by Jayson Hawkins
The use of DNA testing to overturn hundreds of wrongful convictions in the U.S. has revealed deep racial inequalities in the criminal justice system. Emboldened by victories at the polls in 2018 and 2020, Democrats are calling for the end of capital punishment in many states. In ...
by Jayson Hawkins
Progressive criminal justice reform has been slow to make it into the political mainstream, but one area where it is getting increased traction is around the use of private prisons. U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and 2020 presidential candidate, recently opened an investigation into the American ...
by Jayson Hawkins
Early in the pandemic, safety watchdogs called for state and federal prisoners to be released in order to reduce the spread of the coronavirus in cramped lockups. Social distancing is simply not possible in most prisons, and alleviating the crowded conditions was intended to reduce the potential ...
by Jayson Hawkins
Former President Donald Trump announced 143 pardons and commutations in the final hours of his term. While end-of-term pardons are the norm for outgoing presidents, the huge batch of last-minute announcements from the White House seemed to highlight the growing frustrations of those who believe the federal ...
by Jayson Hawkins
Officer Phillip Tippett, 47, died on Christmas Day 2020, shooting himself with a gun he brought into Coleman, a federal prison complex in Sumter County, Florida.
Joe Rojas, a spokesperson for the AFGE Council of Prisons union, said Tippett had been under investigation due to an inmate ...
by Jayson Hawkins
In the summer of 2020, the social landscape of the United States was shaken by nationwide demonstrations following the police killing of George Floyd. In response, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told his employees that the company was committed to “addressing racial injustice and inequity.” To that end, ...
by Jayson Hawkins
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) shuttered its Wayne Scott Unit in Brazoria County on December 15, 2020. Its Neal Unit in Amarillo and Gurney Unit outside Palestine were also closed by the end of 2020.
TDCJ said the latter two were expected to be temporary ...
by Jayson Hawkins
A two-year federal investigation into the Massachusetts Department of Corrections (MDOC) found that prisoners’ constitutional rights had been violated in regard to mental health care.
Investigators cited hundreds of instances of MDOC employees failing to prevent suicide or other self-harm among prisoners who had been designated for ...
by Jayson Hawkins
Two audits released July 20, 2020 revealed a series of shortcomings by a food service contractor tasked with providing meals to juvenile detainees and in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County.
Florida-based contractor Trinity Services Group was paid $3.5 million to provide three meals a day to prisoners at the ...
by Jayson Hawkins
His Texas ID card identifies him as Jason Jackson, Offender #2208297. The black ink etched in his skin and white clothing he must wear mark him as little different from 140,000 others in the state’s prison system, yet the phrase “Living Legend” tattooed across his face is ...
