by Kevin Bliss
Washington, D.C.’s jail safe cell use has been under scrutiny since 2013 when a rash of suicides prompted the jail to hire Lindsay Hayes, a nationally renowned jail and prison suicide prevention expert, to evaluate the jail’s operations and offer recommendations to make it more effective with fewer deaths and more humane conditions. Prisoner rights activists are concerned that conditions have still not changed since then, even after a 2015 lawsuit ordered the county to make changes.
The use of isolation in confinement by jails and prisons has been a major focus in the nation recently. Yet, that has not included the use of “safe cells” for those under suicide prevention watch. These cells are similar to other solitary confinement cells in prison with a few additions. Overhead fluorescent lights are left on 24 hours a day. A hard, plastic box with no mattress serves as a bed. Access to water for drinking or flushing the toilet must be specifically requested each usage. And the only clothing issued is a type of smock made out of blankets and Velcro which hangs loosely on the body, not fully covering anything.
Hayes recommended avoiding the use of isolation as ...
by Kevin Bliss
The Florida Cabinet and Governor Ron DeSantis collaborated to restructure the state’s clemency rules, streamlining the application process and automating certain aspects in an effort to expedite civil rights restoration for ex-offenders.
The Cabinet, comprised of Governor DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody, Agricultural Commissioner Nikki Fried, and ...
by Kevin Bliss
Michigan Institute of Technology (MIT) Department of Economics professor Peter Temin released a report last April titled “Mass Incarceration Retards Racial Integration.” He says that it was systemic racial prejudice which initiated the move toward mass incarceration and now it was that same intense level of incarceration ...
by Kevin Bliss
Myriam Parada was awarded $30,001 from the Minnesota District Court January 28, 2021 for false imprisonment in the Anoka County Jail. The county’s unwritten policy was to contact Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) whenever a foreign-born United States resident was booked into the jail. The American Civil ...
by Kevin Bliss
The Virginia Department of Corrections (VDOC) has been negotiating with a newly organized company called Smart Communications (SC), per a March 24, 2021 article in Vice. Built by CEO Jon Logan, the company’s purpose is to take over the handling of all state or federal prisoners’ ...
by Kevin Bliss
The Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Agency Watch List published by the New York City Office of the Comptroller listed the NYC Department of Corrections (DOC) as an entity to be “closely monitored” for noncompliance to a Consent Decree issued against the agency in 2015. The City DOC ...
by Kevin Bliss
The Healthy Start Act in Minnesota will allow mothers who give birth while incarcerated more time to bond with their children. Signed into law by Gov. Tim Walz, the bill transfers expectant mothers to transfer from prison to an alternate setting geared specifically to provide mothers and ...
by Kevin Bliss
Palmetto, Florida, Manatee County Central Jail (MCCJ) and the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) received criticism from prisoners’ rights activists when officials decided that 721 prisoners and detainees were exempt from the mandatory evacuation order issued as a result of the state of emergency declared by Governor ...
Report Suggests Lock ‘Em Up Mentality Counterproductive to Public Safety
by Kevin Bliss
The Sentencing Project of Washington, D.C. issued a report in May of 2021 titled “A Second Look at Injustice.” This report stated that the justice system should have goals of rehabilitation and redemption as well as conviction ...
by Kevin Bliss
Nancy King, a 70-year old woman with a history of mental health issues, was shot and killed at the Spokane County Jail (SCJ) December 4, 2020, after entering the lobby carrying a knife.
Jack King, Nancy’s nephew, told the Spokane-Review that Nancy King suffered from alcoholism and ...
