Search | Prison Legal News

News in Brief

Article • September 12, 2014 • from PLN September, 2014

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by News in Brief Brazil: Brazilian authorities announced on January 15, 2014 that an investigation would be initiated into atrocities at the infamous Pedrinhas penitentiary. Bloody battles between rival prison gangs resulted in complaints of mass rapes of women visitors and the posting of a video depicting …

Unique Brazilian Prison Alternative Celebrates 40-Year Anniversary

Article • March 15, 2013 • from PLN March, 2013

Filed under: Prisoner Privileges, Rehabilitation/Recidivism, Prisoners-International

Unique Brazilian Prison Alternative Celebrates 40-Year Anniversary by Lyla Bugara Brazil has long been home to the largest prison population in the region. As of December 2011, the population stood at 514,582, with 37% of the incarcerated being pretrial detainees. In addition to its sheer size, the Brazilian penal system …

200 Dead in Brazil Prison Uprisings, Street Violence

Article • January 15, 2007 • from PLN January, 2007

Filed under: Discrimination, Gang Policies, Prison Rebellion, Crime, Prisoners-International, Guard Unions

200 Dead in Brazil Prison Uprisings, Street Violence by Gary Hunter In May 2006, approximately 200 people were killed in Sao Paulo, Brazil as gang members of the Primerio Comando da Capital ? the First Capital Command, known by its Portuguese initials, PCC ? clashed with police in the streets …

Nineteen Killed in Brazilian Prison Rebellion

Article • July 15, 2001 • from PLN July, 2001

Filed under: Gang Policies, Prison Rebellion, Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Prisoners-International

Nineteen Killed in Brazilian Prison Rebellion by On Feb. 19, 2001, Brazilian authorities said they had regained control of 29 prisons in Sao Paulo state where some 25,000 prisoners had taken some 7,000 hostages in an apparently coordinated rebellion during the Sunday visiting day on Feb. 18. Some of the …

Behind Bars in Brazil (Review of Human Rights Watch Report)

Article • July 15, 1999 • from PLN July, 1999

Filed under: Reviews, Systemic Medical Neglect, Failure to Protect (General), Overcrowding, Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Prisoners-International

Behind Bars in Brazil (Review of Human Rights Watch Report) by Julia Lutsky Reviewed by Julia Lutsky Since Brazil is the largest nation in Latin America it comes as no surprise to know that its prisons hold more people than do the prisons of any other Latin American nation. Its …

Unrest in South American Prisons

Article • October 15, 1996 • from PLN October, 1996

Filed under: Prison Rebellion, Overcrowding, International, Prisoners-International

Unrest in South American Prisons by Brazil On February 3, 1996, a specialized military police unit killed two prisoners and wounded another in a Sao Paulo police station after putting down a rebellion by 127 prisoners protesting a lack of water at the facility. "It's not normal" to shoot protesting …

South American Prison News

Article • September 15, 1994 • from PLN September, 1994

Filed under: Organizing, Prison Rebellion, Hunger Strikes, Prisoners-International

South American Prison News by Brazil: According to the Brazilian Ministry of Justice there are an average of two and a half riots a day in Brazilian prisons and jails. The Brazilian prison crisis became evident on March 15-16, 1994, when the Archbishop of Fortaleza was taken hostage by prisoners, …

Brazilian Guard Gets 516 Years

Article • April 15, 1994 • from PLN April, 1994

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Overcrowding, Prisoners-International, Wrongful Death, Accidents

Brazilian Guard Gets 516 Years by On October 23, 1993, Celso Jose De Cruz, a military police investigator, was sentenced by a Brazilian judge to a record 516 years in prison for the murder of 18 prisoners. A jury had found Cruz, 46, guilty of all 18 counts of murder. …

Brazil's Final Solution to the Crime Problem

Article • November 15, 1993 • from PLN November, 1993

Filed under: Police Misconduct, International, Prisoners-International

Brazil's Final Solution to the Crime Problem by The American media has recently reported on the massacre of street children in Brazil by policemen paid by merchants to "get rid of" their crime problem. Due to massive poverty there are hundreds of thousands of homeless children in Brazil who survive …

The Collapse of the Brazilian Penal System

Article • September 15, 1993 • from PLN September, 1993

Filed under: Overcrowding, International, Prisoners-International

The Collapse of the Brazilian Penal System by Jayme Brenner By Jayme Brenner [Editors Note: This article was translated by Paul Wright from El Dia Latinoamericano , a regional bi-weekly published in Mexico. While most American readers of PLN are familiar with the prison crisis facing the US, the fact …

Brazilian Cops Charged in Prison Massacre

Article • May 15, 1993 • from PLN May, 1993

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Crime/Demographics, Criminal Prosecution, Prisoners-International

Brazilian Cops Charged in Prison Massacre by In Brazil 121 police officers have been formally charged with the murder of at least 111 prisoners at Carandiru prison in Sao Paulo on October 2, 1992, when they invaded the prisons cell block 9 on the pretext of quelling a riot. [PLN, …

Latin American Prisons

Article • January 15, 1993 • from PLN January, 1993

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, DOC/BOP misconduct, Prisoners-International

Latin American Prisons by Dario Brenman [PLN readers have read as we have regularly reported on the state of the U.S. prison system and its many abuses and faults. You may wonder, "how are things in prisons elsewhere?", well we wondered about this too. In future issues of PLN we …

Military Police Massacre at Least 111 in Brazilian Prison

Article • January 15, 1993 • from PLN January, 1993

Filed under: Crime/Demographics, Prison/Jail Murders, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Prisoners-International

Military Police Massacre at Least 111 in Brazilian Prison by On the night of Oct. 2, just hours before nationwide municipal elections, the Military Police swept into Sao Paulo's Carandirú Prison, Latin America's largest, and killed a still unknown number of inmates. Officials originally put the death toll at 111; …