by Michael Dean Thompson
As of June 2026, at least four prisoners are stuck in prison despite having been granted compassionate parole by the Hawaii Paroling Authority. The prisoners are currently living in the prison infirmary because long-term care facilities have been unwilling to accept them, according to …
by Michael Dean Thompson
A new study by University of California, Los Angeles’s Carceral Ecologies Lab has found that deaths in Los Angeles County Jail, which refers to eight actual facilities, are tied to longer stays. These results differ significantly from federal data which suggest overdose deaths, at …
by Michael Dean Thompson
Connecticut has enacted a law, PA 26-10, that strengthens its standards and codifies parts of the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA). The law took effect on July 1 of this year and requires that the commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Corrections (DOC) …
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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by Michael Dean Thompson
Former Sergeant J. Corbin Douglas Tunstall was being dismissed from the Alabama Department of Corrections (DOC) when he filed his resignation in February 2022. His subsequent lawsuit against DOC for racial discrimination revealed an utter disregard by guards and medical staff as a stabbing …
