Prisons
Maryland prison system releasing violent criminals early after completing work and education programs
After Gregg Thomas pleaded guilty in 2004 to killing a teenager, a Baltimore judge ordered him to serve 15 years in prison. He was out in less than 10, and by last week he had been charged in the shooting ambush of off-duty Baltimore Police Sgt. Keith Mcneill. The shooting, which left Mcneill in critical…
Read MoreColorado cracking down on parolees after murder of prison chief
One year after a parolee killed state prisons director Tom Clements, life behind bars — and beyond — is far different for Colorado convicts. After years of declining prison populations — reductions that Clements had trumpeted — the number of inmates has risen in the past year as a direct result of his slaying.
Read MoreSecond strike offenders crowding California prison system
California counties are confounding the state’s court-ordered efforts to sharply reduce its inmate population by sending state prisons far more convicts than anticipated, including a record number of people with second felony convictions. The surge in offenders requiring state prison sentences is undermining a nearly 3-year-old law pushed by Gov. Jerry Brown. The legislation restructured…
Read MoreCalifornia prison practices questioned after inmate suicide
A confidential corrections department report, obtained by The Sacramento Bee, summarizes the findings of a suicide review team assigned to investigate inmate David Scott Gillian’s death. All suicides in California state prisons are reviewed by a team of corrections officials. The report obtained by The Bee, based on the review team’s interviews with prison staff…
Read MoreAlabama prison guards charged with sex crimes
Guards and other employees at Alabama’s Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women accused in a U.S. Department of Justice report of demeaning, harassing and sexually abusing inmates typically pleaded guilty to lesser crimes, an AL.com examination of court records found.
Read MoreMinnesota state judges deal out varying punishments for drug offenses
State judges are routinely rejecting guidelines that are supposed to make drug sentencing uniform and equitable statewide, according to a Star Tribune analysis of more than 21,000 drug convictions in Minnesota from 2007 to 2012. The difference between getting prison or probation for the same drug crime often comes down to which county offenders live…
Read MoreBill seeks new restrictions on sterilizations in Calif. prisons
A California state senator introduced legislation to limit sterilization surgeries in state prisons, jails and detention centers after the Center for Investigative Reporting found that 132 women received tubal ligations in violation of prison rules. Prison medical staff had been coercing and targeting women “deemed likely to return to prison in the future,” CIR reported.…
Read MoreMentally ill California prison inmate dies after being pepper sprayed
As California prison officials began looking into the September death of a breathing-impaired inmate who had been pepper-sprayed by a guard, they found themselves facing unusual interference and oversight from above, according to documents from an internal corrections investigation obtained by The Sacramento Bee. A corrections psychologist whose duties included a review of the Sept.…
Read MoreFamily wants DNA testing after FBI admits error in 1983 murder case
During the 26 years that James Preston spent incarcerated for murder, he always told his family that he didn’t commit the crime. Now, the FBI says their analyst’s testimony about key hair evidence in the case exceeded the boundaries of science, raising the possibility that Preston, who died in custody, was wrongfully convicted if not,…
Read MoreExtra Extra Monday: Pollution control plans, juvenile justice and inmate deaths
Wis. freeing more sex offenders from mental lockup | WisconsinWatch.org Wisconsin officials have nearly quadrupled the number of offenders released from state custody after they were committed as sexually violent persons. The risks to residents are reasonable, officials say, because the state’s treatment programs are working and new data suggest these offenders are less likely…
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