by Chad Marks
Prisons have been locking prisoners in cells for up to 22 hours a day, and in some cases 24 hours a day, as the virus has swept through the prison system like a tornado. Some people say this method is helping spread the virus among those in ...
by Chad Marks
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Texas prison officials stopped all visits in the prison system between prisoners and families. Stopping the visits seemed to have little effect on keeping both prisoners and staff safe. Thousands of prisoners were infected and many died along with prison ...
by Chad Marks
As detailed in this month’s cover story, former President Trump and Attorney General Barr were responsible for a spree of federal executions during their final months in office. But the ProPublica cover story was written in December of 2020, and the Trump administration executed three more prisoners ...
by Chad Marks
Jeffrey Bardo was a state of Connecticut prisoner at the Willard Cybulski Correctional Institution in Enfield when he submitted a medical request to have an odd spot on his face checked out.
Two days after Bardo submitted that request, on December 18, 2012, Dr. Michael Clements examined Bardo, diagnosing the spot as a “two-centimeter sebaceous cyst.”
On June 18, 2013, while at the Osborn Correctional Institution, Bardo complained again about a medical issue — a bump under the skin of his abdomen and an old scar on his face that would not go away, according to court records.
Two months later, Bardo was transferred to the Carl Robinson Correctional Institution, where he met with Dr. Carson Wright after complaining about the spot on his face and the lump on his stomach. Bardo suggested to the physician that he might have skin cancer, which Wright said was not the case. Bardo was eventually told that the spot was likely ringworm and prescribed an antifungal cream.
Upon his release from the Department of Corrections, Bardo went to meet with a primary care physician in 2015. After a biopsy, it was determined that the facial lesion was a basal cell ...
by Chad Marks
Ford Foundation President Darren Walker published a blog titled, “In Defense of Nuance” in the fall of 2019. A larger portion of the missive supported the building of four smaller detention centers to replace the infamous Rikers Island Jail. Many subsequently pushed back, including hundreds of Ford Fellows, criminal justice reform activists, public health advocates, grassroots organizations, and others.
The Rikers jail has for years been plagued with deplorable conditions and riddled with violence from staff and prisoners alike. Unjust detentions also have been part of the jail’s makeup.
New York City has long been planning to shut it down for good. Part of that plan is to build four smaller jails throughout the city. This proposal does not sit well with many people.
Activist groups have voiced opposition, saying building more lockups for New York City will only contribute to the mass incarceration problem facing our nation as a whole. More jails and prisons are not the solution, according to those disputing Walker.
One of the biggest grassroots organizations objecting to the city’s plans, No New Jails, has pushed back Walker’s support for the new jails. More jails means more people of color will be subject ...
by Chad Marks
An October 8, 2019, order from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin dismissed for procedural violations a lawsuit brought by prisoners at the state’s Prairie Du Chien Correctional Institution.
Filed on July 18, 2019, by Nicasio Cuevas Quiles III and nine fellow prisoners ...
by Chad Marks
A commission that was legislatively mandated recommended in an October 2019 report that New Jersey improve re-entry services for those leaving prison. The Reentry Services Commission outlined 100 steps to aid in a successful reentry. Those steps targeted addiction treatment, opportunities for training, employment and improved health ...
by Chad Marks
On February 24, 2020 lawyers filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Dante Taylor’s estate after he was found dead in his prison cell at Wende Correctional Facility.
The lawsuit alleges that prison guards beat Taylor until he was unconscious. Shortly afterward, Taylor committed suicide. Court filings ...
by Chad Marks
Kevin Younger was a prisoner at the Maryland Reception, Diagnostic and Classification Center (MRDCC) when he was viciously assaulted by prison guards. The beating was in retaliation for an assault on one of the guards. Richard Hanna, Jemiah Green, and Kwasi Ramsey were part of a “goon ...
by Chad Marks
William Garrison was 16 years old when he was arrested and eventually convicted of first-degree murder. He would spend the next 44 years of his life behind bars.
On April 13, 2020, Garrison’s cellmate called for help after Garrison was gasping for air. Macomb Correctional Facility staff ...
