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At This Prison, Staffing Fluctuations Land Hardest on Lifers by Jeffrey Shockley by Jeffrey Shockley This article was originally published by Prison Journalism Project.   Located at the edge of rural western Pennsylvania, State Correctional Institution, Mercer, has long been considered one of the calmer prisons in the state system. …
Article • March 1, 2026 • from PLN March, 2026
Washington Appellate Court Uses Personal Restraint Petitions Mooted by Prisoners’ Transfers to Order Remedial Measures at Troubled Juvenile Lockup by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman On December 1, 2025, the Washington Court of Appeals found that conditions at the state’s toughest juvenile prison violated state law. The case was remarkable …
Article • March 1, 2026 • from PLN March, 2026
North Carolina Prisons Are Facing a “Dire” Staffing Crisis by Data from the state Department of Adult Correction (DAC) shows that 14 facilities, roughly one in four prisons across the state, operate with half or more of their guard positions vacant, according to reporting by North Carolina Health News. Throughout …
Article • February 1, 2026 • from PLN February, 2026
New Hampshire Prison System Struggles to Hire Guards by Typically, the New Hampshire Department of Corrections (DOC) graduates two classes of prison guards from its training academy each year. But in August 2025, there were so few candidates that the DOC canceled the most recent class and, as a result, …
Help Wanted: 31,000 Prison Guard Jobs Open Nationwide by David Reutter The efficiency and functionality of every enterprise rests largely upon the staff put in place to carry out its operations. But at the heart of the most dysfunctional prisons PLN has reported on over the last 35 years is …
Two-Week Lockdown at BOP Women’s Prison in Minnesota After Nine Overdoses, Two Deaths by The Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Waseca, a women’s prison on the former campus of a University of Minnesota technical school, was locked down for over two weeks after a mass drug overdose sent prisoners to …
Article • January 15, 2025 • from PLN January, 2025
Filed under: Cell Searches, Lockdowns
South Dakota DOC Locks Down Third Prison in 2024 by On October 7, 2024, the South Dakota Department of Corrections (DOC) announced the results of searches conducted during a nearly three-week lockdown begun at the state penitentiary on September 15, 2024. During that time all visitation was suspended for its …
Article • November 15, 2024 • from PLN November, 2024
Another Payout Brings Arizona Prisoner’s Total to $92,850 by On June 6, 2024, Arizona prisoner Edmund Powers settled a claim against three state Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry (DCRR) guards for $850. Though relatively small, it was Powers’ third such settlement since 2020, bringing his total payout to $92,850. …
Article • June 1, 2024 • from PLN June, 2024
Georgia Prisoner Stabs Warden by Georgia’s Telfair State Prison went on lockdown on March 21, 2024, after a prisoner stabbed Warden Andrew McFarlane with a homemade knife. McFarlane, 54, a 25-year veteran of the state Department of Corrections (DOC), was not seriously injured in the attack, according to DOC spokesperson …
Idaho Continues To Cell “Dangerously Mentally Ill” Without Charges by On November 14, 2023, Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) secured a budget recommendation from the state Permanent Building Fund advisory council for a new $25 million facility jointly operated by the state’s Department of Health and Welfare (DHW) and its …
Article • May 1, 2024 • from PLN May, 2024
BOP Shrugs Off Month-Long Leavenworth Lockdown by Promising a “return to normal operations status as soon as possible” at the U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, the federal Bureau of Prisons insisted on March 28, 2024, that the 1,837 prisoners held there still have access to food, water and medical care …
Article • April 1, 2024 • from PLN April, 2024
Months-­Long Wisconsin Prison Lockdown Prompts Lawsuits by A federal lawsuit filed on October 26, 2023, seeks class-­action status for a group of Wisconsin prisoners challenging poor healthcare and conditions of confinement in the state Department of Corrections (DOC), resulting from “a prolonged, unnecessary and unexplained lockdown” that has so far …
Article • April 1, 2024 • from PLN April, 2024
California Prisons Locked Down After Massive Riot Hospitalizes Prisoner, Eight Guards by A riot broke out at Ironwood State Prison on January 31, 2024, triggering a “threat assessment” that locked down every facility run by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). Eight staffers and one prisoner were hospitalized …
Article • March 1, 2024 • from PLN March, 2024
Minnesota Prison on Lockdown After Protest Over Dirty Water, Lack of Phone Use and Out-of-Cell Time by Over Labor Day weekend 2023, approximately 100 prisoners refused to return to their cells at Minnesota Correctional Facility (MCF) in Stillwater. They were protesting limited access to showers, phones and recreation, which the …
Article • November 15, 2023 • from PLN November, 2023
Suit Against Delaware DOC Advances With 39 Prisoner Plaintiffs and 40 Defendants by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On August 17, 2023, lawyers for a group of 39 current and former prisoners at Delaware’s Sussex Correctional Center (SCC) largely beat back a motion brought by defendant prison officials to …
Article • November 15, 2023 • from PLN November, 2023
Filed under: Cell Searches, Lockdowns
Two-Week Texas Prison Lockdown Ends With Puny Contraband Haul by After locking down almost 129,000 prisoners for nearly two weeks to search for contraband, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) announced on September 18, 2023, that “normal operations” had resumed at 64 of its 98 facilities. But prison officials …
Article • October 15, 2023 • from PLN October, 2023
Breaking the Cycle of Understaffing, Lockdowns and Increased Violence in Prisons by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The political atmosphere surrounding criminal justice reform features strong rhetoric on both sides. Those who pontificate the “get-tough-on-crime” culture argue for increasing criminal sanctions and imposing punishment upon prisoners. On the other …
Article • March 1, 2023 • from PLN March, 2023
More Drugs Seized by Florida DOC During COVID-19 Lockdowns Than Before by David Reutter by David M. Reutter Contraband statistics obtained from the Florida Department of Corrections (DOC) during pandemic lockdowns debunk officials’ theory that visitors and mail are the main source of smuggling into state prisons. Instead the August …
Article • August 1, 2020 • from PLN August, 2020
Filed under: Prison Gangs, Lockdowns
Lockdowns Follow “Coordinated” Gang Fights at Oklahoma Prisons by David Reutter by David M. Reutter After what officials are calling coordinated fights, six Oklahoma prisons were placed on lockdown status for over a week. One prisoner died and 36 prisoners and several staff were injured in the melees. The lockdowns …
Article • August 1, 2020 • from PLN August, 2020
California Scrambled to Staff Wildfire Crews After Firefighting Prisoners Locked Down Due to COVID-19 by Dale Chappell by Dale Chappell With nearly one in four of the state’s frontline firefighters being state prisoners during peak wildfire season, California has been scrambling to find enough qualified firefighters to staff its fire …
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