Latest Prisons News

US Supreme Court rejects likely final appeal of South Carolina inmate a day before his execution

Jan. 30, 2025 13:28 PM EST

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Thursday what is likely the final appeal of a South Carolina inmate the day before his scheduled execution for a 2001 killing of a friend found dead in her burning car. Marion Bowman Jr.'s request to stop his execution until a...

Women’s Court may be renewed on Oʻahu and expanded to other islands

Jan. 30, 2025 12:53 PM EST

When the Oʻahu Women’s Court was established in 2022 to offer an alternative to incarceration, officials had a goal of admitting 20 participants a year. As of this month, 33 women were currently enrolled. The pilot project has been a success, say advocates, who are seeking to make...

A line of white buses carrying Palestinian prisoners set to be released left Ofer prison in the West Bank

Jan. 30, 2025 10:25 AM EST
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — A line of white buses carrying Palestinian prisoners set to be released left Ofer prison in the West Bank.

Daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma arrested on terrorism charges over riots

Jan. 30, 2025 10:07 AM EST

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma was arrested Thursday and appeared in a court on terrorism charges for allegedly inciting violence through social media posts before and during riots that shook the country four years ago and left more than 350 people...

What to know about Guantánamo Bay, the base where Trump will send 'criminal aliens'

Jan. 29, 2025 22:56 PM EST

President Donald Trump, who made the deportation of immigrants a central part of his campaign and presidency, said Wednesday that the U.S. will use a detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to hold tens of thousands of the “worst criminal aliens.” “We’re going to send them...

With leaked footage from the inside, Sundance doc shows horrifying conditions in Alabama prisons

Jan. 29, 2025 22:11 PM EST

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — Incarcerated men in the Alabama prison system risked their safety to feed shocking footage of their horrifying living conditions to a pair of documentary filmmakers. The result is “The Alabama Solution,” which premiered this week at the Sundance Film Festival in Park...

Louisiana environmental activist loses freedom of speech lawsuit against parish officials

Jan. 29, 2025 21:11 PM EST

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana parish officials who threatened to arrest and imprison an environmental activist as she attempted to speak during a public meeting did not violate her right to freedom of speech, a unanimous civil jury ruled Wednesday. Joy Banner had sought more than $2...

Wife of 72-year-old veteran beaten to death by a cellmate in Alabama jail sues corrections officers

Jan. 29, 2025 18:56 PM EST

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The wife of a 72-year-old veteran who was beaten to death by a cellmate in an Alabama jail filed a civil rights lawsuit Wednesday against three deputies working at the jail, alleging that the officers ignored his pleas for help. Attorneys for the wife of...

US woman tried for 3 killings goes missing from a Mexican prison in 1969. Details finally emerge

Jan. 29, 2025 18:46 PM EST

The mystery of what happened to a U.S. woman who was tried in three killings before disappearing from a Mexican prison more than 50 years ago is about to be solved. Authorities have planned a news conference for Thursday to discuss the case of Sharon Kinne, who was charged before her...

Former guard admits to mailing illegal aerial fireworks to Hawaii jail in 2022

Jan. 29, 2025 18:32 PM EST

HONOLULU (AP) — A former guard had illegal aerial fireworks mailed to Hawaii's largest jail where he worked, the state attorney general said Wednesday. Gilchrist Fernandez, a former corrections officer at Oahu Community Correctional Center in Honolulu, pleaded guilty to importation...