Information, topic by topic, on prisons across the world

July 1, 2020

USA: Covid-19 cases at San Quentin prison surge to 1,000

News

Coronavirus North America Health Material conditions United States

The number of coronavirus cases in California’s San Quentin state prison has crossed a thousand, with more than 900 cases being diagnosed in the last two weeks alone.

June 24, 2020

USA: abogados, “es probable que haya más contagiados en cárceles”

News

Coronavirus North America Health United States

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: Spanish

June 17, 2020

USA: los ayuntamientos gastan lo mismo en Policía y cárceles que en sanidad y hospitales

News

North America United States

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: Spanish

June 17, 2020

USA: criminal convicts face many restrictions even after leaving prison

News

North America Rehabilitation United States

People in the US who have been convicted of felonies and misdemeanors face more than 40,000 restrictions, most of which are imposed by states.

June 17, 2020

USA: après 17 ans d’interruption, les exécutions fédérales reprennent

News

North America Death penalty United States

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

June 17, 2020

USA: les spectaculaires progrès de New York contre l’incarcération massive des Noirs

News

North America Justice United States

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

June 10, 2020

USA: after Louisiana women's prison flooded in 2016, temporary dorms inundated with coronavirus

News

Coronavirus North America Women United States

In one massive room filled with rows of metal bunk beds about an arm’s length apart, 70 women share three toilets and four sinks. There’s no such thing as social distancing inside the female prison dorms that have become inundated with coronavirus cases. The high case numbers have prompted Departme…

June 4, 2020

USA: solitary confinement is fueling New York's prison suicide crisis

News

North America Mental health Suicide United States

On average, someone attempts suicide in one of New York State’s prisons every other day. And 43 percent of those suicide attempts occur in the state’s notorious solitary confinement units — the Special Housing Unit, or SHUs. Solitary confinement is also linked to higher rates of death by suicide, a…

June 4, 2020

USA: what women dying in prison from COVID-19 tell us about female incarceration

News

Coronavirus North America Women United States

This article was originally published by The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system. Melissa Ann Horn’s name appeared over and over in court records and jail blotters in the rural Virginia county where she was born, and where she was arrested for c…

May 28, 2020

USA: how to hide a covid-19 hotspot? Pretend prisoners don’t exist

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Coronavirus North America Health United States

A county trying to reopen its economy wrestles with a virus outbreak in prison.

May 28, 2020

USA: will the Coronavirus make us rethink mass incarceration?

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Coronavirus North America Overcrowding United States

Community groups have pointed out the social costs of the prison system for decades. Now the pandemic has exposed its public-health risks.

May 28, 2020

USA: when parole doesn’t mean release, the senseless “program requirements” keeping people behind bars during a pandemic

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Coronavirus North America Justice Health United States

Parole boards are granting parole contingent on participation in programs that are often not readily available for people behind bars, especially during the pandemic.

May 28, 2020

USA: en Floride, des milliers d’anciens détenus pourraient retrouver leur droit de vote

News

North America Access to legal rights Justice United States

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

May 27, 2020

USA: cleaning supplies are so scarce at this arizona prison, detainees are using shampoo and menstrual pads, lawsuit says

News

Coronavirus North America Health Material conditions United States

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.

May 27, 2020

USA: COVID-19 takes a hidden toll behind bars

News

Coronavirus North America Health United States

COVID-19 is spreading rapidly in U.S. jails and prisons, but testing of inmates and staff remains spotty and many confirmed cases are going unreported. The resulting lack of data has deep implications for the fight against the virus, because prison outbreaks can move easily to surrounding communiti…

May 27, 2020

USA: 'people are sick all around me', inside the coronavirus catastrophe in California prisons

News

Coronavirus North America Health United States

Prisoners and advocates told the Guardian that some infected inmates are in isolation without medical care or adequate food, cut off from family and attorneys

May 20, 2020

USA: a nation of prisons and pandemics

Testimonial

Coronavirus North America Health Overcrowding United States

The United States Penitentiary Canaan holds about 1,300 people. Qwantay A. is one of them. He has been incarcerated for 16 years and will be released in 2034. He drew some parallels between the coronavirus pandemic and mass incarceration, and shared his thoughts with Prison Insider.

May 19, 2020

USA: filling the maternal-care gap

News

North America Women Health United States

Nonprofit pregnancy support organizations help strengthen bonds between incarcerated women and their newborn children.

May 19, 2020

USA: Kim Kardashian est devenue une actrice-clé de la réforme carcérale

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North America United States

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

May 14, 2020

USA: le Missouri va mener une exécution avec distanciation sociale

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Coronavirus North America Death penalty United States

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

May 14, 2020

USA: crime doesn’t pay but prison does, even amidst a pandemic

News

Coronavirus North America United States

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — As factories and other businesses remain shuttered across America, people in prisons in at least 40 states continue going to work. Sometimes they earn pennies an hour, or nothing at all, making masks and hand sanitizer to help guard others from the coronavirus. Those same men and…

May 6, 2020

USA: el coronavirus se ensaña con las cárceles

News

Coronavirus North America Health United States

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: Spanish

May 6, 2020

USA: inside the deadly coronavirus outbreak at Oakdale federal prison

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Coronavirus North America Health United States

“I just feel like we were all let down,” said one prisoner. At least 39 staff and 113 inmates have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to a staff source. Alfred Reece says the outbreak began when his teacher got sick. A former accountant serving an 8-year sentence for convictions related…

May 6, 2020

USA: while jails drastically cut populations, state prisons have released almost no one

News

Coronavirus North America Health United States

Our analysis finds that jails are responding to the unprecedented public health crisis by rapidly dropping their populations. In contrast, state prisons have barely budged.