North America

September 14, 2020

Prisons and jails are rolling back free phone and video calls. They should be extending them instead

News

Coronavirus North America Social ties United States

Amidst a pandemic and recession, policymakers should be fighting for extended — if not permanent — financial relief for incarcerated people and their families.

Source — Prison Policy Initiative

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September 14, 2020

United States: Missouri attorney general's office pushes to keep innocent people in prison

News

North America Justice United States

Its decades-long commitment to upholding convictions—even those marred by police or prosecutorial misconduct—has left Missourians languishing in prison for years.

Source — The Appeal

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September 14, 2020

Mapping the 'Blind Spots'

Interview

Africa North America Women Asia Death penalty

CartONG and Planète Réfugiés-Droits de l’Homme (PRDH) united since September 2019 to create maps aimed at raising awareness about the situation of people on death row worldwide. Nine maps have been produced to date. On March 8th, on the occasion of the International Women’s Day, the two organisations… Read more

July 29, 2020

États-Unis: People are dying in prisons, and not just from COVID-19

News Analysis

Coronavirus North America Access to legal rights United States

Randall Jordan-Aparo, Darren Rainey and Latandra Ellington are not household names. But like Michael Brown, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, they were killed by law enforcement officers.

Source — The Conversation

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July 29, 2020

USA: prison population falls sharply as pandemic disrupts justice system

News

Coronavirus North America Justice United States

State and federal head counts have dropped 8%, largely because prisons are not accepting new inmates and many courts are closed.

Source — The Guardian

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July 27, 2020

USA: Inmates talk of COVID fear and helplessness after transfers bring ‘the beast’ to San Quentin

News

Coronavirus North America Health Material conditions United States

Sixty-six inmates from the coronavirus-ridden California Institution for Men were on buses in late May, headed from Chino to the prison at Corcoran where Frank Estrada was incarcerated.

Source — LA Times

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July 24, 2020

USA: après des SOS lancés par des détenus, une prison recouvre les fenêtres

News

Coronavirus North America Health United States

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

July 22, 2020

United States: Hundreds denied parole as Alabama’s COVID-19 crisis worsens

News

Coronavirus North America Justice Overcrowding Alternatives United States

White people in Alabama prisons were 2.6 times more likely to be paroled than Black people during the month of June, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Read more

July 22, 2020

Netherlands: A bigger market for electronic ankle monitors

News

Coronavirus North America Europe Justice Alternatives Netherlands

Corrections centers are stocking up on electronic monitors as they release prisoners due to Covid-19.

Source — Bloomberg

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July 15, 2020

USA: federal executions can restart after supreme court declines a case

News

North America Justice Death penalty United States

The move clears the way for the executions of four men in the coming months after a 17-year gap during which no inmate on death row for federal crimes was put to death.

Source — Le Monde

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July 15, 2020

USA: JAY-Z, Yo Gotti, and team ROC file lawsuit over Mississippi prison conditions

News

Coronavirus North America Justice Health Material conditions

The class action complaint details subpar hygiene protocols, lack of proper healthcare, and more at Mississippi State Penitentiary Parchman

Source — Traxmag

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July 8, 2020

USA: many deaths at New York state prisons are preventable, review finds

News

North America Health United States

A state prisoner who’d been losing a dramatic amount of weight began to vomit uncontrollably, and was repeatedly given Ibuprofen that made her internal bleeding worse before she died. Another person behind bars waited nearly an hour for a nurse to call an ambulance after he collapsed and had a seizure. And…

Source — The City

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July 8, 2020

Canada: class action alleges prison staff conducting illegal strip searches

News

North America Canada

Two former federal prison inmates are trying to bring a class-action lawsuit against the federal government to argue strip searches represent a “serious deprivation of liberty.” Under federal law, prison staff can strip search inmates if they have reasonable grounds to suspect an inmate has contraband…

Source — CBC

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July 8, 2020

USA: No one should have to die in prison

News

North America Long-term prisoners Health Material conditions Overcrowding United States

Every year people die in the custody of Illinois Department of Corrections, the vast majority due in part to overincarceration. COVID-19 is highlighting this fact because it is attacking the elderly and infirm, many of whom have spent decades enduring harsh prison conditions. They die lonely deaths for…

Source — Truthout

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July 2, 2020

USA: the coronavirus crisis inside prisons won’t stay behind bars

News

Coronavirus North America Health United States

The situation inside the nation’s jails and prisons amid the Covid-19 pandemic has become the stuff of nightmares. Overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, shortages of personal protective equipment (not to mention soap) and restrictions on hygiene products such as hand sanitizer have turned detention facilities…

Source — New York Times

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July 2, 2020

USA: massive COVID-19 outbreak at a southern NM prison hits just one type of inmates — sex offenders. That’s by design.

News

Coronavirus North America Health United States

As the coronavirus established a foothold in southern New Mexico’s Otero County Prison Facility in mid-May, state officials quietly moved 39 inmates out of the massive complex near the Texas border to another prison near Santa Fe. The inmates shared something in common: None was a sex offender. In the…

Source — New Mexico In Depth

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July 1, 2020

Canada: Inuit overrepresented in federal prisons’ COVID-19 cases

Coronavirus North America Health Canada

“They were afraid, they were stressed, they were kept in isolation”

Source — Nunatsiaq

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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.

Source — L'Express

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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

At least 77 million U.S. adults have criminal records, including nearly 7 million currently in prison or jail or on probation or parole. Typically, more than 10,000 of the incarcerated leave prison and nearly 200,000 churn through jails every week. But because more than 64,000 inmates and workers have…

Source — National Interest

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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

France: à Guéret, les détenus, moins nombreux qu'avant, retrouvent parloirs et activités

News

Coronavirus North America Activities Social ties France

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