. In other words, the general prison population will be sharing facilities with those prisoners serving time for child molestation, or those who've cooperated with law enforcement.“
ABC 7 Southern California
October 4, 2018
Read More“He said he will set personal bonds, meaning people who walk into his courtroom will be allowed to leave without posting bonds. He said he's going to reach out to the court's administrative judge, Michelle Earley, and try and set up a meeting with jail officials to figure out why so many inmates are dying.“
Cleveland Plain Dealer
October 3, 2018
Read More“Conservatives have their own standards, including this one: The state — government — already is altogether too full of itself, and investing it with the power to inflict death on anyone exacerbates its sense of majesty and delusions of adequacy.“
National Review
September 30, 2018
Read More“The prison has lost one of those role models who are part of their most stable, productive and helpful population: lifers, or those sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Lifers and their positive, stabilizing role in the prisons where they are confined have long been studied by academia.“
Juvenile Justice Information Exchange
September 26, 2018
Read More“The national prison strike that swept headlines formally ended Sept. 9. Yet in many ways, advocates say, the work has just begun. Some prisoners are still engaging in protests, while others will face retaliation and need support. And the groups that helped organize the strike hope to use its momentum to push for lasting change.“
The Appeal
September 25, 2018
Read More“A new policy has put Pennsylvania prisoners’ communications under intense surveillance in the name of stopping contraband drugs. On Sept. 5, the state’s Department of Corrections (DOC) announced that it would be largely restricting mail to prisoners. Effective immediately, all incoming mail would be sent to a private company in Florida, Smart Communications, for scanning into a searchable database. Prisoners would then receive photocopies of the incoming mail—and the originals would be shredded.“
The Appeal
September 24, 2018
Read More“The tour came about a year after a regional heatwave turned attention to the conditions of prisoners in the facility, which did not have air conditioning. In July, more than 150 protesters gathered outside the workhouse, where temperatures inside reportedly exceeded 120F (49C), only to be dispersed by pepper spray. Three days after the protest, Mayor Lyda Krewson moved to place temporary air conditioning units in the facility.“
The Guardian
September 24, 2018
Read More“Prisoners in uPrep are receiving an education and valuable skills. The things they are learning give them confidence and the ability to succeed as they reenter society. uPrep has “coding camp,” where inmates are learning computer programming, a skill that is in demand in the outside world.“
Utah Standard Examiner
September 24, 2018
Read More“The move was an attempt to put an end to some sheriffs' longstanding practice of pocketing ‘excess’ state money they receive to feed state inmates in their county jails but do not use for that purpose. The practice has been a major point of controversy in Alabama since AL.com reported in March that Etowah County Sheriff Todd Entrekin had pocketed more than $750,000 worth of inmate-feeding funds over the previous three years and proceeded to purchase a $740,000 beach house in September 2017.“
Birmingham News
September 23, 2018
Read More“In the Texas prison system, toothless and nearly toothless inmates are routinely denied dentures and instead offered blended food — often regular cafeteria meals simply pureed. Sometimes they’re told they can’t get teeth unless they become underweight, at which point dentures might be considered a “medical necessity.” In 2016, prison medical providers approved giving out 71 dentures to a population of more than 149,000 inmates, many of whom are elderly, have a history of drug use or came from impoverished backgrounds with sub-par dental care to begin with.“
Houston Chronicle
September 23, 2018
Read More“Gov. Wolf, I urge you to visit another prison. Talk with those who have to live in these places for years and decades. Take a ride to Philadelphia, from where most of the DOC's population is drawn, and meet the families who already suffer enough and would break under any additional hardship. Meet with the legal community. Hear about the years of litigation Pennsylvania taxpayers will have to pay for because of these new, unnecessary violations of attorney-client privilege.“
Philadelphia Inquirer
September 21, 2018
Read More“In the past few weeks, protesters have assailed the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections' strict new policies on inmate mail and books, including a $4 million contract with a Florida company to scan and forward incoming mail, and the prohibition of direct donations from organizations like Books Through Bars.“
Philadelphia Inquirer
September 18, 2018
Read More“Until March, state prisoners could have an unlimited number of visitors during set visiting days and hours. Under the new rules, they are restricted to a list of five to 10 visitors, depending on their security classification. The list can be updated twice a year. Prisoners can apply for exceptions to the cap only if every person on their list is immediate family and they want to add another immediate family member. “
The Massachusetts Republican
September 17, 2018
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