Childbirth is sacred in most cultures. But for many female prisoners in the
U.S., the process can be cruel and degrading. According to a March 1, 2006,
report by the human rights group Amnesty International U.S.A., 23 state
prison systems and the federal Bureau of Prisons expressly allow the
shackling ...
The old maxim, "the more things change, the more they stay the same," could
have been tailored to Wackenhut these days. Although Wackenhut Corrections
has spun off from its parent company, Wackenhut Corporation, there's no
indication that the political involvement which brought it this far will
change anytime soon.
Wackenhut ...
A woman critically injured in a collision caused by an employee of the Washington prison system--reassigned to his home because of suspected drug use--has sued the state Department of Corrections (DOC) for endangering the public.
Barbara Starkel was returning home from work on November 21, 2003, when an oncoming car ...
For most of the nation, 2003 was a year of declining death penalty statistics. That year, according to a Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) report, the number of death sentences imposed fell to a 30-year low, while the number of completed executions also declined slightly.
During 2003, 144 prisoners were ...
The U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals held that an order governing the privatization of health care in Puerto Rican prisons was valid and did not violate the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA).
This case is the latest iteration in a Byzantine class action lawsuit that has dragged on for ...
In the latest performance of justice by the numbers, a behind the scenes power struggle is playing out between the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) and the state Board of Probation and Parole (BPP). As usual, prisoners are caught in the middle.
Conflicting priorities are fueling the dispute. The DOC, ...
Antibiotic Resistant Staph Infections Continue
to Plague Prisons, Jails
by Michael Rigby
Chelsea Johnson, 30, said it began as a small pimple that formed on her right cheek shortly after she arrived at the Orange County Jail in 2003. Three days later, her entire face was swollen and she felt ...
On March 14, 2005, a court of claims in White Plains, New York, awarded $377,200 to the mother of a suicidal state prisoner who died while in custody.
While serving time at New York's Green Haven Correctional Facility for automobile-related crimes, William E. Newborn Jr. became concerned about the outcome ...
The state of Hawaii has agreed to pay $1.2 million to settle a class action federal lawsuit involving hundreds of wrongfully imprisoned individuals. The state also agreed to implement measures ensuring the timely release of prisoners.
The lawsuit, brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 by the American Civil Liberties Union ...
The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a Michigan Department of Corrections policy prohibiting male guards from holding certain positions in the state's female prisons did not violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
For many years, the problem of sexual abuse and mistreatment ...
