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Articles by Chuck Sharman

New York Finding Closed Prisons a Tough Sell

by Chuck Sharman

Since its peak nearly two decades ago, New York’s prisoner population has fallen by half. Added to the millions of dollars it cost the state Department of Corrections and Community Services (DOCCS) to build the prisons are millions more to shutter them. Some closed properties were sold ...

Dying for Being Deadbeat Dad in Missouri Jail

by Chuck Sharman

On January 23, 2023, just 10 days after Ryan Everson was put in Missouri’s Clay County Jail, the 42-year-old was found dead in his cell. That his three children no longer had a father is cruelly ironic, since Everson was behind bars for failure to pay $50 ...

Illinois Makes Abortion Care Free for State Prisoners

by Chuck Sharman

After a media investigation found Illinois prisoners were forced to pay for abortion procedures – even covering the wages of guard escorts to and from medical providers – Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) ordered the state Department of Corrections (DOC) to change its policy.

As a result, DOC ...

Fifth South Carolina Prisoner Sentenced in “Sextortion” Scams Targeting Military Members

by Chuck Sharman

On April 21, 2023, South Carolina prisoner Dexter Lawrence, 27, was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release for his role in a “sextortion” scam that targeted U.S. military personnel. Two co-conspirators also previously received federal sentences for money-laundering. Two other ...

Florida Prison Guard Arrested in Apparent Love-Triangle Shooting

By Chuck Sharman

An off-duty Florida prison guard was arrested on June 7, 2023, after he allegedly shot a woman several times outside her home.

Wilner Cyprien, 31, a state Department of Corrections (DOC) guard at Martin Correctional Institution in Indiantown, was allegedly waiting outside the woman’s home in a ...

Texas Lawmakers Vote to Build New Youth Prisons, Ship Some Teens to Adult Lockups

by Chuck Sharman

In a surprising shift, the Texas Legislature approved construction of new state-run prisons for youth and transferring some teenagers from the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) to the more punitive adult prison system. The passage of SB 1727 on May 29, 2023, marked a departure from the ...

Armor Correctional Healthcare Denies Liability in Detainee’s Death From Missed Medication at Duval County Jail

by Chuck Sharman

In a statement to a local Jacksonville news station on June 6, 2023, the healthcare provider for at the Duval County Jail denied wrongdoing in the death of a former detainee who missed critical doses of drugs to prevent rejection of his transplanted heart. Instead, Armor Correctional ...

Prisoners Caught in Ukraine War Crossfire

by Chuck Sharman

During Ukraine’s successful offensive to liberate the southern city of Kherson in October 2022, retreating Russian forces took 2,500 Ukrainian prisoners with them. What followed was a Kafka-esque journey through five countries, at the end of which the same Russian army that led the prisoners out of ...

Hawaii Guard One of Four Convicted in Smuggling Scheme at Honolulu Prison

by Chuck Sharman

A guard and a prisoner at Oahu Community Correctional Center in Honolulu were among four people convicted on federal conspiracy charges in a drug-and-gun-smuggling scheme at the lockup. All but the guard were sentenced in February and May 2023.

On February 10, 2023, prisoner Robert S. Gibson, ...

Guards Filmed Walking Away from Burning Mexican Detention Center Where 38 Migrants Died

by Jordan Arizmendi and Chuck Sharman

A huge fire inside an immigration detention facility in Ciudad Juarez, just across the Mexican border from El Paso, killed 38 men on March 28, 2023. Another 28 were left with injuries, according to Mexico’s National Immigration Institute.

While smoke filled the building and ...