Latest Prisons News

Russian court sentences a 72-year-old American to nearly 7 years in prison for fighting in Ukraine

Oct. 08, 2024 00:34 AM EDT

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian court on Monday sentenced a 72-year-old American in a closed trial to nearly seven years in prison for allegedly fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine. Prosecutors said Stephen Hubbard signed a contract with the Ukrainian military after Russia sent troops into...

2 ex-officers convicted in fatal beating of Tyre Nichols get home detention while 1 stays in jail

Oct. 07, 2024 17:31 PM EDT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Two former Memphis police officers convicted of obstruction of justice in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols will be released from jail ahead of sentencing in January, but a third who was found guilty of more serious civil rights violations will remain in custody, a federal...

Belarusian-American has his prison sentence extended amid continuous crackdown on dissent in Belarus

Oct. 07, 2024 14:06 PM EDT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A Belarusian-American has had his prison term extended to a total of 13 1/2 years in the latest move in a relentless crackdown on dissent by Belarus' repressive government, rights activists said Monday. Yuras Zyankovich, a lawyer who has dual Belarusian and...

‘I would have been a great mom’: California finally pays reparations to woman it sterilized

Oct. 07, 2024 13:57 PM EDT

Geynna Buffington knew she had little time to become pregnant once she was released from prison at age 40. For over a year, she tried to have a baby. She didn’t know pregnancy would be unlikely because of a procedure she had nearly a decade earlier. In 1998, while Buffington was...

Senior member of Myanmar's former ruling party dies while serving prison sentence

Oct. 07, 2024 04:21 AM EDT

BANGKOK (AP) — Zaw Myint Maung, a senior member of Myanmar’s former ruling party arrested during the 2021 military takeover, died Monday while serving a prison sentence that was considered politically motivated. He was 72. He was a close colleague of ousted leader Aung San Suu...

Tunisia votes Sunday in its third presidential election since the Arab Spring

Oct. 06, 2024 08:46 AM EDT

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisians voted Sunday in an election expected to grant President Kais Saied a second term, as his most prominent detractors, including one of the candidates challenging him, are in prison. The 66-year-old president faces few obstacles to winning reelection,...

Malaysian billionaire hotelier charged in Singapore in relation to ex-minister's wrongdoings

Oct. 04, 2024 07:10 AM EDT

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A Malaysian billionaire hotelier who brought Formula One to Singapore was charged Friday for allegedly obstructing justice and abetting wrongdoings by a former Cabinet minister who was imprisoned a day earlier in a rare graft case. The two charges...

Californians' crime concerns put pressure on criminal justice reform and progressive DAs

Oct. 04, 2024 00:08 AM EDT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ten years ago, Alley Bean joined 3.7 million Californians in voting for a measure that downgraded many nonviolent felony crimes to misdemeanors, such as petty shoplifting and drug use, hoping it would lead to a more equitable criminal justice system and help end mass...

Guard charged in 2 deaths at troubled Wisconsin prison pleads no contest to reduced charge

Oct. 03, 2024 11:45 AM EDT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — One of eight guards charged in the deaths of two inmates at a troubled maximum security prison in Wisconsin has pleaded no contest to a reduced charge, becoming the first defendant to resolve their case. Former Waupun Correctional Institution guard Sarah...

Movie Review: 'Folie à Deux' reckons with 'The Joker'

Oct. 03, 2024 10:51 AM EDT

Let's put on a happy face, at least to start, for “Joker: Folie à Deux.” If there's one undeniably compelling thing about both Todd Phillips' divisive 2019 original and his new follow-up, it's that these movies are best when they dance. The first movie might have been a muddled...