Latest Prisons News
2 South Carolina executions halted until firing squad formed
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday blocked the planned executions of two inmates by electrocution, saying they cannot be put to death until they truly have the choice of a firing squad option set out in the state's newly revised capital punishment law. ...
Coroner: Black man in SC jail likely died of cardiac event
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — A coroner said Wednesday that a mentally ill Black man who died after an encounter with deputies in a South Carolina jail earlier this year likely died of a cardiac event. Charleston County Coroner Bobbi Jo O'Neal told reporters that Jamal...
Authorities find escaped federal inmate in Tennessee
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Federal agents on Wednesday captured a prison inmate who escaped from a minimum security facility in Tennessee, the U.S. Marshals Service said. Cecil Corey Haggins was found at a hotel in Manchester, about 215 miles (345 kilometers) east of Federal...
COVID-19 early release program for inmates to end July 1
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — As the coronavirus pandemic raged over the past year, Virginia prison officials released more than 2,100 inmates early to try to control the spread of the virus by reducing the prison population. That practice will end on July 1, the Department of Corrections announced...
Oklahoma to close minimum security prison, costs cited
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma Department of Corrections on Wednesday announced plans to close the minimum security William S. Key Correctional Center in Fort Supply. The prison about 135 miles (217 kilometers) northwest of Oklahoma City will be closed by the end of...
Man given rare medical release from Kansas prison has died
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A man who was granted a rare medical release from a Kansas prison in April because he had terminal cancer has died, the American Civil Liberties Union said. Christopher McIntyre, 48, was released April 12 from the Lansing Correctional Facility and...
Editorial Roundup: Pennsylvania
York Dispatch. June 14, 2021. Editorial: Awful ‘audit’ idea hatched by GOP in Pa. It seemed only a matter of time before Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania hopped on the “election audit” bandwagon. Turns out, they’ve...
South Carolina inmates want deaths delayed during appeal
Days before what could be South Carolina's first execution in a decade, the two inmates scheduled to die this month under the state’s recently revamped capital punishment statute want an emergency order to stop their planned electrocutions while they appeal their cases. ...
2 nurses who gave inmates COVID-19 vaccine overdoses fired
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Two nurses who gave coronavirus vaccine overdoses to 77 inmates at a state prison have been fired, corrections officials said. Iowa Department of Corrections spokesman Cord Overton confirmed to the Des Moines Register Monday that the nurses were...
Coroner: Jail death of Black man changed to a homicide
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A coroner has changed the death certificate of a mentally ill Black man who died in a South Carolina jail earlier this year to say he died by homicide, attorneys for the man's relatives said Tuesday. Although the certificate originally indicated...
