Twenty-five Baltimore correctional officers were indicted Tuesday with allegations of assaulting and threatening detainees in a state-run jail, tampering with evidence and falsifying correctional documents. Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Friedman released most of them Wednesday, pending their trial. Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s office secured these 25…
Tag: Prison
Council on Criminal Justice: Racial Disparities Declined in Correctional Facilities Between 2000 and 2016
People of color still are significantly more likely to end up in the criminal justice system than white people, but new research from the nonpartisan think tank, the Council on Criminal Justice reflects a decline in the size of these disparities between 2000 and 2016. Racial gaps in jails, prisons…
Trump Administration Pushes to Restart Federal Executions But is Denied Again
Despite a district court’s stop of planned lethal injections, the Trump administration is pushing the U.S. Supreme Court to start federal executions up again. There have not been federal executions for nearly two decades. On Nov. 20, U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan of the District of Columbia wrote a…
District Attorneys to Begin Visiting Prisons, Jails Regularly
In a progressive new initiative unveiled on Monday, nearly 40 U.S. district attorneys will begin visiting prisons, jails and juvenile detention centers on a regular basis as well as incorporating it into their mandatory training and job expectations, The Washington Post reported. The group Fair and Just Prosecution (FJP) has led…
Americans Prefer Life in Prison Over Death Penalty for Murder, Poll Shows
A new Gallup poll found that most Americans prefer someone face life in prison without parole over the death penalty, which signifies a national shift from a few years ago. It’s the first time in the 34 years Gallup has been asking this question that there has been a change…
Iowa Man Claims His Life Sentence Was Served After He Died and Was Resuscitated
A prisoner serving a life sentence at the Iowa State Penitentiary was taken to a local hospital in 2015 where he had to be resuscitated five times after his heart stopped. Benjamin Schreiber was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole after being found guilty of first-degree…
Mississippi Cross Burner Claims He Did It To Save A Life At Plea Hearing
Graham Williamson, 38, was sentenced to three years in prison this past Tuesday after he burned a cross next to the home of a Black boy in Mississippi, according to a Newsweek. The cross-burning, which occurred in October 2017, was supposed to frighten residents of the predominantly Black neighborhood named…
Rikers Island Jail Likely to Close by 2026
The controversial and infamous Rikers Island jail will probably close in the coming years. The New York City Council voted on Thursday to replace it with four separate jails that will be in four of New York City’s five boroughs. Rikers Island is the second-largest jail complex in the entire…
Louisiana Becoming Hub of Detaining Immigrants
Over the past year, Louisiana has become the unlikely hub of immigrant detention in the United States. Eight thousand migrants out of 51,000 nationally are being detained across eight jails in the state, the Associated Press reported. One of the challenges for immigrants is the location of the eight detention…
Amber Guyger Found Guilty of Murdering Botham Jean
Disgraced former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger was convicted of murder for killing Botham Jean, her unarmed neighbor, and could be sentenced to up to 99 years in prison. The jury, made up of a diverse group of people according to a tweet from attorney S. Lee Meritt, took less…