Massachusetts Could Loosen Life Without Parole Restrictions For Young People Ella Fassler Jun 30, 2021
Florida’s ‘Secret’ Formulas to Calculate Release Dates May Be Trapping People in Prison Jerry Iannelli May 20, 2021
‘It Tears Families Apart’: Lawmakers Nationwide Are Moving to End Mandatory Sentencing Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Apr 15, 2021
Unless The Biden Administration Acts, Thousands Could Go Back to Federal Prison Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Apr 05, 2021
What The St. Louis Mayoral Candidates Would Do To Close The City’s Notorious Workhouse Jail Tishaura Jones wants to decriminalize offenses and transfer people out of the Workhouse. Cara Spencer wants to end the contract to house federal detainees. Meg O'Connor | March 26, 2021
Arizona Man Faces Decades In Prison After Not Returning a Rental Car on Time Brian Stepter, a 61-year-old Black man, has struggled with substance use for decades. Now, prosecutors are leveraging his record against him—and forbidding references to racial justice, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Stepter’s potential sentence, or his health problems at his trial. Meg O'Connor | March 25, 2021
Virtually No One is Dangerous Enough to Justify Jail A common sense cost-benefit analysis of pretrial detention. Sandra Mayson, Megan Stevenson March 15, 2021
California Governor Commutes Sentence of Abuse Survivor, Grants Clemency to Several Others Advocates have been urging Governor Gavin Newsom to make greater use of his clemency power, especially for older prisoners who are more vulnerable to COVID-19. Meg O'Connor, Joshua Vaughn March 12, 2021
After Man Dies Waiting For Commutation, Pennsylvania Governor Frees 13 People At the urging of advocates, Governor Tom Wolf signed off on all remaining commutations applications on his desk. Joshua Vaughn | February 12, 2021
New York City Has People on Parole In Jails At Rates Not Seen Since The Early Pandemic Despite calls to reduce incarcerated populations, the number of people being detained for minor parole violations has been rising. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | February 10, 2021
A Virginia Prison Held A Man In Solitary Confinement For Over 600 Days Virginia’s Department of Corrections has recently settled two lawsuits over its use of solitary confinement—a practice lawmakers are moving closer to abolishing. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | February 5, 2021
Trump Turned the Justice System Into a Black Box. Biden Could Fix It The Bureau of Justice Statistics has suffered from years of poor funding and political interference by the Trump administration. Fixing it could be one of the most important tasks on Biden’s criminal justice reform agenda. Ethan Corey | February 2, 2021
Man Recommended For Prison Release Dies Waiting For Pennsylvania Governor’s Sign-Off The Board of Pardons unanimously recommended Bruce Norris for a commutation in December, but Tom Wolf had yet to approve it. Joshua Vaughn | February 1, 2021
A Florida Senator Wants to Exclude People With Felony Convictions From the State’s Minimum Wage Increase It’s the latest bill in the state legislature’s long history of meddling with voter-approved amendments. Jerry Iannelli | January 27, 2021
Rosa Jimenez, Convicted on ‘Junk Science’, Set for Release After More Than 15 Years in Prison The Travis County District Attorney’s office had joined the release request and, despite Jimenez being taken into custody by ICE, she is expected to be released today. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | January 27, 2021
Why The Biden Administration’s Choice To Lead The Bureau of Prisons Matters The attorney general could pick a new head of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. That person should have public health experience, formerly incarcerated activists say. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | January 26, 2021
‘Hand of One, Hand of All’: 50 Years for a Teen Who Didn’t Pull the Trigger At 15, Kenneth Lamont Robinson was convicted for murder under South Carolina’s accomplice liability law, despite not committing the shooting that killed Kedena Brown. Robin Kaiser-Schatzlein | January 7, 2021
Don’t Delay on Closing Rikers The city says COVID-19 budget constraints will set back its plans to close the jail but people incarcerated there are suffering from the disease right now. Jonathan Ben-Menachem | December 17, 2020
Philadelphia Jails Have Black Mold, Rats, Poor Heating, Say Women Held There The Philadelphia Community Bail Fund, which recorded and published the complaints, paid for the release of some incarcerated women on Saturday. Joshua Vaughn | December 16, 2020
Researchers Estimate Mass Incarceration Contributed To More Than Half A Million Additional Cases Of COVID-19 Over The Summer The report found that spread inside correctional facilities contributed to community spread, particularly in California, Florida and Texas. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg, Ethan Corey December 15, 2020
Terry McAuliffe’s Record on the Death Penalty Is Out of Step With National Trends McAuliffe is running to become Virginia governor a second time. If he wins, he would be the only active Democratic governor to have carried out executions in office. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | December 11, 2020
Shifting Incarceration Costs to Counties Could Mean Fewer People in Prisons and Jails, Study Suggests A new study suggests that if counties—rather than states—bear the cost of incarceration, they may be less likely to incarcerate people. Joshua Vaughn | December 9, 2020
Facing Life Pennsylvania’s prisons have the second-highest number of people in the country serving life without the possibility of parole. Nine people who were released after being sentenced to die behind bars share their stories. Joshua Vaughn | December 7, 2020
America’s Biggest City Was Hit Hard By COVID-19. Its Jails Are Filling Up Again New York City’s jail population is close to reaching pre-pandemic levels. Advocates say dishonest fearmongering about bail reform—and the politicians who capitulated to it—have created a very real safety crisis. Joshua Manson | November 30, 2020
Families Urge Cuomo to Release Loved Ones from Prison During COVID-19 Pandemic In addition to the releases he has already ordered, the New York governor can grant commutations to free more incarcerated people to protect them from the disease. He has issued only three since the pandemic began. Alana Sivin, Joshua Vaughn November 25, 2020
Andrew Cuomo Promised Criminal Justice Reforms, But New York Is Still Waiting The governor has rolled back bail reform, not released enough prisoners during the pandemic, and failed to rein in police abuses, advocates and prisoners say. Rebecca McCray | November 24, 2020
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo Is Fresh Off His Book Tour, But Activists Say He Doesn’t Live Up to His National Reputation Progressive lawmakers and activists say Cuomo has failed to adequately protect those who are out of work, at risk of losing their homes, or living behind bars, where the virus has spread rapidly. Tara Francis Chan, Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg November 19, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Researchers with the Covid Prison Project talk about how COVID-19 has opened up possibilities for data collection, a new report shows persistent disparities in L.A. County jails, and Colorado’s El Paso County jail sets a grim state record. Kelly Davis | November 5, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons An overview of gubernatorial candidates and their stances on decarceration during the pandemic, a new lawsuit argues that Massachusetts corrections officials are ignoring home-confinement requests, and new infections spike at the Fort Dix federal prison in New Jersey. Kelly Davis | November 2, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons A judge dismissed a lawsuit seeking the release of seriously ill prisoners from a facility that is now dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak; despite nationwide calls to shrink prison populations through sentencing reform, only one Election Day ballot measure seeks to tackle the issue; partying corrections officers are blamed for an outbreak at a North Carolina jail. Kelly Davis | October 30, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons The ACLU and other groups sue to free people from the deadliest federal prison; a new study finds that coronavirus-driven jail releases hasn’t caused an increase in crime; and half of people in South Dakota prisons have tested positive for COVID-19. October 28, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons A new watchdog report finds ‘inadequate adherence to basic safety protocols’ during COVID-19 outbreaks in California prisons; advocates call on Gov. Cuomo to release incarcerated people and enhance medical oversight; Abbe Lowell says the First Step Act needs a Second Step Act. Kelly Davis | October 26, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine says decarceration is the only way to get the COVID-19 pandemic under control; the CDC changes its testing guidelines after a Vermont prison guard contracts coronavirus; and our ongoing case map shows more than 60 new outbreaks. Kelly Davis | October 26, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons A California appeals court orders San Quentin prison to reduce its population by half, the ACLU’s Death by Incarceration project paints a stark picture of COVID-19’s toll, and a new law grants early release to 3,000 New Jersey prisoners. Kelly Davis | October 21, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons An outbreak at Montana’s Cascade County jail demonstrates the risk COVID-19 poses to rural communities, the virus has infected nearly 2,000 children in juvenile-detention facilities, and one large Michigan prison is grappling with an outbreak that’s infected roughly one-third of its staff. Kelly Davis | October 19, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons A new report by researchers at Johns Hopkins University warns prisons and jails that ‘changes are urgently needed’ to prevent more COVID-19 outbreaks; Wisconsin continues to struggle with infections inside and outside its prisons; and a new video series shares the tragic story of a wife trying to get help for her husband amid an outbreak at Chicago’s Cook County Jail. Kelly Davis | October 17, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons How a collaboration between scholars, public health officials, and the Wayne County jail has kept COVID-19 in check; the California prison with the most coronavirus cases kept prisoners working despite the outbreaks; two counties report spikes in infections among juvenile detainees. Kelly Davis | October 14, 2020
For Years, I Didn’t Have An Outlet For Self-Growth In Prison. Now That I Do, I Can Address The Harm I’ve Caused. Truitt Watts, who is serving a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole at Oregon State Correctional Institution, describes the programs that helped him recover from addiction and address his past. Truitt Watts | October 13, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons A ’freedom fighter’ reports from the San Quentin prisons on Twitter, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reverses a ruling made to protect elderly prisoners, and a class-action lawsuit seeks $400 million from the state of Delaware for ignoring basic COVID-19 precautions. Kelly Davis | October 9, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons COVID-19 has exposed a huge gap in knowledge over the rights of hospitalized prisoners, Wisconsin sees a spike in new cases in correctional facilities, and vitamin D might help save the lives of incarcerated people. Kelly Davis | October 7, 2020
We Can’t Be Free Until We Fully Abolish Slavery Through a loophole in the 13th Amendment, governments and corporations profit from cheap, incarcerated labor. Michele Bratcher Goodwin | October 7, 2020
Federal Judges Were Once All Reliably Bad On Prisoners’ Rights Issues. COVID-19 Changed That. President Trump has appointed a quarter of active federal appellate judges, and they have decisively hampered legal efforts to force prisons and jails to address the coronavirus. Samuel Weiss | October 6, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons After being COVID-free for months, Massachusetts facilities see new outbreaks; a New York lawmaker wants to make it easier for people to serve prison and jail sentences at home; and deaths continue to plague a Virginia prison. Kelly Davis | October 5, 2020
Prison Labor Is on the Frontlines of the COVID-19 Pandemic States like California, New York, and Arizona have relied on prisoners to continue working, with little pay and in precarious conditions, during the coronavirus pandemic. Eliyahu Kamisher | October 5, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Despite new outbreaks in Oregon prisons, Gov. Kate Brown remains hesitant to release people, federal prison inspector releases an online COVID-19 dashboard to boost transparency, and our ongoing case map suggests widespread trouble for Georgia prisoners. Kelly Davis | October 2, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons A ruling by a Texas judge slams officials for deliberate indifference toward vulnerable prisoners; in San Diego, an ill-advised hospital visit led to a massive COVID-19 outbreak; and a new report finds an alarming increase of Latinx and Native American youth in juvenile-detention facilities. Kelly Davis | September 30, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons A new report documents pandemic-driven efforts to release people from Chicago’s Cook County jail, how Virginia’s 900-page COVID-19 response plan has failed elderly and ill prisoners and federal prosecutors argue that a life sentence equals a death sentence. Kelly Davis | September 28, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons New Jersey is close to enacting a law that would release up to 3,000 people from prison, advocates urge New York legislators to consider early parole for elderly prisoners, and California prisons see a new spike in coronavirus cases. Kelly Davis | September 25, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Experts discuss ongoing issues with COVID-19 in prisons and jails, Oklahoma prison officials agree to mandatory testing of all staff, and an incarcerated journalist pens a heart-wrenching account of his experience with coronavirus. Kelly Davis | September 23, 2020
Her Lawyers Say She Was Coerced To Plead Guilty To A Crime That Never Happened Accused of shaking a baby to death and facing the death penalty, Amy Wilkerson says she is innocent, but pleaded guilty to spare her life. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | September 23, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Documents obtained by the ACLU suggest that restarting executions caused a COVID-19 outbreak at a federal prison; Florida’s Brevard County jail says it quashed an outbreak, but a lack of testing raises questions; and San Quentin’s newspaper is publishing again. Kelly Davis | September 21, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Despite more than 16,000 COVID-19 infections in Florida’s prisons, the head of the system says his department has protected people from the virus; Science Magazine explores research being conducted on decarceration best practices; and a recent outbreak puts South Dakota on our new infections map. Kelly Davis | September 18, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Women at California’s Folsom prison report that men with COVID-19 have been moved into their building, an ACLU attorney says federal judges don’t understand the realities of incarceration, and Iowa’s prisons are emptier than they’ve been in 20 years—but are still over capacity. Kelly Davis | September 17, 2020
How Legislation Meant to Overhaul Probation And Parole In Pennsylvania Strayed From Its Roots Through a series of maneuvers, state legislators narrowed the ambitious scope of Senate Bill 14. Jonathan Ben-Menachem | September 16, 2020
Arizona Man Faces 8 Years in Prison For Not Returning Rental Car on Time Brian Stepter, a 61-year-old with chronic respiratory problems, has struggled with substance use for decades. Police and prosecutors sought the harshest sentence possible after he failed to return the car. Meg O'Connor | September 16, 2020
A New Law To Help Formerly Incarcerated Firefighters Is Far More Limited Than It Seems California just made it a tiny bit easier for formerly incarcerated people to become civilian firefighters. But the law still leaves many obstacles in their path. Jay Willis | September 15, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons After testing positive for COVID-19, Tommy Zeigler, whose case inspired legislation and multiple investigative reports, is missing in a Florida prison; advocates for women inside Oklahoma’s Eddie Warrior Correctional Center want to hear from Gov. Kevin Stitt; and men quarantined in a previously shuttered prison say they’re being forced to pee in cups. Kelly Davis | September 14, 2020
Far From Being Beyond Saving, Prison Youth Deserve Every Opportunity For Meaningful Rehabilitation We should demand that prison officials and our elected representatives honor their constitutional obligation to promote and support youth healing, growth, and change. Mark Wilson | September 14, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons A court ruling allows the Cook County Jail to return to double-occupancy and dorm-style housing, a state oversight agency makes an example of New York’s Fishkill prison, and we update our ongoing map of new COVID-19 cases. Kelly Davis | September 10, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Doctors at California’s San Quentin State Prison hope other correctional institutions will learn from their experience, COVID-19 causes one Colorado county to cancel its plans to build a bigger jail, and guards at Oregon’s Snake River Correctional Institution are blamed for an ongoing outbreak. Kelly Davis | September 8, 2020
Criminal Justice Reform Should Decriminalize Addiction, Advocates Say Efforts to address the harms of police violence and incarceration must consider the drug war, activists and treatment professionals note, including the punitive models of treatment. Elizabeth Brico | September 8, 2020
Thousands of Children On Probation Are Incarcerated Each Year for Nonviolent, Noncriminal Behaviors Experts say Black and Native children are disproportionately jailed either for status offenses or for technical violations of probation or parole—and that incarcerating them has far-reaching negative consequences. Dawn R. Wolfe | September 4, 2020
New York Lawmakers Fear Court May Render Domestic Violence Survivor Law ‘Meaningless’ Nikki Addimando, convicted of second-degree murder for the death of her boyfriend, whom she said abused her, petitioned to have her sentence reduced under the 2019 law. But a judge ruled against her. If that ruling is affirmed, state legislators say, it will be ‘insurmountably difficult’ for survivors to ever benefit from the law. Victoria Law | September 3, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons As states move toward reopening, jails and prisons continue to report large COVID-19 outbreaks; researchers call for greater transparency in reporting infection rates; and prisoners at a New York federal jail say screening is limited to, ‘Are you OK?’ Kelly Davis | September 2, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons California’s corrections secretary is retiring amid criticism over his handling of COVID-19 outbreaks, a Baltimore public defender describes his struggle to get an elderly client out of prison, and advocates for incarcerated people in Colorado want Gov. Jared Polis to consider more prisoner releases. Kelly Davis | August 31, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Oregon Gov. Kate Brown considers releasing more people from prison, how California’s Fresno County quietly became a major COVID-19 cluster, and new updates to our coronavirus outbreak map. Kelly Davis | August 28, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons A new lawsuit uses the lesson of one prison to demand the release of people from New Mexico lock-ups, a new bill would require more transparency in reporting COVID-19 cases in prisons and jails, and deaths of incarcerated people hit a grim milestone. Kelly Davis | August 26, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons What makes Ohio prisons so deadly, the CDC urges corrections officials to conduct mass testing, and the Washington Post editorial board finds a surge in jail and prison COVID-19 outbreaks ’morbidly unsurprising’. Kelly Davis | August 24, 2020
A Life Sentence Couldn’t Defeat Their Love. Now They’re Working To Change The System That Kept Them Apart. Taewon Wilson and Candace Chavez-Wilson are part of a growing movement to end life without possibility of parole and other harsh sentences. Mara Kardas-Nelson | August 24, 2020
Loved Ones And Prisoners Sound Alarm As Coronavirus Cases Surge At Florida’s Largest Women’s Prison As of Thursday, 993 incarcerated women and 62 staffers at Lowell Correctional Institution have tested positive for the virus. Two women have died. Alexandra DeLuca | August 21, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Gov. Ron DeSantis ignores calls to release elderly people from Florida prisons, quarantines are no longer hampering California prison fire crews, and an update to our ongoing COVID-19 outbreak map. Kelly Davis | August 20, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Amid ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks in state prisons, Oregon lawmakers grapple with decarceration plans; the Sacramento County Sheriff won’t share infection data with the oversight board; and Oklahoma corrections officials use CARES Act money to ’boost morale’. Kelly Davis | August 19, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons California prison watchdog finds lapses in COVID-19 screening procedures, the ‘trailer jails’ that officials in one Missouri county praised as ‘innovative’ are the site of an outbreak, and the U.S. Marshals Service is blamed for spreading infections among federal detention facilities. Kelly Davis | August 17, 2020
Nearly 200 Pardons Languish on Pennsylvania Governor’s Desk The state Board of Pardons recommended last year that hundreds of people’s criminal records be cleared. Months later, more than half are still waiting for Tom Wolf’s signature. Joshua Vaughn | August 17, 2020
Life Sentence For Missouri Woman Convicted Of Assaulting Police Officer Is ‘Extremely Distressing,’ Justice Advocate Says Nicole Poston was sentenced in July for punching a police officer after she slipped free from a handcuff. Life sentences, even for nonhomicide offenses like Poston’s, are ‘a major factor’ in mass incarceration in the U.S., a criminal justice expert said. Lauren Gill | August 14, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Newspaper fearmongers around releasing people from prison due to COVID-19, oversight agency urges state DOC to ease restrictions on people in prison who have faced months of lockdown due to pandemic, sheriff orders staff not to wear masks. Kelly Davis | August 13, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons New outbreaks continue to hit California prisons, advocates have harsh words for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and a longtime journalist weighs in on a sheriff’s decision to take a battle with the ACLU to the Supreme Court. Kelly Davis | August 12, 2020
Michigan Judge Ends Probation For Black Teen Who Was Jailed For Not Completing Her Homework Judge Mary Ellen Brennan jailed the 15-year-old, known as Grace, for violating her probation by not completing schoolwork. Last month, the Michigan Court of Appeals ordered Grace’s immediate release, which Brennan said left her without the means to ‘issue consequences.’ Dawn R. Wolfe | August 11, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons A new research project aims to better understand how COVID-19 spreads through jails, the virus continues to sweep through California’s death row, and federal prison employees are suing for hazard pay. Kelly Davis | August 10, 2020
New Jersey COVID-19 Bill Could Help Reduce The Harshness Of The Criminal System If the bill is signed into law later this month, about 20 percent of the state’s prison population could see their sentences reduced to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus, including some people who have served lengthy sentences for violent crimes. Ellison Berryhill | August 10, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Attorneys file a class-action lawsuit over the outbreak at a California forensic psychiatric hospital, cases increase among Vermont prisoners sent to Mississippi, plus a map of new cases. Kelly Davis | August 7, 2020
Prisoners Inside Georgia’s Clayton County Jail Describe Desperate Efforts To Avoid COVID-19 They shared their stories as part of a lawsuit seeking urgent changes to protect prisoners. One prisoner wrote that a jail officer denied his request for a mask, so he tied old underwear around his face. Lauren Gill | August 7, 2020
As Decriminalization Drives Reforms For Marijuana Convictions, Activists See Others Serving Time Left Behind Despite the growing consciousness around the need for reforms, thousands of prisoners who might also deserve clemency or early release are slipping through the cracks. Tana Ganeva | August 6, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Amid sustained lockdowns and deteriorating conditions, prisoners and guards are reaching a breaking point; a new study shows decarceration is slowing amid increasing outbreaks in detention facilities; and HuffPost interviews a Rikers Island whistleblower. Kelly Davis | August 5, 2020
My Friend Died In San Quentin Due To COVID-19. His Death Was Entirely Preventable. Incompetence and inaction by California’s leaders are driving illness and death inside the state’s prison system. Adnan Khan | August 5, 2020
Prisons Are the Public Health Crisis Connecticut Won’t Acknowledge According to people incarcerated and their loved ones, state officials are ignoring the spread of COVID-19 at New Haven Correctional Center. Connecticut Bail Fund Hotline Volunteers | August 5, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Dozens of Vermont prisoners sent to an out-of-state private prison test positive for COVID-19, new study shows the prison infection rate is more than four times the general public’s, and Jay-Z’s Team Roc sues a Mississippi prison over “sub-human and deplorable” conditions. Kelly Davis | August 3, 2020
After 78 Days, Michigan Teen Who Was Jailed For Failing To Complete Her Homework While On Probation Is Released The Michigan Court of Appeals ordered her immediate release pending an appeal of a circuit court judge’s decision to jail the teen, known as “Grace,” in mid-May. Dawn R. Wolfe | August 3, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons California watchdog agency that repeatedly warned of "dire consequences" of prison overcrowding urges lawmakers to implement reforms; human rights org tweets "keep-you-up-at-night horrifying" stories from Georgia jail; and we map out four days of coronavirus outbreaks. Kelly Davis | July 30, 2020
Mississippi Teen Who Has Languished In Jail For 17 Months Without An Indictment Is Just ‘One Of Thousands’ Sixteen-year-old William Haymon has spent more than 500 days in an adult jail in rural Lexington, Mississippi. There are no state rules governing how long a person can be incarcerated without being formally charged with a crime. Lauren Gill | July 30, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons COVID-19 tears through a Texas prison for medically fragile women; California prisons are flattening the curve on new diagnoses, but deaths continue to climb; and the ACLU finds jails releases haven’t led to an increase in crime. Kelly Davis | July 27, 2020
Starve The Mass Incarceration Beast By Shutting The Front Door To decarcerate New Orleans, we must defund the police department. Sade Dumas, David Brazil July 27, 2020
Impunity for Law Enforcement Must End. That Includes Officers in Jails and Prisons. Qualified immunity is just one obstacle of many that incarcerated people face when seeking to hold correctional officers accountable for misconduct. Joshua Manson | July 23, 2020
Minors Sentenced To Life Without Parole Deserve More Than Scare Tactics When Transitioning To Adult Prisons If the justice system’s goal is to produce healthy, safe, and productive members of society, then it must begin with support from corrections staff and healthy relationships with peers. Anthony Richardson | July 22, 2020
New York City’s Public Housing Rules Could Force Many Released Prisoners Into Homelessness As thousands of people are freed from local jails, a group of nonprofits and activist organizations says the city's housing authority must revamp its policies that banish the formerly incarcerated. Jerry Iannelli | July 22, 2020
Michigan Judge Refuses To Release Black Teenager Who Was Jailed For Not Doing Homework Judge Mary Ellen Brennan sent the 15-year-old, known as Grace, to juvenile detention in May for violating her probation by not completing online schoolwork. On Monday, the judge said Grace was ‘blooming’ in the facility, despite arguments by Grace that she is falling behind. Dawn R. Wolfe | July 21, 2020
Advocates Hope New Momentum Around Racial Justice Will Accelerate New York’s Plans To Limit Solitary Confinement A year after state officials said they would take steps to overhaul solitary confinement rules, prisoners remain isolated in conditions that one says is akin to being ‘buried alive.’ Victoria Law | July 20, 2020
A 13-Year-Old Shot and Killed His Brother. Pennsylvania Police Charged Him as an Adult. State law requires all murder charges be automatically filed in adult court, regardless of age. Joshua Vaughn | July 20, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Prisons that have lagged on releasing people have also seen significant COVID-19 outbreaks, one Indiana sheriff is spending his CARES Act money on high-tech virus prevention tools and California’s corrections chief says he’ll crack down on staff who refuse to wear masks. Kelly Davis | July 17, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons There are nearly 1,000 new cases at Seagoville Federal Correctional Institution in Texas, the Cook County Jail gets praise for its COVID-19 response, and California’s jail oversight board announces plans to collect and publish county-level data. Kelly Davis | July 16, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Today’s update focuses on major outbreaks in two state prisons in tiny Buckingham County, Virginia that in June gave it one of the highest per-capita COVID-19 infection rates in the U.S. Whet Moser | July 15, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Geriatic prison with the most deaths in Texas has a years-long history of neglect, Kentucky corrections officials won’t say how many people they’ve tested for COVID-19, and an outbreak at a remote Oregon prison grows from 20 to 120 cases in less than a week, all as Gov. Kate Brown has refused calls to decarcerate the state’s prison system. Kelly Davis | July 14, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Critics say California’s release plan is an inadequate response to the COVID-19 outbreak in the state’s prison system, 42 percent of Louisiana prisoners tested for COVID-19 are positive, and conditions at Texas and Indiana prisons get the attention of lawmakers. Kelly Davis | July 13, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons A new report finds that too many kids, particularly Black youth, continue to be held in dangerous juvenile detention facilities; California prison officials refused offers of free testing before and during San Quentin outbreak; and Gov. Gavin Newsom announces plans to release 8,000 incarcerated people. Kelly Davis | July 10, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons A new multimedia campaign seeks to amplify voices of people incarcerated in Maryland’s Prince George’s County Jail, a GEO Group stockholder sues the for-profit prison company over its ’woefully ineffective’ COVID-19 response, and widespread testing is turning up thousands of new infections. Kelly Davis | July 9, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Pressure mounts on California’s governor to release people from prison; people with months, even days, left on their sentence are dying in Texas prisons; and a new report finds higher rates of COVID-19 in prison than in the U.S. population. Kelly Davis | July 8, 2020
Prisoners Face ‘Undue Punishment’ As The IRS Claws Back Their Stimulus Checks Legal experts say the IRS is illegally denying CARES Act payments to incarcerated people. Jordan Michael Smith | July 8, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Florida media outlets had to sue to obtain information on COVID prison deaths; after preventable outbreaks, California replaces its prison medical director; and the Texas prison where Andrea Circle Bear died grapples with a new outbreak. Kelly Davis | July 7, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Advocates sue to get people out of ’deplorable’ Detroit jail, Oregon prisons see more COVID cases while governor stalls on commutations, and botched transfer depletes California’s prison fire camps. Kelly Davis | July 6, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons San Quentin prisoners launch a hunger strike to protest inhumane conditions; amid an outbreak, a for-profit healthcare provider refuses to test everyone in an Ohio jail; and cases are spiking at Washington state’s Coyote Ridge Corrections Center. Kelly Davis | July 2, 2020
San Quentin Prisoners Go On Hunger Strike Amid Massive COVID-19 Outbreak About 20 people in the prison’s Badger section have been on hunger strike for the past few days, three people incarcerated there say. Kira Lerner | July 1, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons A California lawmaker describes the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s handling of San Quentin outbreak as “abhorrent,” private prison giant CoreCivic turns a profit amid a pandemic and an inspection of a Tennessee jail turns up “inadequate and harmful” conditions. Kelly Davis | July 1, 2020
Pennsylvania Governor Approves Two Commutations For Men Serving Life Sentences The two men have been awaiting Tom Wolf’s signature for more than six months. Joshua Vaughn | July 1, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons COVID continues to tear through San Quentin and another botched CDCR transfer results in an outbreak; cases continue to climb in jails and a prisoner at Sing Sing describes prison life amid a pandemic. Kelly Davis | June 30, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons A new report gives all 50 states failing grades on how they’ve handled COVID-19 in correctional facilities, infections continue to creep into jails and the Palm Beach post takes Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to task for his coronavirus failures. Kelly Davis | June 26, 2020
Nationwide Calls For Police Reform Put New Pressure On Atlanta To Close Its City Jail ‘As long as there’s a jail, there’s going to be police trying to put our poor folks in it,’ one activist said. Victoria Law | June 26, 2020
51 Years In Prison For A Car Crash Prosecutors wanted to make an example of Justin Dixon, who has been in an Arizona prison for 14 years, with 37 ahead of him. Now, as COVID-19 spreads in the facility where he’s being held, his family is desperate for him to be released. Meg O'Connor | June 25, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Sacramento jail deputies agree to start wearing masks, the state agency that oversees California jails won't collect COVID-19 data, a lockdown failed to stop infections in a women’s jail, and cases continue to increase at San Quentin. Kelly Davis | June 24, 2020
Georgia Budget Cuts Threaten Prisoners’ Ability To Challenge Convictions Citing the pandemic, state legislators asked all agencies to trim their budgets. The cuts could eliminate positions for public defenders who can show a trial or sentence was unjust, overturn convictions, or reduce a person’s time. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | June 24, 2020
How the Federal Government Lost Track of Deaths in Custody The Department of Justice is leaving researchers, policymakers, and advocates in the dark about deaths in police custody, prisons, and jails. Ethan Corey | June 24, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Despite early warnings, jails and prisons have seen a rapid spread of the virus—a humanitarian disaster that puts all of our communities, and lives, at risk. Every day, The Appeal examines the scale of the crisis, numbers of infected and dead, around the nation. Kelly Davis | June 23, 2020
In the Middle of a Pandemic, Prisoners at San Quentin Are Punished for Being Sick Prisoners are reluctant to report when they’re feeling sick, because they know they’ll be sent to solitary confinement. Juan Moreno Haines | June 23, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Despite early warnings, jails and prisons have seen a rapid spread of the virus—a humanitarian disaster that puts all of our communities, and lives, at risk. Every day, The Appeal examines the scale of the crisis, numbers of infected and dead, around the nation. Kelly Davis | June 22, 2020
As Use of Solitary Confinement Surges, Advocates Call for Releasing Prisoners Legal, medical, and religious groups warn in a new report that the widespread use of solitary confinement in response to COVID-19 risks spreading the disease further and undoing a decade of progress. Joshua Manson | June 19, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Despite early warnings, jails and prisons have seen a rapid spread of the virus—a humanitarian disaster that puts all of our communities, and lives, at risk. Every day, The Appeal examines the scale of the crisis, numbers of infected and dead, around the nation. Kelly Davis | June 18, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Despite early warnings, jails and prisons have seen a rapid spread of the virus—a humanitarian disaster that puts all of our communities, and lives, at risk. Every day, The Appeal examines the scale of the crisis, numbers of infected and dead, around the nation. Kelly Davis | June 17, 2020
Formerly Incarcerated Businessowners Sue SBA For Denying Them COVID-19 Emergency Loans The lawsuit says the Small Business Administration overstepped its authority by imposing ‘arbitrary and capricious’ restrictions on a loan program passed by Congress. Bryce Covert | June 17, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Despite early warnings, jails and prisons have seen a rapid spread of the virus—a humanitarian disaster that puts all of our communities, and lives, at risk. Every day, The Appeal examines the scale of the crisis, numbers of infected and dead, around the nation. Kelly Davis | June 16, 2020
Cops, Climate, COVID: Why There Is Only One Crisis Although the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate crisis are both provoked by natural phenomena, the dangers they present are just as political as the crisis of police violence. Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò | June 16, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Despite early warnings, jails and prisons have seen a rapid spread of the virus—a humanitarian disaster that puts all of our communities, and lives, at risk. Every day, The Appeal examines the scale of the crisis, numbers of infected and dead, around the nation. Kelly Davis | June 15, 2020
Grim Stories From Inside An Arkansas Prison Capture The Toll Of Covid-19 The accounts by prisoners in Cummins Unit contradict messaging from the state Department of Corrections, which says it has taken aggressive steps to stop the spread of coronavirus. Lauren Gill | June 15, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Despite early warnings, jails and prisons have seen a rapid spread of the virus—a humanitarian disaster that puts all of our communities, and lives, at risk. Every day, The Appeal examines the scale of the crisis, numbers of infected and dead, around the nation. Kelly Davis | June 12, 2020
Governors’ Coronavirus Decisions Put People of Color In Harm’s Way As the country reopens, we can’t quickly forget these failures of government, which have disproportionately harmed Black, Latinx, and Native people. David A. Love | June 12, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Despite early warnings, jails and prisons have seen a rapid spread of the virus—a humanitarian disaster that puts all of our communities, and lives, at risk. Every day, The Appeal examines the scale of the crisis, numbers of infected and dead, around the nation. Kelly Davis | June 11, 2020
My Friend Should Have Been Released from Prison. Instead, He Died There of COVID-19. James ‘Bumpy’ Bennett, who had twice survived cancer, was 71 and had served 48 years of his life without parole sentence. Robert Saleem Holbrook | June 11, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Despite early warnings, jails and prisons have seen a rapid spread of the virus—a humanitarian disaster that puts all of our communities, and lives, at risk. Every day, The Appeal examines the scale of the crisis, numbers of infected and dead, around the nation. Kelly Davis | June 10, 2020
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Funds Clean Slate Policy. So Why Won’t Facebook Take Down Mugshots? Mark Zuckerberg could engage in criminal legal reform by bringing Facebook's policies in line with CZI's mission and allow people to request that their mugshot be taken down. Sarah Esther Lageson | June 10, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Despite early warnings, jails and prisons have seen a rapid spread of the virus—a humanitarian disaster that puts all of our communities, and lives, at risk. Every day, The Appeal examines the scale of the crisis, numbers of infected and dead, around the nation. Kelly Davis | June 9, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Despite early warnings, jails and prisons have seen a rapid spread of the virus—a humanitarian disaster that puts all of our communities, and lives, at risk. Every day, The Appeal examines the scale of the crisis, numbers of infected and dead, around the nation. Kelly Davis | June 8, 2020
New York State Won’t Grant Temporary Release To Former Black Panther Hospitalized With Covid-19 ‘This ruling is a particularly terrible blow because it comes at a time when people are taking to the streets en masse to protest state violence against Black people,’ said Nora Carroll, an attorney for Jalil Muntaqim, who has been imprisoned since 1971. Victoria Law | June 8, 2020
Probation Conditions Relaxed During the Pandemic. Some Say They Should Stay That Way. Public safety is not improved by stricter probation and parole rules, researchers have found. Lauren Lee White | June 8, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Despite early warnings, jails and prisons have seen a rapid spread of the virus—a humanitarian disaster that puts all of our communities, and lives, at risk. Every day, The Appeal examines the scale of the crisis, numbers of infected and dead, around the nation. Kelly Davis | June 5, 2020
‘I can never be more grateful.’ After Nearly 35 Years, Willie Mae Harris Is Released From Prison Harris, now 72 and blind, had been serving a life sentence for the shooting death of her husband, a man she said had abused her for years. Last month, the Arkansas Parole Board agreed to free her. Lauren Gill | June 5, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Despite early warnings, jails and prisons have seen a rapid spread of the virus—a humanitarian disaster that puts all of our communities, and lives, at risk. Every day, The Appeal examines the scale of the crisis, numbers of infected and dead, around the nation. Kelly Davis | June 4, 2020
Obscure New Jersey ‘Treatment’ Facility Has A Higher COVID-19 Death Rate Than Any Prison In The Country The detainees already completed their criminal sentences—but they are prevented from leaving for years. And with the coronavirus spreading, their lives are at risk. Jordan Michael Smith | June 4, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Despite early warnings, jails and prisons have seen a rapid spread of the virus—a humanitarian disaster that puts all of our communities, and lives, at risk. Every day, The Appeal examines the scale of the crisis, numbers of infected and dead, around the nation. Kelly Davis | June 3, 2020
Federal Bureau of Prisons Locks Down Prisoners and Takes Away Communications Amid Protests After protests broke out in several cities in response to George Floyd’s death, the agency ordered the first nationwide lockdown in 25 years. Lauren Gill | June 3, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Despite early warnings, jails and prisons have seen a rapid spread of the virus—a humanitarian disaster that puts all of our communities, and lives, at risk. Every day, The Appeal examines the scale of the crisis, numbers of infected and dead, around the nation. Kelly Davis | June 2, 2020
Amid One Of The Nation’s Worst Coronavirus Outbreaks, A Shortage Of Ankle Monitors Kept Some People In Jail Advocates question why Chicago judges continued to order people to home detention instead of releasing them on their own recognizance. Kira Lerner | June 2, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails and Prisons Despite early warnings, jails and prisons have seen a rapid spread of the virus—a humanitarian disaster that puts all of our communities, and lives, at risk. Every day, The Appeal examines the scale of the crisis, numbers of infected and dead, around the nation. Kelly Davis | June 1, 2020
‘I Am Feeling Scared And Alone.’ The Reopening Of America Leaves Behind Prisoners Who Remain At Risk Of COVID-19 Texas’s governor has proclaimed that ‘safe practices save lives,’ but prisoners say that advice can’t be followed in the state’s prisons, where unsanitary conditions have left the novel coronavirus ‘spreading vigorously.’ Tana Ganeva | June 1, 2020
For Children, A Parent In Prison During The Pandemic Heightens Anxiety “My dad, he’s part of the vulnerable population. If I think about it, it becomes really, really, really scary. So to be completely honest, I’m trying not to think about it.” Amos Barshad | May 30, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails and Prisons Despite early warnings, jails and prisons have seen a rapid spread of the virus—a humanitarian disaster that puts all of our communities, and lives, at risk. Every day, The Appeal examines the scale of the crisis, numbers of infected and dead, around the nation. Kelly Davis | May 29, 2020
Less Than Half a Percent of Pennsylvania Prisoners Have Been Granted Emergency Release During the Pandemic Advocates had hoped Governor Tom Wolf would use his executive reprieve power to release thousands of people from prisons in the face of COVID-19. Joshua Vaughn | May 29, 2020
She Turned Her Life Around After A String Of DUIs. Now She Might Be Sent Back To Prison Amid A Coronavirus Outbreak The Maricopa County Attorney's Office waited four years to charge Danielle Sutherland for one of the DUIs. After serving time for the others, she received treatment for her substance use issues and pursued a degree. Meg O'Connor | May 29, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails and Prisons Despite early warnings, jails and prisons have seen a rapid spread of the virus -- a humanitarian disaster that puts all of our communities, and lives, at risk. The Appeal examines the scale of the crisis, numbers of infected and dead, around the nation. Kelly Davis | May 29, 2020
A Transgender Woman’s Attorneys Fear She Won’t Survive Her 60-Month Sentence New York attorneys have launched a campaign to release transgender, gender nonconforming, and nonbinary prisoners during the pandemic. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | May 28, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails and Prisons Despite early warnings, jails and prisons have seen a rapid spread of the virus -- a humanitarian disaster that puts all of our communities, and lives, at risk. The Appeal examines the scale of the crisis, numbers of infected and dead, around the nation. Kelly Davis | May 27, 2020
Two of His Sons Are Incarcerated During the Pandemic. A Third Is Fighting to Get Them Out. Both incarcerated brothers are at an increased risk of complications from COVID-19—and one has tested positive. Chris Gelardi | May 27, 2020
Oakland County Jail Ordered To Identify Prisoners Who Should Be Released To Protect Them From COVID-19 A U.S. district court judge said the Michigan jail has demonstrated ‘deliberate indifference’ to the lives of ‘medically vulnerable’ prisoners who are at particular risk of the novel coronavirus. Dawn R. Wolfe | May 21, 2020
Still in Solitary Five years after statewide hunger strikes and a landmark settlement, men incarcerated in a California prison say they’re still isolated for up to 22 hours a day. Joshua Manson | May 21, 2020
Parole Reform Might Have Freed Maryland’s Longest-Serving Incarcerated Woman. Instead, She Was Hospitalized With COVID-19. Eraina Pretty has served 42 years in prison in connection with a 1978 store robbery. A new law that might have led to her release has been derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Victoria Law | May 21, 2020
The Pandemic Had Prisoners’ Nerves On Edge. Then The Power Started Going Out. For weeks, two houses in Illinois’ Vienna Correctional Center ran on generator power and had intermittent failures, multiple prisoners told The Appeal. The outages made it harder to use the shared bathroom, one of the few places they could wash their hands. Kira Lerner, Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg May 20, 2020
Arkansas Grants Parole To Willie Mae Harris Three Decades After She Was Convicted For Killing Her Husband Harris, now 72 and blind, was sentenced to life in prison in 1985. Since she first started petitioning for executive clemency in 1998, the state’s parole board recommended her for release five times. Lauren Gill | May 20, 2020
Louisiana Women Incarcerated for Defending Themselves Against Abusive Partners Seek Clemency Amid COVID-19 Pandemic The state has recommended the release of 10 women at a coronavirus-ravaged prison—but Governor John Bel Edwards still hasn’t signed the paperwork. Jerry Iannelli | May 20, 2020
Why We Shouldn’t Reward Fearmongering in Criminal Justice Reporting The Courier Journal’s Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting on Governor Matt Bevin’s commutations sensationalizes crime at the expense of future clemency efforts. Zachary A. Siegel, Leo Beletsky May 19, 2020
Lawsuit Alleges Women Are Held In Worse Conditions Than Men At Upstate New York Jail The women are kept in cramped, unsanitary quarters, the suit says, and are not permitted the same job opportunities as men held at the same facility. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | May 19, 2020
Isolation, Death, And Grief at a New York Women’s Prison Coronavirus infections climb at the state’s only maximum-security facility for women, and those held there fear for their safety. Lyra Walsh Fuchs | May 18, 2020
Three Pennsylvania Men Were Recommended for Commutations. They’re Still in Prison. Freddy Butler, Oliver Macklin, and Charles Goldblum are among the 17 people who received recommendations for commutations of life sentences in 2019, but Governor Tom Wolf has yet to sign off on their releases. Joshua Vaughn | May 18, 2020
Lawsuit Seeks The Release Of ‘Medically Vulnerable’ People Held At Oakland County Jail In Michigan A district court judge who issued a temporary restraining order in the case said jail officials had not ‘imposed even the most basic safety measures recommended by health experts.’ Dawn R. Wolfe | May 15, 2020
He Found Freedom After More Than Two Decades In Prison. But He Was Released Into A World Changed by COVID-19. Euka Wadlington was denied clemency by the Department of Justice under Obama. But then he mounted a legal challenge to sentencing enhancements used in his drug case; in April, a federal judge granted his release. Now he’s adjusting to freedom—and life in the coronavirus era. Euka Wadlington | May 15, 2020
Some Federal Prisoners Are Getting Out As COVID-19 Spreads. Others Have No Chance. Jeremy Hix is serving 70 months in federal prison for a sex offense—a conviction that disqualifies him for a Bureau of Prisons home confinement program, despite a health condition that puts him at risk of the coronavirus. Joshua Vaughn | May 14, 2020
Louisiana’s Longest-Serving Incarcerated Woman Returned To Prison After Being Hospitalized For COVID-19 The family of Gloria Williams, who has served 50 years in prison, is now pressing Governor John Bel Edwards to commute her sentence 10 months after a parole board recommended she be freed. Victoria Law | May 14, 2020
After More Than 25 Years Behind Bars, He’s At High Risk For Coronavirus. Now He’s Going Home John Wesley Parratt Jr. was scheduled to appear before the parole board in July. After the novel coronavirus arrived in San Quentin State Prison, he feared for his health. Juan Moreno Haines | May 14, 2020
The Other Infectious Disease Ravaging America’s Jails And Prisons Hepatitis C has ripped through prisons and jails, despite more effective treatments for the disease. It is a comorbidity to COVID-19, and the pandemic threatens to cut already weak state funding for prisons to treat those with the disease. Samuel Weiss | May 14, 2020
Mississippi Has Tested Fewer Than 1% of State Prisoners and Staff For COVID-19 Governor Tate Reeves has touted the state’s testing efforts as ‘aggressive,’ but testing rates in the state’s prisons, where the coronavirus has already claimed at least one life, remain low. Ko Bragg | May 13, 2020
Advocates Push New York Governor for More Releases From Jails and Prisons The governor’s requirements for release are too narrow in light of the threat from COVID-19, they say. Bryce Covert | May 13, 2020
Cleaning Supplies Are So Scarce At This Arizona Prison, Detainees Are Using Shampoo And Menstrual Pads, Lawsuit Says The plaintiffs want an independent expert to assess whether the facility has implemented social distancing measures, testing procedures, and hygiene practices adequate enough to reasonably protect detainees from contracting COVID-19 while in custody. Meg O'Connor | May 12, 2020
Jails and Prisons Must Reduce Their Populations Now We did it in San Francisco. If we are smart about how we respond to COVID-19 in the criminal legal system, then we can simultaneously tackle two crises. Cristine Soto DeBerry | May 12, 2020
Pregnant Woman in Pennsylvania Jail Denied Release An Erie County judge said the pregnant 20-year-old would be ‘safer’ in jail from the COVID-19 outbreak. Victoria Law | May 11, 2020
A Woman’s Fight to Get Her Terminally Ill Sister Out of Prison During the Pandemic California Governor Gavin Newsom said he’s releasing thousands of prisoners. But that doesn’t necessarily include some of the state’s sickest patients. Mara Kardas-Nelson | May 11, 2020
Advocates Push For Details On Georgia’s Response To COVID-19 In Prisons and Jails ‘Our state and local officials have a responsibility to not endanger those who are under correctional control,’ the ACLU of Georgia’s executive director said. Lauren Gill | May 8, 2020
Prisoners Who Test Positive For COVID-19 In Connecticut Are Sent To A Notorious Maximum Security Prison Faculty members of the Yale School of Public Health, the Yale School of Medicine, and the Yale School of Nursing wrote to the governor that sending patients there is “inhumane and ineffective.” Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | May 8, 2020
Bureau of Prisons Is ‘Shifting Deck Chairs on the Titanic’ With Quarantine Plan, Critics Say Criminal justice reform advocates question why the BOP plans to move people around rather than reduce prison populations. Kira Lerner | May 8, 2020
Commutations In Pennsylvania Are Postponed Indefinitely As COVID-19 Spreads Incarcerated people like John Brookins, who is serving life without the possibility of parole, will have to wait until June or later for a chance at clemency. Joshua Vaughn | May 7, 2020
Death Of New Mother At Federal Prison Hospital Prompts Calls For Accountability In Texas Andrea Circle Bear was confined within FMC Carswell while suffering from the novel coronavirus. ‘She was serving a 26-month sentence that ended up being a death penalty,’ one maternity specialist said. Tana Ganeva | May 6, 2020
‘We Are Scared’: Stuck Inside ICE Detention’s Coronavirus Epicenter People incarcerated in the Otay Mesa Detention Center decry crowded units and substandard medical care as COVID-19 tears through the facility. Chris Gelardi | May 6, 2020
Sluggish LA County Courts Are Leaving Young People Locked Up During the Pandemic While adults in the county have been granted expedited release in groups, the juvenile court continues to review cases individually. LJ Dawson | May 6, 2020
Arkansas Allows Employees Who Test Positive For COVID-19 To Continue Working In The State’s Prisons Attorneys for prisoners say the policy goes against public health warnings and will ‘promote and facilitate a viral outbreak.’ Lauren Gill | May 5, 2020
Ohio Federal Prison, Struggling to Contain Coronavirus, Loses Challenge to Stall Releases An appellate court says officials at Federal Correctional Institution, Elkton, must begin identifying prisoners vulnerable to the novel coronavirus. Marcia Brown | May 5, 2020
Hospitalized With COVID-19 and Handcuffed for Days After a man incarcerated in a New Jersey state prison was hospitalized with COVID-19, he said he was handcuffed for 36 hours. The cuffs got tangled in his IV, causing it to rip out, he said. “It was so painful. You have no idea.” Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | May 5, 2020
Children in Residential Treatment Centers Are Especially Vulnerable to COVID-19 Tens of thousands of children are in congregate care settings around the country, and some have already started to get sick. Roxanna Asgarian | May 5, 2020
Coalition’s Efforts Amid Coronavirus Derail Plans For New Women’s Prison The onset of COVID-19—and the need for social distancing—gave an unexpected boost to efforts against plans for a new prison in Washington. Victoria Law | May 4, 2020
A Vermont Judge Had Plans to Slow the Spread of COVID-19 in Prisons. Lawmakers Scrapped Them. Political concerns are slowing efforts to depopulate prisons in the state, advocates say. Adam Willems | May 1, 2020
Louisiana’s Data On Coronavirus Infections Among Prisoners Is Troubled And Lacks Transparency The state is sending virus-positive people to Angola prison—but those numbers aren’t reported on the Department of Corrections website. Jerry Iannelli | May 1, 2020
Delaware Officials Defy Calls To Release Prisoners Who Are At Risk Of Dying From Coronavirus Prisoners feel like they are ‘sitting ducks,’ said a woman whose boyfriend is incarcerated at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center. Lauren Gill | April 30, 2020
Shot By Police, Then Convicted In A Murder He Says He Didn’t Commit. Now He’s Facing COVID-19 Behind Bars. The 2015 shooting left Keith Davis Jr. with respiratory issues. His defense attorney says that as he appeals his case he should be freed from prison. Brandon Soderberg | April 29, 2020
College Programs In Prison Show The Value Of Educating Every American Prisons, one graduate writes, should be institutions of learning, not ‘wastelands’ that willfully overlook human potential. Rodney Spivey-Jones | April 29, 2020
Dozens Of Reports From Inside Cook County Jail Paint A Grim Picture As COVID-19 Cases Soar Prisoners say the jail, which has seen more than 800 confirmed cases, is a ‘death trap’ plagued by sanitary issues and a lack of testing. Their testimonies stand at stark odds with the sheriff’s office, which says it is keeping ‘staff and detainees as safe as possible.’ Maya Dukmasova | April 28, 2020
As the Coronavirus Spreads, Prisoners Are Rising Up For Their Health Faced with inaction on the part of state and corrections officials, incarcerated people in jails, prisons, and detention centers are protesting their treatment during the COVID-19 outbreak. Dan Berger, Ryan Fatica and Duncan Tarr April 27, 2020
I Killed My Brother When I Was 17. Now I’m Saving Lives In Prison. Cayce French, who is serving life in prison at the Oregon State Correctional Institution, describes how getting clean and participating in rehabilitation programs has transformed his identity. Cayce French | April 27, 2020
‘She Had Sweat Dripping Down From Her Hairline and Down Her Face’ A woman detained by ICE was sick with COVID-19 for days before being removed from a 50-person jail dorm in York County, Pennsylvania, according to women housed with her. Joshua Vaughn | April 27, 2020
In Alabama, Prisoners Must Sign Consent Form to Get Protective Masks Medical ethics experts have criticized the state’s prison officials and say masks to protect against COVID-19 should be distributed ‘with no strings attached.’ Lauren Gill | April 23, 2020
Louisiana’s Longest-Serving Incarcerated Woman, Recommended for Clemency Last July, Hospitalized with COVID-19 Governor John Bel Edwards has yet to commute Gloria Williams’s sentence despite a parole board’s unanimous recommendation that she be freed. Now she is in critical condition at a Baton Rouge hospital. Victoria Law | April 23, 2020
Coronavirus Is Ready To Explode Inside Fort Dix Federal Prison, Incarcerated People and Their Loved Ones Say One prisoner says a man collapsed while waiting for a temperature check and was sprayed down with disinfectant as he lay on the floor. BOP denied it. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | April 23, 2020
Closure of D.C.’s Only Men’s Halfway House Leaves Residents Scrambling For A Safe Place To Live The Bureau of Prisons could send those without homes to alternative halfway houses far from D.C. or back to prison at the end of the month. Kira Lerner | April 23, 2020
A Man With Coronavirus Symptoms At Rikers Island Describes His Ordeal ‘I would go to the hospital very often and they wouldn’t do anything for me.’ Kim Kelly | April 23, 2020
Missing Jail Data Hampers COVID-19 Release Efforts in Massachusetts The state’s law enforcement agencies failed to implement a 2018 data-sharing law. Now officials are struggling to identify high-risk people to release from county jails. Ethan Corey | April 22, 2020
For Women At A Federal Prison Hospital In Texas, Fear That Coronavirus Will Spread ‘Like Wildfire’ ‘This is getting worse,’ one woman said. ‘People just want to sleep or fight. They play with our emotions constantly. This place is scary.’ Tana Ganeva | April 21, 2020
Coronavirus Exposes Precarity of Prison Towns Towns like Homer, Louisiana, have huge prisons, a tiny populace, and few public health resources—a potentially lethal combination as COVID-19 spreads. Jonathan Ben-Menachem | April 21, 2020
The Supreme Court Just Struck Down the Last State Law Allowing Split Jury Verdicts Ramos v. Louisiana is a long-overdue affirmation of the constitutional rights of criminal defendants—and sets the stage for dramatic Supreme Court fights in the years ahead. Jay Willis | April 20, 2020
Colorado Supreme Court Fails To Protect State Residents As Coronavirus Grows ‘Exponentially’ In Jails People behind bars are too often forgotten and treated as expendable. We cannot afford to forget them. Our shared survival and shared humanity demand action. Aya Gruber, Benjamin Levin April 17, 2020
Drive-By Protesters Demand Release Of All Prisoners In D.C. Amid Coronavirus ‘It seems like Black people are still being criminalized and are not free,’ one organizer said. Lauren Gill | April 17, 2020
Louisiana Prisoners Held In Notorious Isolation Unit Are Facing A ‘Slow-Moving Disaster’ Criminal justice advocates have called Camp J at the Louisiana State Penitentiary ‘a dungeon.’ Now it’s housing prisoners who have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Victoria Law | April 17, 2020
‘That Man Can’t Breathe’ A sheriff’s deputy in Louisiana is caught on video choking a man after he says he asked for COVID-19 treatment. Jerry Iannelli | April 16, 2020
A Veteran Was Sent to Jail for Stealing Masks to Give to Homeless People Peter Lucas was jailed overnight at a time when prosecutors across the country are actively working to reduce the number of people behind bars to stem the spread of COVID-19. Meg O'Connor | April 16, 2020
Alabama Reopens ‘Deplorable’ Prison To Quarantine New Prisoners Approximately 100 men will be transported to Draper Correctional Facility, which has long been known for its nightmarish conditions. Lauren Gill | April 16, 2020
His Immune System Is Compromised and He Spent Two Months in Jail Unable to Afford Bail A man describes his ordeal in medical isolation while awaiting trial. Eliyahu Kamisher | April 16, 2020
‘The Situation Here Is Dire’: How An Upstate New York Prison Failed to Contain a COVID-19 Outbreak FCI Ray Brook was slow to respond to the spread of coronavirus among correctional officers. Now the outbreak has reached prisoners. Harry August, Alex Garnick April 16, 2020
Advocates Say Ohio’s Governor Is Failing To Protect Prisoners From Coronavirus Governor Mike DeWine, critics say, ‘is risking turning low-level prison sentences into death sentences.’ Dawn R. Wolfe | April 16, 2020
In Overcrowded San Quentin, Coronavirus Shelter-In-Place Measures Mean Decreased Quality of Life With programming paused and prison jobs reduced, people inside will not be able to earn good-time credits and are cut off from a means of supporting themselves. Juan Moreno Haines | April 16, 2020
Man With Innocence Claim Is First to Die of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania Prisons The Pennsylvania Innocence Project was seeking the exoneration of Rudolph Sutton when he died on April 8 from complications related to COVID-19. Joshua Vaughn | April 15, 2020
Over DA’s Objections, a Man Living With Cancer Can Remain at Home While Awaiting Trial His attorney says the Suffolk County DA’s office tried to send “an innocent man to his death.” Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | April 15, 2020
Emptying Prisons to Prevent the Spread of Coronavirus Will Save Lives on the Outside, Too By letting people out now, we can avoid overwhelming our healthcare system with sick prisoners later. Oliver Hinds | April 15, 2020
Surviving a Pandemic When Your Loved One Is in Prison The families and partners of those incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Complex at Oakdale are sharing information and support as COVID-19 hits the prison. Joshua Manson | April 14, 2020
Pennsylvania Governor Could Release Hundreds of Prisoners As COVID-19 Spreads Tom Wolf said Friday he will use his reprieve power, a form of clemency, to reduce the state prison population. Joshua Vaughn | April 10, 2020
Every Public Official With The Power To Decarcerate Must Exercise That Power Now Doing so will save countless lives, and in the process, they may show us by example how to begin, finally, to dismantle mass incarceration for good. Sharon Dolovich | April 10, 2020
As Major Cities Decarcerated During COVID-19’s Spread, Philadelphia’s Jail Population Barely Budged The city’s DA’s office and its public defender association urged judges to adopt video meetings to speed the release of incarcerated people. But emails obtained by The Appeal show that judges took a much more limited approach to decarceration. Jerry Iannelli | April 10, 2020
Report From Inside Angola Prison Paints A Troubling Picture As Coronavirus Grips Louisiana 'We are still packed in like sardines,' writes Fate Winslow, who's serving a life sentence. 'The prison doesn't supply anything for us.' Tana Ganeva | April 10, 2020
The COVID-19 Prison Disaster Is No Longer Hypothetical People are dying in jails and prisons because elected officials hesitated at the worst possible moment. Jay Willis | April 9, 2020
Amid COVID-19 Panic, Pennsylvania Republicans Warn Governor Against Taking Executive Action to Release Prisoners They tell Tom Wolf that taking any unilateral actions to reduce the state’s prison population would endanger public safety. Joshua Vaughn | April 9, 2020
Government Enforcement of Quarantine Raises Concerns About Increased Surveillance Louisville, Kentucky judges are ordering people with COVID-19 who have allegedly defied quarantine to wear GPS ankle monitors, raising ethical questions about the government's role in a pandemic. Kira Lerner | April 9, 2020
Parole Violations Nearly Sentenced These People To COVID-19 Twenty-eight people were to attend weeks-long drug treatment programs after violating parole. The COVID-19 pandemic nearly trapped them in jail indefinitely. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | April 9, 2020
Palm Beach County Sheriff Opposes Prisoner Release Amid Coronavirus Outbreak Public defenders are working with the courts to secure release for people incarcerated in the Florida county, many of whom are jailed for low-level offenses. Victoria Law | April 8, 2020
Don’t Look to the DOJ to Keep Federal Prisons and Their Surrounding Communities Safe During the COVID-19 Pandemic Experts are urging large-scale releases. But the Department of Justice often operates contrary to expertise. Shon Hopwood | April 8, 2020
At the Center of the Coronavirus Pandemic, People Inside NYC Jails Describe Fear, Confusion and a Lack of Supplies 'They're not supplying us with masks, they’re not supplying us gloves, they're not supplying us with decent cleaning supplies.' Kim Kelly | April 8, 2020
As COVID-19 Ravages Florida, Incarcerated People Are Still Doing The State’s Hard Outdoor Labor Despite risks to incarcerated people and the public, Florida is sending prisoners to perform hard labor. Jerry Iannelli | April 8, 2020
‘It’s Absolute Hell.’ Coronavirus Derails Parole Hearings Across U.S. As Health Risks To Prisoners Grow In Alabama and elsewhere, canceled hearings and new procedures are complicating the parole process for people hoping to be freed. Lauren Gill | April 7, 2020
Prisoners in Illinois Describe Dire Conditions Amid Coronavirus Outbreak It took a prisoner’s death ‘just for them to pass out a single extra bar of soap,’ one incarcerated man said. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | April 7, 2020
What It’s Like Inside A Miami Jail As Coronavirus Spreads: “This Place Is A Petri Dish For Disease” I am trying my best to take care of myself in the midst of this pandemic, no different from you, no different from any other human being. But it’s impossible to do that at this jail. Anthony Swain | April 6, 2020
Pennsylvania Lawmakers To Introduce Prisoner Furlough Bill During COVID-19 Pandemic The emergency program seeks to release a select group of prisoners but does not go far enough to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in prisons, experts and Democratic lawmakers say. Joshua Vaughn | April 5, 2020
The Pandemic Exposes The Shared Fates Of The Jailed And The Jailer Incarcerated people, corrections officers, and their families and communities are bound together by the threat of a deadly and fast-moving disease. The sooner we recognize this, and take decisive action, the more lives we will save. Cyrus Ahalt | April 3, 2020
People Held in New York Prison Say They Face Abuse After Guard In Their Unit Tested Positive For COVID-19 Men in Unit B-2 at the Shawangunk Correctional Facility say staff members have harassed and abused them since they possibly came into contact with an infected officer. Jonathan Ben-Menachem | April 3, 2020
With Prison Visitation Suspended Due To COVID-19, Families Of Incarcerated People Say Phone Calls Should Be Free Telecommunications companies that serve prisons and jails, like Securus Technologies and Global Tel Link, are offering a limited number of free calls, but families say it’s not enough. Molly Minta | April 2, 2020
Prosecutors In This Virginia County Are Letting People Go To Jail for Low-Level Offenses In The Middle of a Pandemic Public defenders in Fairfax County say their clients are being sent into harm’s way. Kira Lerner | April 2, 2020
Fears Grow That Coronavirus Could Overtake Florida’s Largest Women’s Prison With COVID-19 rapidly spreading across the state, there’s heightened concern that the conditions inside Lowell Correctional Institution, coupled with the prison’s sizable elderly and pregnant population, could foster a deadly outbreak. Alexandra DeLuca | April 1, 2020
The Texas Appeals Court Upheld This Man’s Death Sentence Despite New Scientific Evidence The ruling is a setback for the state's so-called junk science statute. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | April 1, 2020
Despite Coronavirus Fears, ICE Fights to Keep a Sick Michigan Man It Can’t Deport Locked Up ICE has adopted no policies aimed at releasing any of the 38,000 people it keeps in county jails and private detention centers across the country. Chris Gelardi | April 1, 2020
The Voices Warning Trump About COVID-19 In Prisons Are Growing Louder. Will He Listen? There are no good reasons for the president to keep vulnerable people behind bars any longer. Jay Willis | March 31, 2020
A Rarely Used Power Could Free Prisoners in Pennsylvania. But the Governor Is Not Using It. The Office of General Counsel determined that the governor could likely use reprieves to release vulnerable people from prison to control COVID-19’s spread, but the office is advising against it, according to internal emails obtained by The Appeal. Joshua Vaughn | March 31, 2020
Halfway House Residents Describe ‘A Scary Situation’ As Coronavirus Sweeps The U.S. ‘It is progressively getting worse, exponentially worse,’ a resident of one halfway house told The Appeal as part of a survey of facilities. ‘Something is going to happen and it’s not going to be good.’ Lauren Gill | March 31, 2020
A Plea to Governor Newsom: Don’t Abandon Elderly Incarcerated People to Die From COVID-19 We can’t allow “violent criminal” rhetoric to justify leaving some of the most vulnerable people in dangerous conditions. James King | March 30, 2020
Lawsuit Calls For Emergency Release of ICE Detainees in a Massachusetts County People held in Bristol County are ‘extremely agitated and panicking’ due to unsanitary conditions and overcrowding amid the coronavirus outbreak. Julia Rock, Sara Van Horn March 30, 2020
Coronavirus Prompts Urgent Calls For Minors In Detention To Be Released ‘Continuing to maintain these youths in this hotbed of contagion poses an unconscionable and entirely preventable risk of harm,’ one lawsuit states. Liz Robbins | March 30, 2020
A Public Health Doctor And Head Of Corrections Agree: We Must Immediately Release People From Jails And Prisons Decisive action by governors and the President now can save lives -- of incarcerated people, correctional and medical personnel, and nearby community members. Business as usual will not. Brie Williams, Leann Bertsch March 27, 2020
Admissions to Illinois State Prisons Suspended, With Few Exceptions, Due to Coronavirus Prisoners are “especially vulnerable to contracting and spreading COVID-19,” Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker wrote in his executive order. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | March 27, 2020
How Coronavirus is Changing Life Inside San Quentin State Prison “They are treating it like any epidemic in prison—that is to isolate, treat and then release back to the population.” Juan Moreno Haines | March 27, 2020
Our Leaders Have the Power to Release People in Prison. Now They Must Use It. State governors and the president have the authority to grant commutations and reprieves to people in prison across the country as COVID-19 spreads. Rachel Barkow | March 27, 2020
New York City Jails Have an Alarmingly High Infection Rate, According to an Analysis by the Legal Aid Society “Based on this analysis, New York City jails have become the epicenter of COVID-19,” a Legal Aid attorney said. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | March 26, 2020
An Update On What’s Happening Inside Rikers Island as Coronavirus Spreads “The doctors said they were going to come and do screenings every day, but for the past two days, they’ve just come into the dorm and stood by the front door and yelled, ‘Does anybody have any symptoms?’” Kim Kelly | March 25, 2020
What It’s Like to Be Inside Rikers Island As Coronavirus Spreads “Still no hand sanitizer, no bleach.” Kim Kelly | March 24, 2020
Coronavirus Has Come to Rikers, and the People Inside Are Fighting to Survive The island’s Communicable Disease Unit is already overflowing with quarantined people. Kim Kelly | March 24, 2020
Why Coronavirus in Jails Should Concern All of Us New research shows that jails contribute to infectious disease deaths in the greater community. Sandhya Kajeepeta, Seth J. Prins March 24, 2020
To Prevent Coronavirus Spread, New Jersey Authorizes Major Jail Release Up to 1,000 people will have their sentences delayed or suspended. Kira Lerner | March 23, 2020
As the U.S. Scrambles to Slow Coronavirus, We Should Be Wary of Increased Surveillance When the dust settles on this pandemic, we need to be clear on what was an emergency response and what is a desirable permanent change. James Kilgore | March 23, 2020
Pennsylvania Has Few Options to Release Elderly Prisoners as COVID-19 Spreads Advocates have called on Governor Tom Wolf and state Department of Corrections officials to release elderly and infirm people from state prisons. But the law is limiting how quickly they can move. Joshua Vaughn | March 23, 2020
History Teaches Us That When Viruses Come to Prisons, Punishment Is Not the Answer The H1N1 pandemic, the HIV/AIDS crisis, and other outbreaks have taught us that blanket policies of solitary confinement and isolation have led to harmful outcomes. Joshua Manson | March 23, 2020
First Two Coronavirus Cases Confirmed at California Prisons The state Department of Corrections confirmed two staff cases of COVID-19. No prisoners have been confirmed to have the virus, the department said. Kira Lerner | March 20, 2020
Coronavirus Derails Effort To Shorten Prison Terms In Oklahoma Organizers have been collecting signatures as part of a ballot initiative known as State Question 805, which calls for the end of sentencing enhancements for people convicted of nonviolent crimes. Lauren Gill | March 20, 2020
His Case Was Vacated. But His Medical Treatment In Prison Nearly Killed Him. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Seifullah Chapman's Eighth Amendment Rights were violated by federal prison staff who were indifferent to his medical needs. Akintunde Ahmad | March 20, 2020
ICE Detainees Launch Hunger Strike Over Coronavirus Fears Conditions at the Newark jail where the strike is taking place were dire even before the threat of COVID-19. Brendan O'Connor | March 19, 2020
An Urgent Plea For Compassionate Release As Coronavirus Spreads A man with multiple medical conditions incarcerated on a technical violation urgently needs to be released, his attorney says. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | March 18, 2020
This Tool Can Track Changes to Incarcerated Populations Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic At a time when it’s vital to reduce jail and prison populations to prevent outbreaks, this data can help advocates identify areas where that is or is not happening. Oliver Hinds | March 17, 2020
Coronavirus Leaves Defense Attorneys Torn Between Visiting Their Jailed Clients And Spreading The Illness To prevent more people from being infected with COVID-19, defense attorneys are calling for courts to release people. Lauren Gill | March 17, 2020
To Stop Coronavirus, Places Where People Gather are Shutting Down Across California. What About Its Jails? Activists are calling on the governor, district attorneys, sheriffs, and judges to take action to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | March 16, 2020
New York Department of Corrections Investigator Dies From COVID-19 The individual had no contact with people in custody for at least the past month, according to the DOC. Kira Lerner | March 16, 2020
As Florida Primary Approaches, Many With Felony Convictions Remain Unclear if They Can Vote Advocates worry the widespread confusion may have a chilling effect on eligible voters. Kira Lerner | March 16, 2020
Why Jails Are Key to ‘Flattening the Curve’ of Coronavirus Local jails are notorious amplifiers of infectious diseases. If we don’t move quickly to reduce their population, it may undermine our ability to control the new coronavirus, nationally and locally. Kelsey Kauffman | March 13, 2020
I Was a Child When The State Sentenced Me To Die In Prison. But I Found A Path To Redemption In A Community Of Lifers. I learned later than I should have what you probably already know: that it is strength not weakness to lean on somebody when you feel vulnerable and defeated and let them help you. Seth Koch | March 13, 2020
In Oregon, a Hopeful Sign for Those Sentenced to Lengthy Prison Terms as Children The state’s attorney general decided to support resentencing hearings in two high-profile cases, though she had fought appeals in the past. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | March 12, 2020
Cash Bail Is Creating a Crisis in Rural Jails A federal lawsuit alleges lack of due process in a rural Tennessee county, and reform advocates say its jail is hardly an outlier. Jessica Pishko | March 12, 2020
Coronavirus: We’re Urged To Wash Our Hands, But For Some It’s Not That Simple Vaidya Gullapalli | March 11, 2020
Pressure Builds on New York Governor To Address Coronavirus Impact on Prisoners Andrew Cuomo, who recently announced the state would employ prisoners to make hand sanitizer, must prepare for the particular vulnerabilities of the state’s prison population to COVID-19, advocates say. Bryce Covert | March 11, 2020
San Francisco Officials Push to Reduce Jail Population to Prevent Coronavirus Outbreak The public defender and district attorney both directed their staffs to keep individuals who are more vulnerable to the virus out of jail. Darwin BondGraham | March 11, 2020
Indiana Advocates Call on Governor to Release Elderly And Infirm Prisoners As Coronavirus Spreads More than 100 people signed an open letter to Eric Holcomb requesting that he begin releasing people most likely to be seriously harmed or killed by the coronavirus. Joshua Vaughn | March 10, 2020
Michigan Agrees to Pay $80 Million in Prison Sex Abuse Lawsuit A complaint filed in 2013 on behalf of 500 currently and formerly incarcerated youth alleged that they were assaulted and harassed by incarcerated adults and corrections staff in adult prisons and jails across the state. Dawn R. Wolfe | March 10, 2020
For Many Serving Harsh Sentences, the Governor Becomes a Last Hope Lawmakers are recognizing the harms of mass incarceration. But some governors are reluctant to use their clemency power to address them. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | March 5, 2020
Ayanna Pressley’s Husband Spent 10 Years in Prison. Now He and Pressley Are Fighting for Re-Entry Reform The U.S. representative said her husband helped her realize that when one person is incarcerated, many more are affected. Kira Lerner | March 4, 2020
Remaking Our Legal System With More Compassion And Humanity Is Necessary And Urgent Work The Appeal and Oregon Justice Resource Center announce “Left Behind,” firsthand accounts of growing-up in prison from individuals sentenced as children. Bobbin Singh | March 3, 2020
This D.A. Election Could Bring a Big Change in How Austin, Texas Treats Drug Addiction In Travis County, thousands of people continue to be prosecuted for low-level drug possession charges that reform-minded district attorneys elsewhere have committed to dropping. Kira Lerner | March 2, 2020
My Vote Was Taken Away From My Community and Given To a District Where I Was Incarcerated Prison-based gerrymandering takes political power away from Black and Latinx communities—power that could be used to push for more funding for schools, social services, infrastructure, and other important reforms. Robert Saleem Holbrook | March 2, 2020
Another Reason To End Prison Gerrymandering: To Identify And Invest In Neighborhoods Most Affected By Incarceration Vaidya Gullapalli | February 28, 2020
High Cost Of Prison Diversion Programs Leaves ‘Too Many People’ Imprisoned in Alabama A survey of roughly 1,000 people found that 1 in 5 had been turned down for a diversion program because they couldn’t afford the costs of drug tests and monitoring devices. Lauren Gill | February 28, 2020
Life Sentences Lock Away Too Many People And Too Much Potential Vaidya Gullapalli | February 26, 2020
My Friend Spent Much of His Formative Years in Prison. He Didn’t Have to Die There. Josh Norman was one of the 17 people to die in Mississippi prisons so far this year. His death raises important questions about the state’s failures. Justin Brooks | February 25, 2020
Survey: A Majority Of Voters Support Review Of Extreme Sentences Vaidya Gullapalli | February 24, 2020
A New York Law Could Reduce Sentences for Domestic Violence Survivors. Why Are Judges Reluctant to Apply It? The Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act allows judges to consider shorter sentences, as well as non-prison sentences, if abuse factored significantly in the crime. Victoria Law | February 24, 2020
Elizabeth Warren Announces Plan to Legalize Marijuana If Elected President The Democratic candidate also pledged to expunge prior criminal convictions for marijuana and invest in the communities most affected by the war on drugs. Joshua Vaughn | February 23, 2020
Stop-And-Frisk Made Michael Bloomberg A Big Target In The Presidential Debate. His Opponents Still Missed. Advocates say the narrowing field of Democratic candidates did not seize an opportunity to lay out clear visions on criminal justice reform to contrast the former New York City mayor’s record on policing. Aaron Morrison | February 20, 2020
In San Quentin Prison, Getting The Flu Can Land You In Solitary Confinement Prisoners avoid admitting they are sick because they don’t want to be put in solitary, so nurses go cell to cell to take their temperatures. Juan Moreno Haines | February 20, 2020
Florida Can’t Bar People From Voting Because of Inability to Pay, Appeals Court Says The court found that a law that critics described as a poll tax violates the Constitution. Kira Lerner | February 19, 2020
Louisiana Continues to Imprison People Past Their Release Dates A Department of Corrections official knew the extrajudicial practice was going on but little has been done to correct it. Victoria Law | February 18, 2020
One Thing Barr Gets right: The Sentencing Guidelines Are Indeed Too Harsh Sarah Lustbader | February 18, 2020
Bail Reform Was Just The Beginning Of What Democrats Were Elected To Do Vaidya Gullapalli | February 14, 2020
He Attempted Suicide and Ended Up In Jail Arthur’s story speaks to a troubling tendency in the legal system, reform advocates say: to treat mental health crises as criminal matters, rather than matters of public health. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | February 14, 2020
Life and Loss: A Son Sentenced to Die in a Pennsylvania Prison An Appeal documentary on life without the possibility of parole—and its impact on loved ones—in the state. Joshua Vaughn | February 13, 2020
Rosa Jimenez Went to Prison for Murdering a Child. Four Judges Have Said She’s Most Likely Innocent Advocates say junk science was used to convict Jimenez. DA Margaret Moore has not yet decided whether she will drop charges or retry her. Kira Lerner, Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg February 12, 2020
How Witness Identifications Send Innocent People to Prison Mistaken identifications have been involved in nearly 70 percent of post-conviction exonerations based on DNA evidence. Jay Willis | February 11, 2020
Cancer Patient’s Prison Sentence Is A Glaring Outlier in a Pennsylvania County A review of charging dockets in Lebanon County shows Ashley Menser was the only person charged with felony retail theft in 2018 to receive a 7-year maximum sentence. Joshua Vaughn | February 10, 2020
After A Long Fight, Facial Recognition Technology Is In One New York School District Vaidya Gullapalli | February 7, 2020
Clemency Gave Him A Second Chance. He Won’t Forget His Friends Who Haven’t Been As Lucky A year after Alfonzo Riley returned from prison, he’s helping to vet innocence claims. Kira Lerner | February 6, 2020
Delaware Lawmakers Push Bill That Could Pay Reparations To The Wrongfully Incarcerated Elmer Daniels served nearly 40 years in prison before he was exonerated in 2018. He's one of at least three people who could receive $50,000 for every year spent behind bars. Lauren Gill | February 6, 2020
Major County Jails Are Decarcerating, But Violence, Deaths Persist Jails in New Orleans and Cleveland have had significant population drops, yet conditions of confinement remain poor. Communities harmed by these jails should experiment with new accountability measures to maintain political pressure against jail administrators. Jonathan Ben-Menachem | February 5, 2020
Jackie Lacey Met Her Progressive Challengers On Stage For The First Time, And It Was Explosive A fiery debate outlined what’s at stake in the race to lead the largest prosecutor’s office in the country. Eliyahu Kamisher | January 30, 2020
Federal Crackdown On Fentanyl Analogues Repeats the Mistakes of the Drug War, Advocates Warn Legislators are considering giving the DEA dangerous authority, harm reduction advocates say. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | January 28, 2020
Family Separation And ‘A Longer View Of Public Safety’: A Conversation With San Francisco D.A. Chesa Boudin Vaidya Gullapalli | January 24, 2020
Woman ‘Brutally’ Beaten in Mississippi Prison Died Because Officials Failed To Give Her Medical Care, Lawsuit Alleges The father of Nicole Rathmann says his daughter was “not made safe by employees” while incarcerated at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility. She was one of 16 prisoners to die in state custody in August 2018. Lauren Gill | January 24, 2020
Mississippi Man Given Extreme 12-Year Sentence For Having A Cell Phone In Jail Asks For Rehearing The state Supreme Court erred this month when it failed to invalidate Willie Nash’s sentence as cruel and unusual punishment, his attorneys argue. Aaron Morrison | January 23, 2020
Pennsylvania Mandatory Minimum Bill Is Unlikely to Reduce Gun Violence, Opponents Say State Representative Todd Stephens has introduced a bill to impose a five-year minimum prison sentence for illegally possessing a firearm, but the governor, advocates, and others say it’s the wrong approach. Joshua Vaughn | January 23, 2020
New San Francisco D.A. Inherits Chance To Hold Police Accountable In Shooting Of Man With Mental Illness Activists hope Chesa Boudin will press charges, and push for systemic changes to address the criminalization of mental illness. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | January 22, 2020
Arizona’s Incarcerated Firefighters Push for Legislation That Recognizes Their Labor By Reducing Their Sentences Unlike other states, Arizona offers minimal early release credits for the prisoners it sends to fight its wildfires. Hannah Critchfield | January 21, 2020
Kentucky Bill Would Make It Harder For Formerly Incarcerated People To Vote The bill would disproportionately affect the 140,000 people whose voting rights were recently restored. Kira Lerner | January 21, 2020
Man Spared From Execution After Rare Clemency Grant It’s the first time since 2014 that someone on Georgia’s death row has been granted clemency. Braden Goyette | January 16, 2020
New Jersey Takes On Vestige Of Three-Fifths Clause: Prison Gerrymandering Sarah Lustbader | January 16, 2020
In Erie County, Jail Deaths Continue Despite High-Profile Tragedy The death of 27-year-old India Cummings in 2016 garnered national media attention and a renewed push by local activists over conditions of confinement in the New York county’s jails. But the deaths haven’t stopped. Raina Lipsitz | January 16, 2020
How Dubious Science Helped Put A New Jersey Woman In Prison For Killing A Baby In Her Care The state said Michelle Heale shook the baby to death, but some experts say her conviction was based on debunked science. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | January 15, 2020
How the Media Can Stigmatize Parents and Separate Families Stories that uncritically blame child welfare agencies for the deaths of children at the hands of their parents can contribute to increases in child removals—with devastating consequences for families. Elizabeth Brico | January 15, 2020
Georgia To Execute A Man For A Crime That No Longer Gets The Death Penalty Sarah Lustbader | January 15, 2020
Why Keeping People With Sex Offense Convictions Off Social Media Sites Does Little To Make Those Sites Safer New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposal purports to take sexual violence seriously, but it aggressively ignores reality in favor of lazy solutions. Guy Hamilton-Smith | January 13, 2020
A City Council Resolution Could End Marijuana Arrests and Fines in Austin, Texas The move is made possible by a Texas law that legalized the production of hemp last year. Jay Willis | January 10, 2020
U.S. Senate Candidate Endorses Ayanna Pressley’s Criminal Justice Reform Plan Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez of Texas told The Appeal about her vision for a complete overhaul of her state’s legal system. Kira Lerner | January 9, 2020
The Media’s Misguided Backlash Against Criminal Justice Reforms in D.C. and New York Many liberals support reform in theory. But when unpopular decisions need to be made, it’s back to the 1990s “Tough on Crime” playbook. Adam H. Johnson | January 9, 2020
After Deadly Week For Mississippi Prisoners, Advocates See Blood ‘On The Hands’ of Lawmakers and Prison Officials The violence that has left at least five people dead is the result of longstanding issues that have been ignored, justice advocates and prisoners’ family members say. Lauren Gill | January 7, 2020
More Hate Crime Laws Would Not Have Prevented The Monsey Hanukkah Attack Sarah Lustbader | January 6, 2020
Wisconsin Came Close To Changing A Rule That Often Leaves People On Sex Offense Registries Homeless Republicans are leading an effort to get rid of blanket restrictions on where some people with sex-offense records can live. A Democratic governor is blocking them. Steven Yoder | January 3, 2020
Inspired By Her Own Experiences, Baltimore Woman Publishes Magazine Giving Voice To The Incarcerated Tia Hamilton’s State v. Us focuses closely on the criminal legal system, especially as it applies to people of color, who are statistically overrepresented in the carceral system. Elizabeth Brico | January 2, 2020
For Many Prisoners, Mississippi’s Habitual Offender Laws Are Like ‘Death Sentences’ One man, Paul Houser, is serving 60 years on a drug conviction for purchasing cold medicine and batteries. He’s one of 2,600 people incarcerated as a result of the state’s three strikes laws. Lauren Gill | December 20, 2019
Misplaced Outrage Over Kentucky Governor’s Pardons Harms Criminal Justice Reform Sensational headlines may score short-term partisan points, but long term they contribute to a toxic culture of Willie Hortonism. Adam H. Johnson | December 20, 2019
New Lawsuit Claims Texas Prison Guards Sexually Assaulted Female Guard Guards at the Mark Stiles Unit in Beaumont are alleged to have led the victim to a hallway where there were no security cameras. , Roxanna Asgarian December 17, 2019
Ohio Jail Faces $2.8 Million Lawsuit After Claims of Abuse Are Made By Dozens of Men The suit is the latest of at least three complaints filed against the Portage County Jail this year. Dawn R. Wolfe | December 16, 2019
New Lawsuit Alleges Abuse At ‘One Of The Worst’ County Jails In America Officers at the Cuyahoga County Jail in Ohio are accused of pepper-spraying and assaulting a man for merely asking about his release date. Joshua Vaughn | December 12, 2019
Her Son Couldn’t Move His Limbs Or Swallow. Jail Officials Insisted He Was Faking. In a federal lawsuit, Hardel Sherrell’s mother accuses the staff at a Minnesota jail of allowing her son to die. Kira Lerner | December 12, 2019
New Orleans Jail Staff Supplied Fentanyl That Killed Incarcerated Man, Lawsuit Alleges Staff at the troubled Orleans Justice Center are also accused of violating Edward Patterson’s constitutional rights by failing to treat his drug addiction. Lauren Gill | December 11, 2019
Sexual Assault Survivors Who Want Restorative Justice Have Limited Options Alternative approaches to rehabilitation and healing still face resistance, even though the criminal legal system’s reliance on punishment has done little to move the needle on addressing sexual violence. Tyler Kingkade | December 10, 2019
‘It’s Just Heartbreaking’: Families Search for Answers as Death Rate Rises in Mississippi Prisons Prison deaths in Mississippi have climbed nearly 40 percent in recent years, from 62 in fiscal year 2014 to a high of 85 in fiscal year 2018. Lauren Gill | December 9, 2019
The Supreme Court Ruled That Sentences Like Hers Are Unconstitutional. Prosecutors Are Fighting To Keep Her Incarcerated. Prosecutor Jessica Cooper of Oakland County, Michigan, has aggressively pursued life without the possibility of parole for children, critics say. She recommended the sentence for Barbara Hernández, who at 16 was a ‘slave’ to an abusive boyfriend who drew her into a plan that ended in murder. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | December 9, 2019
Trump Makes The Most Important Anti-Hunger Program Harder To Access For People Leaving Prison Vaidya Gullapalli | December 5, 2019
People Of Color Receive The Harshest Punishments, And The Disparities Are Growing Vaidya Gullapalli | December 4, 2019
Kamala Harris’s Criminal Justice Record Killed Her Presidential Run Harris’s record as a prosecutor was representative of a politics of the past. The nation has moved on. Lara Bazelon | December 4, 2019
What Happens When Prison ‘Lifers’ Get A Chance At Healing And Redemption? In California, a prison program run by people once sentenced to life shows how even the most serious offenders are more than the worst things they’ve done. Nick Wing, Kyle C. Barry December 3, 2019
Longtime Louisiana Prisoner Who Maintained Her Innocence Dies Less Than Two Years After Her Release The poor healthcare that Bobbie Jean Johnson received during her more than 40 years in prison contributed to her death, family members say. Roxanna Asgarian | November 25, 2019
Alameda County Sheriff, Aramark Are Forcing Prisoners Into ‘Involuntary Servitude,’ New Lawsuit Says Some pretrial prisoners and immigration detainees are forced to work without pay in violation of the 13th Amendment, according to attorneys. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | November 21, 2019
Ilhan Omar Asks For Restorative Justice For The Man Who Threatened Her Life Vaidya Gullapalli | November 20, 2019
What Does Death By Incarceration Look Like In Pennsylvania? These Elderly, Disabled Men Housed In A State Prison. More than 5,400 people in the state are sentenced to life without parole. This month, The Appeal went inside one prison that helps provide end-of-life care for men. Joshua Vaughn | November 20, 2019
Deaths By Suicide and Overdose Skyrocket in North Carolina Jails A report from an advocacy group says that deaths in the state’s jails have soared— and that 2019 could set a record for suicides. Zachary A. Siegel | November 19, 2019
Orange County Judge Rules That Sheriff’s ‘Blanket’ Shackling Practice Violates Prisoners’ Rights People held in courthouse cells were shackled for up to 15 hours a day, and some were unable to eat, change menstrual pads, or use the bathroom, advocates say. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | November 19, 2019
Ayanna Pressley Hopes the U.S. Can Reduce Its Prison Population by Over 80 Percent The Appeal spoke with the lawmaker about her “entirely new blueprint for a just society.” Kira Lerner | November 19, 2019
Someone Tell Joe Biden: Marijuana Is Not a Gateway Drug Biden believes that the jury is still out on the question of whether marijuana is a gateway to other illicit substances. But the truth is that it is not—and this has long been a matter of settled science. Paul Armentano | November 18, 2019
Speaking Out About Prison Conditions Is Risky. Incarcerated People Do It Anyway. Vaidya Gullapalli | November 15, 2019
Sense of ‘hopelessness’ rises among Alabama prisoners as new rules, leadership changes, limit opportunities for parole After a two-month moratorium, the state parole board reconvened last week, granting parole to 10 out of 87 people. Lauren Gill | November 15, 2019
Rep. Ayanna Pressley Unveils Sweeping Plan To Reshape American Criminal Legal System Under the proposal, localities would be incentivized to significantly decrease prison populations. Kira Lerner | November 14, 2019
Democrats Should Deliver On Gun Control That Doesn’t Feed Mass Incarceration Vaidya Gullapalli | November 13, 2019
New York’s Child Welfare Laws Will Advance Justice Two bills, awaiting Governor Andrew Cuomo’s signature, would help reduce the punitive impact of the child welfare system on kids and their families, including formerly incarcerated parents. Nora McCarthy | November 13, 2019
Why Prisoners Get The Doctors No One Else Wants Even after a major class action suit required Illinois to revamp its prison healthcare system, doctors whose alleged neglect resulted in major injury or death still remain on the prison system payroll. Taylor Elizabeth Eldridge | November 8, 2019
Tuesday’s Election Boosts Voting Rights for People With Past Convictions A claimed victory in Kentucky and wins in Virginia mean hundreds of thousands of people could have their right to vote restored. Kira Lerner, Daniel Nichanian November 6, 2019
Yesterday, Oklahoma Saw The Largest Mass Commutation In U.S. History Sarah Lustbader | November 5, 2019
Illinois Department of Corrections Revises Book Ban Policy Earlier this year, Danville prison removed about 200 books, many of which dealt with race issues. But the new rules don’t go far enough, says one advocate. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | November 4, 2019
Louisiana To Build New Prison For Women Displaced By 2016 Storm More than three years after heavy rains and flooding devastated the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women, officials have reached an agreement to build a new facility. Lauren Gill | October 29, 2019
Julián Castro’s Criminal Justice Plan: Long On Inspiration, Short On Specifics Sarah Lustbader | October 28, 2019
New York State Judges Are Jailing People Who Can’t Afford Their Fines State law must change to stop judges from using jail time to force the poor into paying penalties they can’t afford, says one advocacy group. Steven Yoder | October 28, 2019
Presidential Candidate Pete Buttigieg Releases Criminal Justice Reform Plan The South Bend, Indiana, mayor says his plan—which includes cutting the incarcerated population by half—will "rebalance" a system that is "unfair and racist in many ways." Aaron Morrison | October 26, 2019
The Failures Of Re-entry For Returning Citizens And Their Communities Vaidya Gullapalli | October 25, 2019
Millions of Children Lose Their Parents To Incarceration. That Doesn’t Have To Happen. Prosecutors can help implement policies that are better for families and communities. Ebony Underwood, Miriam Aroni Krinsky October 24, 2019
Illinois Loosened Ankle-Monitor Restrictions, But Advocates Say It’s Too Soon To Celebrate A Prisoner Review Board memo released in July requires a minimum of 12 hours of movement with ankle monitors, but some people say they’re still being given far less. Kira Lerner | October 18, 2019
A Deadly Father-And-Son Bank Robbery Raises Questions About Culpability and The Adolescent Mind Christopher Lay grew up under the influence of a father who was mentally ill. Drawn into a crime at age 19, he’s now seeking a second chance that could help other young adults demand the same. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | October 18, 2019
The Need To Support Visits For Incarcerated People And Their Families Vaidya Gullapalli | October 15, 2019
Say No to New Jails in New York City The mayor claims that building new jails is the only safe way to close Rikers Island jail complex, but the City Council shouldn’t fall for this Faustian bargain. Jonathan Ben-Menachem | October 15, 2019
