News

Yoga and Meditation Improve Life Behind Bars and Beyond

Yoga and meditation have a host of benefits for prisoners. The Bureau of Justice Statistics has found that within five years of release, 76 percent of prisoners released in the U.S. re-offend. Breaking this cycle requires radical reforms in rehabilitation methods, and some surprising approaches are showing promising results —  downward dog and mantra chanting. Educational

Read More »

What Will Trump Team Do On DOJ Private Prison Ban?

In what the American Civil Liberties Union hailed as a groundbreaking step, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced with great fanfare in August that it planned to stop using private prisons. The announcement followed the release a week earlier of a report by DOJ’s inspector general finding private prisons generally have higher assault and use

Read More »

Community Involvement in Programs Boosts Chances For Successful Lives After Prison

Community members can provide valuable links to the outside world, a support system during and after incarceration, and assist in delivering much-needed resources like education to help with successful re-entry. By Christopher Zoukis Twenty-five percent of the world’s prison population is located in the United States, and most — 95 percent — of those incarcerated

Read More »

DOJ Investigates Possible Prisoners’ Rights Violations in Alabama

The Alabama prison system has been targeted in numerous lawsuits claiming denial of inmate rights. The Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has launched a statewide probe on whether conditions in Alabama’s 14 prisons for men violate the rights of inmates. The investigation is under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons

Read More »

Exonerated Prisoner Appointed to Connecticut’s Parole Board

In an unusual turn of events, a former prisoner was appointed to Connecticut’s Parole Board. While ex-prisoners are typically not considered parole board members, state officials decided that Kenneth F. Ireland was a qualified candidate. In 1989, when he was 18 years old, Ireland was convicted of raping and murdering Barbara Pelkey, a mother of

Read More »

Prison Book-Banning Policies Called Arbitrary And Self-Serving

15,000 book titles have been have been banned from Texas prisons. By Christopher Zoukis Every year, the American Library Association declares the final week of September “Banned Books Week,” commemorated in many libraries with displays designed to highlight often-overreaching censorship of school and public libraries. This year, however, a far-flung wave of stories in many

Read More »

Isolation Cells Empty After Change in Solitary Confinement Use

Picture solitary confinement — a.k.a. “the SHU.” Isolation, loneliness, deprivation. A place where a prisoner might be alone for up to 23 hours per day, in a windowless room, with non-contact visits from behind glass. You might imagine that this form of punishment is used only when absolutely necessary for the worst offenders and rule breakers

Read More »

Last Act in Office – Maryland Governor Commutes Four Death Row Prisoners

In a highly controversial decision, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley (D) commutes the sentences of four death-row prisoners to spend the rest of their lives in prison without the possibility of parole. An opponent of the death penalty, O’Malley has been fighting to abolish the death penalty for years. “In my judgment, leaving these death sentences

Read More »

White House Pledges to Invest Millions in Prison Reform

The Obama administration has announced plans to spend millions to address many of the facets of a life of incarceration, from mentoring at-risk youth and helping families with incarcerated parents to addressing employment and re-entry issues. Referencing several studies which demonstrate the effectiveness of education and re-entry programs at reducing recidivism, the President noted the

Read More »
Search
Categories
Categories
Archives