by Michael Dean Thompson
The Riverside County Civil Grand Jury has released a new report regarding oversight of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office (RSCO). The June 2026 report found the extant Sheriff’s Advisory Committee (SAC) “activities, documentation practices, and public transparency raised significant questions about its ability to …
by Michael Dean Thompson
ryna’s Law was passed in 2025 after the brutal murder of Iryna Karutska, a Ukrainian refugee, on a Charlotte, North Carolina light rail train. The law, HB 307, restricts pretrial release of violent offenders …
by Michael Dean Thompson
Prisoners in the Mississippi Department of Corrections (DOC) seeking help are often placed in solitary confinement, according to two new reports by The Marshall Project. Nearly 75% of the known suicides occurred among people living in restricted housing, which can include solitary confinement. Policy …
by Michael Dean Thompson
The Marshall Project analyzed 911 calls in several cities in order to get a better glimpse into how people are being treated within the jails and which problems the jail employees are struggling to address. The same technique was used by Florida’s Citrus County …
by Michael Dean Thompson
Prison guards in Connecticut employed too much force and used improper techniques on a prisoner suspected of carrying drugs, according to the Connecticut correctional ombudsman.
The May 2025 incident was originally planned by guards, who had received information that Richard Benson had been …
by Michael Dean Thompson
The reality of consistent prison overcrowding sparked new legislation in Colorado, which Governor Jared Polis (D) signed in May of this year. Senate Bill 159 (SB 159) expands earned time credits for some prisoners while also establishing a working group that will make recommendations …
by Michael Dean Thompson
Prisons have become more violent and deadly over the past five years, in a large part due to a nationwide shortage of prison staff. Safe Inside is a nonpartisan, national initiative focused on making prisons safer and healthier places to work and live. Using …
by Michael Dean Thompson
The Prison Policy Initiative (PPI) has updated its Money of Mass Incarceration report, which had previously been released in 2017. The February 2026 report shows some striking growth in prison expenditures exceeding that of inflation, even as the actual number of incarcerated persons shrank …
by Michael Dean Thompson
The 2003 Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) requires prison officials to consider vulnerabilities such as LGBTQ+ status when making housing decisions precisely because LGBTQ+ prisoners are more likely to be victims of sexual violence. For incarcerated transgender prisoners, the threat of sexual violence is …
by Michael Dean Thompson
The Government Accountability Office (GAO), a nonpartisan organization that issues fact-based reports to help guide Congress and federal agencies, was tasked with reviewing the federal Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) efforts to eliminate sexual assaults via compliance with the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA).
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