by Paul Wright

This month’s cover story on the ongoing implosion of the Alabama prison system is just the latest installment of a long running saga of death, brutality, corruption and neglect that typifies the Alabama criminal justice system, coupled with the indifference and incompetence of the political …

by Shakeil Price

This article was originally published in Prison Journalism Project

In 1917, a group assembled by the New Jersey Legislature to investigate prison conditions found that the buildings at West Compound in the New Jersey State Prison (NJSP) were “wholly unsuited for the …

by Chuck Sharman

The Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) of Massachusetts approved a settlement on March 9, 2026, resolving a lawsuit filed the month before by members of a nonprofit advocating for incarcerated voter rights and a pair of recently released state prisoners, who accused Secretary of the Commonwealth …

by Jo Ellen Knott

The Alaska Beacon reported that the state’s “cost-cutting” downsizing measures backfired when a costly riot broke out at the Spring Creek Correctional Center in Seward. On January 24, 2026, a massive brawl involving 50 prisoners erupted at Spring Creek, the state’s only maximum-security prison. …

by Chuck Sharman

A state court in New York granted class certification on February 16, 2026, to a suit challenging suspension of the state’s Humane Alternatives to Long Term (HALT) Solitary Confinement Act in prisons operated by the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS). However, the …

For many Muslims, the holy month of Ramadan—which, this year, stretched from mid-February to late March—is observed by fasting from sun up to sunset, communal prayer, studying the Quran and other ceremonies. While religious accommodation behind bars is a right guaranteed by the First Amendment and the Religious Land …

by Victoria Law

This article was originally published in The Appeal.

After 34 years in prison, 67-year-old 1Cat Reed is suffering from sarcoidosis in the lungs, thyroid disease, sciatica, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes, which she blames on decades of starchy prison food. …

by Chuck Sharman

On March 13, 2026, lawmakers sitting on Idaho’s Joint Legislative Oversight Committee (JLOC) ordered the state Office of Performance Evaluation (OPE) to assess state prison officials’ response to allegations of staff sexual misconduct. The move came on the heels of a damning report by Investigate …

On March 19, 2026, commissioners in Harris County renewed a $38 million contract to send detainees out of Texas to private facilities controlled by companies like CoreCivic. For years, the Harris County Jail has outsourced detainees in order to free up space; the new contract allows the jail to …

by Chuck Sharman

The story repeats with depressing regularity. It begins with a man struggling with drug dependency, acquired from a prescription for pain medication. Depressed, he makes suicidal threats. His frightened partner calls sheriff’s deputies. They take him to the county lockup. There, his family blithely trusts …

by Chuck Sharman

Missouri has made clear its disregard for its state prisoners as much through what it doesn’t do as what it does, according to new research that found dozens of unreported deaths, as well as a pending suit in state court challenging excessive heat in solitary …

by Matt Clarke

On January 6, 2026, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reinstated a civil rights lawsuit brought by the parents of an Iowa jail detainee who committed suicide after reporting that he was in an acute mental health crisis with suicidal ideation.

Two women allegedly used drones and plastic crows filled with contraband in an attempt to smuggle contraband into the United States Penitentiary, Pollock (USP Pollock) in Grant Parish, Louisiana. Melanie Worthington, 38, and Kassy Cole, 41, were arrested on March 9, 2026, after Grant Parish deputies intercepted the “birds,” …

by Chuck Sharman

Nevada’s Board of Examiners agreed on January 13, 2026, to payouts totaling $997,500, settling a trio of lawsuits filed by state prisoners. The Board, which consists of Gov. Joe Lombardo (R), Attorney General Aaron Ford (D) and Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar, approved settlements in …

by Michael Thompson

American prison populations are aging rapidly while studies have continued to show that prisoners have significantly lower life expectancies than those outside of prisons. In Illinois, some 23% of state prisoners are over the age of 50. That is a huge jump from just 4% …

by Matt Clarke

The Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP) recently published “Unlocking Safe Water in Texas Prisons,” a report on the lack of transparency exhibited by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) when it pumps and treats its own drinking water and apparent provision of unsafe drinking …