North America
North America
United States
A U.S. judge accepted on Thursday major revisions to Arizona’s death penalty procedures, such as eliminating paralytic drugs in lethal injections and giving witnesses more access to watch prisoners inside the death chamber, a lawyer for the death row inmates said.
The changes were part of a settlement…
Source — Reuters
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North America
Drugs
United States
Jeff Sessions wants a new war on drugs. It won’t work.
Source — The Washington Post
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North America
Protest
United States
A gang revolt at a Florida state prison injured seven corrections officers and one inmate Wednesday morning, authorities said.
Source — Palm Beach Post
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North America
United States
Attorneys for an inmate accused of strangling his cellmate have asked a judge to declare Nebraska’s death penalty unconstitutional.
Concerns over the recently reinstated capital punishment that was repealed in 2015 are among the 11 arguments in a motion filed Monday by Todd Lancaster and Sarah Newell,…
Source — US News
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North America
Discipline
United States
“Segregation is known to be psychologically detrimental to those who are in there for any length of time,” Bruce Busby, the state department’s director of institutions said.
Source — The Washington Times
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North America
Discipline
Canada
This article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the French version.
Source — Le Devoir
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North America
Discipline
Canada
Nearly a decade after teenager Ashley Smith died by self-strangulation in a solitary confinement cell, the Liberal government has introduced a bill that would place new restrictions on indefinite solitary confinement in federal prisons but falls short of the expectations of some prison-rights advocates.
Source — The Globe and Mail
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North America
Women
Canada
Another week. Another investigation into allegations that a sexual assault victim has been treated like a criminal. No doubt this one too will result in solemn mea culpas and a pledge to do better.
Source — Winnipeg Free Press
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North America
Justice
Drugs
United States
Local authorities revived Smith, arrested him, and then gave him two options: he could go to jail or he could go into treatment. Smith chose treatment—or at least that’s what he thought. What Smith chose, more specifically, was to go through the alternative sentencing program known as drug court, which…
Source — Open Society Foundations
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North America
United States
The state is hammering out its budget. And lawmakers are having a sharp disagreement with the governor’s office over one of Michigan’s biggest price tags – the corrections budget. Both sides agree rehabilitation and lowering recidivism is the way to go. But they can’t agree on how much money to spend…
Source — Michigan Radio
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North America
Health
Suicide
Canada
The number of inmates in federal prisons who intentionally harm themselves has more than tripled over the past decade, spiking again last year, prompting Canada’s correctional investigator to call for changes to ensure such prisoners are treated as patients who require medical care.
Source — The Globe and Mail
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United States: a wrongfully incarcerated artist discusses prison at the Brooklyn Public Library
News
Culture
North America
United States
From May 23 to 25, Sherrill Roland will be on-site, hoping to facilitate more open dialogues about the US criminal justice system.
Source — Hyperallergic
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North America
Discipline
Canada
Canada’s prison agency is close to establishing new rules that would prohibit the placement of vulnerable people in solitary confinement and increase the time segregated inmates can spend out of cells.
Source — The Globe and Mail
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Canada: number of prison workers suffering from PTSD much higher than official stats, union says
News
North America
Health
Canada
Approximately 1 in 20 employees at federal penitentiaries have been diagnosed with stress injuries
Source — CBC News
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North America
Discipline
Canada
Ontario’s prisons adviser has laid out a plan that would catapult the province’s prison system from a national laggard to one of the most progressive in the world by placing hard limits on the use of solitary confinement and prohibiting the segregation of vulnerable prisoner populations.
Source — The Globe and Mail
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North America
Justice
Canada
Elimination of some minimum mandatory sentences and reform of bail system will be under review
Source — CBC News
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North America
Death penalty
United States
Utah will execute three inmates by firing squad for the first time since the method was reinstated in 2015 by Gov. Gary Herbert.
Source — Heatstreet
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North America
United States
Incarcerated people in Connecticut may soon be able to take Yale College courses for academic credit as part of the Yale Prison Education Initiative.
Source — Yale News
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North America
United States
A decline in the number of federal prosecutions and in the severity of sentences for drug-related crime in recent years has resulted in a significant drop in the federal prison population, according to statistics from the Judiciary, the U.S. Sentencing Commission (USSC), and the Bureau of Prisons (BOP).
Source — _ United States Courts
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North America
Death penalty
United States
Jack Jones and Marcel Williams administered lethal injections after death penalty carried out on fellow convict Ledell Lee last week
Source — The Independant
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