A report by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S. Department of Justice concerning sexual abuse of federal prisoners by prison staff found that such claims were widespread and had more than doubled during the eight-year span reviewed by the report. The OIG called the Bureau of ...

Concerns are growing that small claims courts in Indiana may be taking actions that amount to the return of debtors’ prisons, sparking national debate on the issue. This has occurred despite objections from the state’s Court of Appeals as well as a state constitutional ban on imprisonment for debt.

Several ...

A new report released by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) challenges the economic feasibility and sensibility of states maintaining the death penalty amid the nation’s current economic downturn.

The report, entitled Smart on Crime: Reconsidering the Death Penalty in a Time of Economic Crisis, “explores the prospect of saving ...

An Arkansas prison guard who had been previously fired and rehired by the state’s prison system was terminated a second time after he was involved in an incident that almost resulted in a prisoner’s death.

On June 22, 2009, the Associated Press reported that Sergeant Bobby Lunsford and Lieutenant John ...