Latest Prisons News

West Virginia abortion protester receives fine, no jail time
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A Charleston-area magistrate dismissed one charge and decided not to impose jail time for another Thursday in the case of a protester arrested for disrupting lawmakers as they convened at the West Virginia Capitol in September to pass a near-total abortion ban. ...

Farmworker tells TV station he killed 7 on California farms
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) — A farmworker charged in the killings of seven current and former co-workers at two Northern California mushroom farms admitted during a jailhouse interview Thursday that he committed the fatal shootings. Chunli Zhao, 66, told KNTV-TV that he wasn't in...
Louisville juvenile detention center to reopen after repairs
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A state juvenile detention facility deemed unsafe in Louisville will soon reopen after undergoing weeks of repairs, Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday. The Jefferson County Regional Juvenile Detention Center has undergone upgrades to doors, locks and fire alarm...
Indiana Senate backs constitutional change on bail rights
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A proposal that would amend Indiana’s constitution to expand the reasons why a person could be jailed without bond has cleared its first hurdle. The state Senate voted 34-15 mostly on party lines Thursday to endorse the Republican-backed proposal. The state...
Kansas prisoner who sued over cancer treatment has died
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas prisoner who alleged in a lawsuit that he was not being treated properly for cancer has died, his family and attorneys said. John Keith Calvin, 56, died Wednesday at El Dorado Correctional Facility, where he was imprisoned for a 2002 killing that...
Former jail officer sentenced to 3 years for excessive force
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A former Kentucky jail officer convicted in federal court of using unlawful force on an inmate has been sentenced to three years in prison. Darrell Taylor, a former officer with the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections, acknowledged he made a mistake...

Thai activist sentenced to 28 years for online posts on king
BANGKOK (AP) — A court in Thailand sentenced a 27-year-old political activist to 28 years in prison on Thursday for posting messages on Facebook that it said defamed the country’s monarchy, while two young women charged with the same offense continued a hunger strike after being hospitalized. ...
Editorial Roundup: Minnesota
Minneapolis Star Tribune. January 18, 2023. Editorial: Repairing state’s juvenile justice system DFL proposals would help address problems revealed in Star Tribune news series. In Minnesota, there aren’t enough appropriate places to send juvenile...

Freed after 20 years, Hawaii man reflects on case, future
HONOLULU (AP) — On Ian Schweitzer's first morning of freedom Wednesday, he woke up in a hotel room, looked over the balcony at the ocean and took in the beauty of the island he had been away from for over 20 years while imprisoned for a 1991 killing and rape he has always maintained he didn't...

Governor creates commission to study Arizona prison problems
PHOENIX (AP) — Gov. Katie Hobbs on Wednesday announced the creation of a commission to study problems in Arizona’s prisons, including staffing levels and the health care offered to those behind bars. The creation of the commission by Hobbs, Arizona’s first Democratic governor...
