Information, topic by topic, on prisons across the world

March 22, 2018

USA: go inside Iowa’s oldest prison this April

News

Culture United States

Tickets are now on sale for the public to tour the historic Iowa State Penitentiary over the weekend of April 14-15.

March 21, 2018

USA: new creative writing course challenges inmates at State Penitentiary

News

Activities United States

It’s a new program as part of student research teaching creative writing to inmates nearing the end of their sentence. So far, it’s making a profound difference.

March 21, 2018

USA: a new lawsuit might finally help S.C. inmates with Hepatitis C get the treatment they need

News

Health United States

A 2017 study by researchers from Emory University found that one in seven state inmates might be infected with Hepatitis C. The journal Health Affairs conducted a survey that found that less than one percent of infected inmates were treated in 2015, according to the 41 states that reported data.

March 16, 2018

USA: "voiceless" inmates find healing through poetry program

News

United States

For the past two decades, the Johnson County Library Incarcerated Services and Arts in Prison Writing programs have opened the world of literacy and writing to incarcerated juveniles and adults throughout Kansas.

March 15, 2018

United States: Oklahoma is planning to use Nitrogen gas for executions

News

Death penalty United States

After trying unsuccessfully for months to obtain lethal injection drugs, Oklahoma officials said Wednesday they plan to use nitrogen gas to execute inmates once the state resumes using the death penalty, marking the first time a U.S. state would use the gas to carry out capital punishment.

March 12, 2018

USA: from retaliation to torture in a Florida prison unfit for habitation

News

Torture United States

An update on conditions in prisons in Florida from Kevin “Rashid” Johnson.

February 26, 2018

USA: inmates and students brought together by poetry

News

United States

Michigan State University students make a weekly visit to the Richard A. Handlon Correctional Facility in Ionia to learn, write and perform poetry with prisoners.

February 12, 2018

How can images tell the story of mass incarceration in the US?

News

United States

Aperture Magazine announces “Prison Nation” issue, exhibition, and public engagement series.

February 6, 2018

USA: teens sentenced to life in prison say Maryland’s parole system is unconstitutional

News

Justice United States

Judges on Maryland’s highest court expressed concern Tuesday that the state’s parole system has not released for two decades any inmates sentenced to life in prison for crimes committed as teenagers.

February 6, 2018

USA: yes, lots of people go to jail because they can't pay a fine

News

Justice United States

From 1990 to 2004, the rate of people on probation who were sent back to jail for noncompliance grew by 50 percent.

February 4, 2018

Georgia: first-hand report / hunger strike in GA prison

News

United States

The following letter from an inmate who writes that they have started a hunger strike in a Georgia Prison was originally published by the Atlanta Anarchist Black Cross.

February 1, 2018

USA: "Bio Warfare" - How prisons help the spread of hepatitis C behind bars

News

Health United States

Anarchist prisoner Noah “Kado” Coffin offers some observations about the conditions that allow the spread of Hepatitis C behind bars, and the Texas prison system’s indifference to the disease.

January 30, 2018

USA: women's prison populations in 35 states 'worse than men's' study says

News

America North America Women United States

In a few states, women’s prison populations have even grown enough to counteract reductions in the men’s population.

January 24, 2018

How does anxiety haunt prisoners on lockdowns

Testimonial

United States

“Lock the fuck in! Get in your cells!” The beginning of a lock down. Eric Van Buren, detained in the USA, shares his story.

January 15, 2018

US: a cruel profit, exploiting the vulnerable in Charlotte

News

United States

What if corporations and law enforcement officials got together and conspired on how to exploit poor people for profit. Would you be surprised?

January 14, 2018

USA: Florida prisoners prepare to strike, demanding an end to unpaid labor and brutal conditions

News

United States

Florida prisoners are calling for a general strike to start this week — marking the third mass action over the course of a year in protest of inhumane conditions in the state’s detention facilities. Detainees in at least eight prisons have declared their intention to stop all work on Monday — Marti…

January 12, 2018

USA: New York cancels private prison care packages program

News

Facilities United States

New York corrections officials said Friday they have suspended a program that forced families and friends to send care packages to prisoners only through select private vendors, amid an uproar that the move raised costs and limited choices.

January 10, 2018

USA: Alabama sheriffs filled their wallets by starving prisoners

News

Violence United States

Alabama law lets sheriffs keep whatever doesn’t get spent on food from their jail food funds. Now 49 of those sheriffs are refusing to disclose how much of that money made it to detainees’ plates, and how much landed in their own pockets.

January 3, 2018

US: Can New York shut down its most notorious jail?

News

United States

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has vowed to close Rikers Island, the city’s infamous jail. Critics worry it won’t happen. But he just gave them reason to hope.

January 1, 2018

USA: the wall of love outside a jail

News

Topic United States

The signs are clustered at one end of the low-slung warehouse that faces the detention center, on 29th Street. There is no formal system behind the effort, no Facebook group.

December 27, 2017

Prison food is making U.S. inmates disproportionately sick

News

Health Material conditions United States

Lapses in food safety have made U.S. prisoners six times more likely to get a foodborne illness than the general population.

December 27, 2017

USA: climate change meets mass incarceration: California's incarcerated firefighters

News

United States

The intersection of climate change and mass incarceration is not unique to California, but as the state experiences its deadliest and most destructive year on record for wildfires – including the second-largest in the its history – the state’s incarcerated firefighter Conservation Camp program has…

December 26, 2017

USA: Idaho inmate says he had to swallow razor blade to get proper medical care in prison

News

Health United States

A man whose leg got so infected that it required amputation is suing Idaho’s prison health care contractor, Corizon Health, for alleged failure to provide medical care. Gary L. Merchant, 65, says in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that it wasn’t until he swallowed a razor blade that the prison’s medical st…

December 20, 2017

United States of America: prison shakedown

Testimonial

United States

“Inmates! On the floor!” 6.45am, a prison shakedown occurs. Kenneth Key, imprisoned in the USA, shares his story.