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News in Brief

Article • June 30, 2017 • from PLN July, 2017

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by California: Ignacio Adrian Sobers Jr., 31, entered into a plea agreement in federal district court on February 9, 2017. He agreed to plead guilty to one count of acceptance of a bribe by a public official. The former guard at the U.S. Penitentiary in Victorville was …

News in Brief

Article • June 9, 2017 • from PLN June, 2017

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Arizona: On January 19, 2017, Estrella Jail guard Roy Eugene Ramey III was fired by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. Ramey, who had been arrested in September 2016, was placed on administrative leave pending disposition of charges that he engaged in sexual activity with a female …

News in Brief

Article • May 5, 2017 • from PLN May, 2017

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by News in Brief Argentina: Ten years ago, Gabriel Herrera was serving time for fraud and robbery when he murdered his then-wife, Veronica Castro, during a conjugal visit. On January 5, 2017, Herrera killed his current girlfriend, Andrea Neri, 19, in a similar fashion during a visit …

Self-Inflicted Prisoner Deaths Continue to Rise in Great Britain

Article • April 11, 2017

Filed under: Accidents, Suicides

Self-Inflicted Prisoner Deaths Continue to Rise in Great Britain by Derek Gilna by Derek Gilna Self-inflicted prisoner deaths continued to rise in Great Britain in 2013. 74 prisoners either committed suicide or died accidentally due to their own actions.  There were an additional 123 deaths from natural causes, 4 apparent …

News in Brief

Article • April 1, 2017 • from PLN April, 2017

News in Brief by Alabama: In November 2016 the Barbour County Sheriff’s Office received a faxed court order for the release of state prisoner Bobby Campbell, so of course they released him. As it turned out, however, the order was fake. “Right now we are unsure about the real source of …

Australia, New Zealand and UK Have Higher Proportion of Prisoners in Private Prisons

Article • March 10, 2017 • from PLN March, 2017

Filed under: Private Prisons, Statistics/Trends

Australia, New Zealand and UK Have Higher Proportion of Prisoners in Private Prisons by History will remember the United States as the first country in the world to privatize its prisons and jails; the modern era of prison privatization began when Corrections Corporation of America (now known as CoreCivic) was …

News in Brief

Article • March 10, 2017 • from PLN March, 2017

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by California: For each of the last five years, members of the Golden State Warriors basketball team have visited San Quentin State Prison. Superstars Kevin Durant and Draymond Green sat among the prisoners and observed from the sidelines as members of the Warriors front office staff played …

Negative Report Foreshadows End of G4S Juvenile Operations in UK

Article • February 8, 2017 • from PLN February, 2017

Filed under: Private Prisons, G4S/Group 4, Corrections Audits, Juveniles, Failure to Protect (Juveniles), Juvenile Prisons

Negative Report Foreshadows End of G4S Juvenile Operations in UK by Derek Gilna Following a damning report, a private security company lost its contract to run a juvenile detention center in the United Kingdom, then later said it intends to sell off its UK-based juvenile operations. Until May 2016, the …

News in Brief

Article • February 7, 2017 • from PLN February, 2017

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Afghanistan: On August 8, 2016, Robert Langdon, a 44-year-old Australian security contractor, became the last Western prisoner to leave an Afghan prison filled with Al Qaeda and Taliban members. U.S. lawyer Kimberly Motley took Langdon’s case pro bono in 2013 and worked diligently to secure his …

News in Brief

Article • January 10, 2017 • from PLN January, 2017

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Arkansas: Michael Graff, 29, was fired following his arrest on charges of sexually assaulting a prisoner. The former Pulaski County jail deputy received a termination letter from Sheriff Doc Holladay which referred to Graff’s arrest as a violation of the Sheriff’s Office’s standards of conduct. A …

News in Brief

Article • December 7, 2016 • from PLN December, 2016

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: St. Clair Correctional Facility guard Deandre Price resigned just after his July 5, 2016 arrest for possession of a controlled substance and promoting contraband within a state correctional facility. Price was caught with drugs and other contraband as he reported for work; Alabama Department of …

United Kingdom: Prison Book Ban Overturned

Article • November 8, 2016 • from PLN November, 2016

Filed under: Publications/Books, Mail Regulations, Censorship

United Kingdom: Prison Book Ban Overturned by Derek Gilna A writ filed by Barbara Gordon-Jones, a prisoner at HM Prison Send in Surrey, southwest of London, resulted in the reversal of a policy instituted by the British government that effectively prevented prisoners from receiving books from friends and family members. …

News in Brief

Article • November 7, 2016 • from PLN November, 2016

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by California: The Los Angeles Police Department arrested an 81-year-old African American man for going “off topic” while giving public testimony at a June 21, 2016 Police Commission meeting, dragging him from the podium. Tut Hayes spoke weekly at the Commission meetings and had previously been arrested …

News in Brief

Article • September 30, 2016 • from PLN October, 2016

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Arizona: The U.S. Department of Justice declared April 24 to 30, 2016 to be the inaugural National Reentry Week in an effort to recognize the plight of the more than 600,000 prisoners who are released annually from federal and state prisons, plus 11.4 million others who …

Britain Allows Same-Sex Civil Partnerships Inside Prisons

Article • September 8, 2016

Filed under: Gay/Lesbian, Prison Reform, Transgender, Marriage

Britain Allows Same-Sex Civil Partnerships Inside Prisons by Same-sex prisoner couples in Britain, including those in the highest security classification, have been given the go ahead to enter into civil partnership and have appropriate ceremonies. Prison Service Order 4445 outlines the requirements for prisoners seeking to enter into same-sex civil …

New Study Debunks Common Beliefs of Children of Incarcerated Parents

Article • September 6, 2016

Filed under: Statistics/Trends, Collateral consequences of prison, Family, Fathers in Prison, Mothers in Prison, Children of Prisoners

New Study Debunks Common Beliefs of Children of Incarcerated Parents by Christopher Zoukis by Christopher Zoukis A study released by the Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy, and in conjunction with the National Resource Center on Children and Families of the Incarcerated, debunks commonly cited statistics concerning children with incarcerated …

News in Brief

Article • September 2, 2016 • from PLN September, 2016

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: U.S. Attorney George L. Beck, Jr. called Chris Miles, the former assistant police chief for the town of Tallassee, Alabama, a “maverick” when Miles was sentenced on March 25, 2016 for beating a suspect during an interrogation, making false statements to the FBI and selling …

“Jail Mail:” United Kingdom’s Newest Prison System Newspaper

Article • August 3, 2016

Filed under: Publications/Books, Media, Prisoner Media, Censorship, First Amendment

“Jail Mail:” United Kingdom’s Newest Prison System Newspaper by Derek Gilna Prisoners in United Kingdom (UK) correctional facilities have yet another newspaper to help pass the time.  “Jail Mail” is the third national newspaper in the British prison system, along with “Inside Time,” and “Converse,” and will have a print …

United Kingdom: Queen Elizabeth Unveils Judicial and Prison Reform Shakeup

Article • August 2, 2016 • from PLN August, 2016

Filed under: Work Release, Prison Reform, Electronic Monitoring, Rehabilitation/Recidivism, Release and Reentry, International, Prisoners-International, Family, Fathers in Prison, Mothers in Prison, Children of Prisoners

United Kingdom: Queen Elizabeth Unveils Judicial and Prison Reform Shakeup by On May 18, 2016, Queen Elizabeth announced a plan – touted as the “biggest shakeup” in criminal justice reform since Victorian times – that will provide more self-governance to UK prisons and allow prisoners greater access to technology. The …

German Prisoners Form Union, Seek Minimum Wage and Pension

Article • August 2, 2016 • from PLN August, 2016

Filed under: Retaliation for Organizing, Prison Labor, Organizing, Hunger Strikes, Work Strikes, Lobbying, Advocacy, Prison Reform

German Prisoners Form Union, Seek Minimum Wage and Pension by Joe Watson A group of prisoners in Germany has accomplished what American prisoners have long been prohibited from doing: They formed a labor union for incarcerated workers, to advocate for minimum wage pay so they can earn enough for a …