United States of America
Seen in the press
Read our selection of press reports about this country. This is a short description of prison conditions on a national scale.
United States: tracking how the Trump administration is making the criminal legal system worse
Since taking office, the Trump administration has taken actions to eviscerate due process and the rule of law, make prison and jail conditions worse, expand the use of extreme sentences and harsh law enforcement tactics, eliminate oversight, undermine solutions that reduce incarceration.United States: Trump wants to reopen Alcatraz as a prison - could it happen?
Donald Trump has doubled down on his proposal to reopen and expand Alcatraz, the once-notorious prison island in the icy waters of San Francisco Bay. Alcatraz - popularly known as “the Rock” - has not been used as a prison for decades. It is now a historic landmark visited by millions of tourists.United States: 1 of 10 guards indicted in fatal beating of Robert Brooks in Central NY prison pleads guilty
The corrections officer, Christopher Walrath, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in exchange for a sentence of 15 years in state prison. Walrath, 36, also had been indicted on a second-degree murder charge. That was dropped as part of his agreement to plead guilty.United States: San Quentin prison ceremony pays respect to incarcerated people who died during the past year
Thirteen incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals who died within the past year were remembered during the fourth annual Mourning Our Losses ceremony last month inside San Quentin Rehabilitation Center.United States: an algorithm deemed this nearly blind 70-year-old man a "moderate risk". Now he's no longer eligible for parole.
A new law cedes much of the power of the parole board to an algorithm that prevents thousands of imprisoned people from early release. The risk assessment tool, TIGER, does not take into account efforts they make to rehabilitate themselves.United States: drug tests in California prisons yielded false positives, affecting thousands of people
Thousands of drug tests used by a major US diagnostic company in California prisons last year are suspected to have generated false positive results, an enormous error that has jeopardized the parole requests of some incarcerated people.United States: Auburn University’s prison education program ‘indefinitely suspended’
Just a few months after Georgia State University, Auburn University’s program was suspended indefinitely after the Alabama Department of Corrections barred college staff from entering the state prisons due to alleged security concerns.United States: lawsuit alleges 'filthy kitchen conditions' causing illness at N.M. prison
Five women imprisoned at Western New Mexico Correctional Facility near Grants have filed a civil rights lawsuit over what they say is a “longstanding and ongoing” stomach infection circulating among the prison population.United States: the Prison Creative Arts Project hosts its 29th annual art exhibition
The University of Michigan’s Prison Creative Arts Project curated its annual exhibition, showcasing original works by 538 incarcerated Michigan artists in the Duderstadt Center Gallery from March 18 through April 1.United States: Ohio group gathers personal letters to connect with Muslims in prison for Eid
Eid Letters to Incarcerated Muslims, an Ohio grassroots project that for the past five years has facilitated an annual Eid Al-Fitr letter-writing campaign for incarcerated Muslims in the state, hosted a webinar about its efforts.Unites States: judge says heat in Texas prisons unconstitutional as states face mounting lawsuits
A federal judge’s rebuke of Texas housing incarcerated people in lockups without air conditioning stopped short of ordering a fix before summer in what has become of the country’s biggest lawsuits over keeping incarcerated people safe during dangerous extreme heat.United States: California turns down another chance to end forced prison labor
In November, Californians voted to keep using forced labor in the state’s prison system. Just more than 53% of voters voted against Proposition 6, while a little less than 47% supported the end of indentured servitude in the Golden State.United States: the harsh reality of being a prison journalist
Censorship, threats, and stints in solitary are among the acts of retaliation prison reporters face. Busby was sentenced to seventy-five years in 1999. Since then, he’s worked as a writer and journalist, including a stint as a staff reporter for the Texas prison newspaper The Echo.United States: lethal injection, electrocution and now firing squads. A look at US execution methods
South Carolina is preparing to execute a man by firing squad, a capital punishment method that hasn’t been used in the U.S. in nearly 15 years. Since the Supreme Court lifted its ban on capital punishment in 1976, states have used five different execution methods.United States: another layer of isolation could be coming for Dane County Jail “residents”
The ACLU of Wisconsin sent out its annual holiday card in December. But no one on the organization’s mailing list actually received the physical card. Instead, recipients opened up an envelope to find a sad piece of copier paper, printed on either side with black-and-white scans.United States: 2 cities tried basic income for formerly incarcerated people. Participants felt more food secure but struggled to pay for housing.
Gainesville, Florida, and Durham, North Carolina, recently tried using cash aid to help alleviate financial instability among formerly incarcerated residents, a demographic that is especially vulnerable to homelessness and food insecurity.United States: State proposes closing Bellingham Reentry Center, home for those finishing prison time
The Bellingham Reentry Center has been serving as a transition house for incarcerated people finishing up the last bit of their prison sentence since 1976, and since 1981 at its Garden Street address. The facility is the only reentry center north of Seattle.United States: shave, haircut, second chance. How a Denver barbershop is opening doors for people leaving prison
The man shaping McCotter’s style with comb and scissors is Mike Montoya, a skilled apprentice who is on the cusp of earning his barber’s license. Since his release, he’s been working this job with the stability and flexibility to pursue a productive future.