Latest Prisons News
Thousands in California’s jails have the right to vote — but here’s why many won’t
Ronald Latney used to believe his vote didn’t matter. But after returning to jail this year, he realized the difference it can make — especially locally. “I try to tell everybody … like, man, we need to vote, because our lives depend on this,” he said, mentioning district...
Hawaii prisons are getting new scanners that can detect drugs without opening mail
A test of new technology for scanning incoming prison mail identified drugs in fake legal documents, confirming suspicions that confidential communications between inmates and their attorneys or the court system can be exploited to smuggle contraband. The timely discovery at Halawa...
281 inmates escape after floods brought down prison's walls in northeast Nigeria
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian authorities said 281 inmates escaped after devastating floods brought down a prison’s walls in the country's northeast. A major dam collapsed on Sept. 10, unleashing severe flooding that left 30 people dead and over a million displaced, and prompted...
Are California prisons stiffing inmates on $200 release payments? Lawsuit says they are
John Vaesau was counting on the $200 he was entitled to by law upon leaving Folsom State Prison in June 2023, after 33 years. He was surprised when he received none of it. “They just threw me out like a piece of garbage,” Vaesau said. “Like after all that time, it was nothing...
India's top court releases New Delhi's chief minister on bail after 6 months in jail
NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s top court on Friday freed on bail Arvind Kejriwal, a prominent opposition leader and chief minister of New Delhi, who was arrested nearly six months ago ahead of national elections on charges of receiving bribes from a liquor distributor. Supreme Court...
Former employee of troubled Wisconsin prison pleads guilty to smuggling contraband into the prison
WAUPUN, Wis. (AP) — A former employee at a troubled Wisconsin prison has pleaded guilty to smuggling contraband into the maximum-security prison that's been the subject of a federal investigation into alleged smuggling involving employees. William Lee Homan, 47, of Fox Lake,...
Arkansas county jail and health provider agree to $6 million settlement over detainee's 2021 death
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A county in western Arkansas and a health provider have agreed to a $6 million settlement with the family of a man who died from dehydration and malnutrition while being held in a local jail, an attorney for the family said Thursday. Sebastian County and...
Man serving life for teen girl's killing dies in Michigan prison
A man sentenced to life for killing a 13-year-old girl while being a suspect in the deaths of about a half-dozen others has died in a Michigan prison. Arthur Ream, 75, died Aug. 15 of cancer at a prison hospital in Jackson, Michigan, the state Corrections Department said Thursday....
A trial begins for lawyers who once represented the Kremlin's late foe Alexei Navalny
PETUSHKI, Russia (AP) — Three lawyers who once represented the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny went on trial Thursday in Russia, part of the Kremlin's unrelenting crackdown on dissent that has reached levels unseen since Soviet times. Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin and Alexei...
The prison where the ‘In Cold Blood’ killers were executed will soon open for tours
LANSING, Kan. (AP) — The shuttered Kansas prison where the killers chronicled in Truman Capote 's “In Cold Blood” were executed is now a tourist attraction. Starting Friday, former wardens and corrections officers will lead two-hour tours of the stone-walled building in Lansing...
