After a series of in-custody deaths, the Sheriff’s Office is piloting smartwatch-style biometric devices to alert staff when inmates show signs of medical distress. The move has been hailed as promising but fraught with privacy and technical challenges.
Deputies from the Alabama county’s sheriff’s office often fasten monitors on about 25 people weekly and many of those haven’t been convicted of anything. Some say the monitors are financially and emotionally burdensome.
State prisons quickly adjusted policies and procedures when the coronavirus pandemic hit to ensure the health and safety of the incarcerated individuals and staff. If these pandemic changes become permanent, states could save $2.7 billion annually.
The state legalized the use of recreational marijuana in 2016 and agreed to create a pathway to clear or reduce past weed-related convictions. At least 34,000 marijuana records have still not been processed by court.
To curb the introduction of drugs into the prison system, the state has hired a Florida-based firm to scan inmate mail, check it for contraband and then send digital copies of the mail to each prison.
An appeals court in Boston will determine if the Maine governor violated an inmate’s 14th Amendment rights when she ordered the Department of Corrections to seize COVID-19-induced unemployment benefits.
The state’s Corrections Department says it has stopped placing women in solitary confinement and now caps all stays at a maximum of 30 days. Advocates are excited by the news, but uncertain if the policy is true.
The state’s jail population increased 60 percent from 2000 to 2019, more than five times the state’s overall population growth, resulting in overcrowding and understaffing. The fallout can be deadly.
Local criminal justice officials have called Gov. Kate Brown’s commutations of those at high risk for COVID-19 an overreach of executive authority. But many of those that were released quickly returned to prison for new crimes.
Millions of crime predictions left on an unsecured server show PredPol mostly avoided Whiter neighborhoods, targeted Black and Latino neighborhoods.
Too many lives that could be turned around are being wasted. We should be reforming and rehabilitating the people we lock away, giving them the opportunity to become productive citizens.
Phone calls in the New Orleans jail cost 21 cents per minute. Sheriff Gusman says the calls are a much-needed revenue source but opponents argue the price can be a burden on low-income families.
Racial impact statements can provide state legislators with a way to evaluate the impact of proposed legislation on sentencing and incarceration. Nine states have adopted them, and more should follow.
As companies across the nation struggle to fill open positions, many employers are turning to the approximately 20 million Americans who have past felony convictions. Some experts believe this could create a lasting impact.
Republican attorneys general have already filed more than a dozen joint lawsuits against the Biden administration. All presidents should expect to be challenged by AGs from the other party.
The Ellsworth Correctional Facility will begin a pilot program that will photocopy incoming mail, aimed at cutting off the transport of synthetic drugs soaked in sheets of paper. But critics say the move is dehumanizing.
Most Read
