Prison

US Prison Population Faces First Drop Since 1972

AP | JEFF CARLTON | Posted 12.20.2009 | Home


DALLAS — The United States may soon see its prison population drop for the first time in almost four decades, a milestone in a nation that locks up ...

Exile Nation: Drugs, Prisons, Politics & Spirituality

Charles Shaw | Posted 12.18.2009 | Chicago


Charles Shaw

Cook County Jail is so awful that for many of its detainees a quick guilty plea and a trip to the penitentiary, even for twice as long, is preferable to staying in the County.

New York's Juvenile Prisons Are a Crime

David A. Love | Posted 12.17.2009 | New York


David A. Love

If you can judge a society by the way it treats its children, then New York fails in a big way. In fact, the Empire State should be found guilty of child abuse and neglect.

James Traficant, Who Served Seven Years In Prison May Try To Return To Congress

AP | THOMAS J. SHEERAN | Posted 12.17.2009 | Politics


CLEVELAND — Former Rep. James Traficant, who was recently released from prison after serving seven years for corruption, said Thursday that he i...

Jail Release Just The Start Of One Man's Road To Redemption

HuffPost | Victoria Fine | Posted 12.16.2009 | Impact


This story is the first in HuffPost Impact's 12 Days, 12 Cities, 12 Families series, highlighting Americans who have persevered to overcome incredible...

William McCaffrey's Exoneration Highlights Plight Of Wrongly Convicted Prisoners

reuters.com | Edith Honan | Posted 12.14.2009 | New York


A recent spate of exonerations in New York state has put renewed focus on the plight of the wrongly convicted, with advocates saying it is not as easy...

New York's Juvenile Prison System In Crisis

nytimes.com | NICHOLAS CONFESSORE | Posted 12.14.2009 | New York


New York's system of juvenile prisons is broken, with young people battling mental illness or addiction held alongside violent offenders in abysmal fa...

Brooke Astor's son: I'm too sick to be imprisoned

AP | JENNIFER PELTZ | Posted 12.05.2009 | New York


NEW YORK — Brooke Astor's 85-year-old son has turned to friends in high places – including Whoopi Goldberg and Al Roker – to help hi...

Wanted: Dead or Alive

Norm Stamper | Posted 12.01.2009 | Politics


Norm Stamper

Whether Clemmons was seeking cover to pull his gun and fire, or about to flee, the officer did precisely the right thing. It was not a "cold-blooded murder", it was a courageous and necessary act.

Howard Thompson Jr. Wins Right To Preach In Prison

AP | Posted 11.30.2009 | New York


TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey prisoner has won a settlement that allows him to preach at services inside the prison. Howard Thompson Jr. is an i...

Of Bricks And Boomerangs: Social Worker's Tuitions And California's Prisons

Daniel Heimpel | Posted 11.27.2009 | Living


Daniel Heimpel

To save money the UC System was about to raise undergraduate tuition by 32 percent, in addition to hiking fees for professional degrees.

Donating Bras To Women In Need: Support1000 Sends Undies To Released Convicts

Posted 11.25.2009 | Impact


If you're a female convict being released from prison, you'll probably expect a few issues assimilating back into society. One thing you might not thi...

The Murder of Russian Rule of Law

Robert Amsterdam | Posted 11.19.2009 | World


Robert Amsterdam

Late on Monday the Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky suffered a rupture of the abdominal membrane causing death. How many more dead Russians will it take before the world takes notice?

CIA Secret Prison Found At Horseback Riding School In Lithuania

ABC News | Brian Ross And Matthew Cole | Posted 11.18.2009 | World


The CIA built one of its secret European prisons inside an exclusive riding academy outside Vilnius, Lithuania, a current Lithuanian government offici...

Juvenile Justice and Race: An Uphill Climb to the Bottom

James Bell | Posted 11.19.2009 | Impact


James Bell

Has it become an accepted fact of life in the United States that the machinery of justice applies almost solely to people of color?

Wesleyan Offers College Education To High-Security Prisoners

Posted 11.17.2009 | Impact


With shrinking endowments and funding cutbacks, most colleges would be wary of launching new initiatives. But two months ago, the New York Times repor...

Illinois Guantanamo Bay?: Local Officials In Thomson, Illinois Welcome Idea (VIDEO)

Posted 11.17.2009 | Chicago


Thomson VIllage President Jerry "Duke" Hebeler said at a press conference Monday that bringing Guantanamo Bay detainees to Thomson, Illinois, could be...

Our Lost Children

Diane Dimond | Posted 11.11.2009 | Living


Diane Dimond

America seems okay with condemning children, many who were victimized first, to die in prison with absolutely no chance of ever having a full, free life. I'm not okay with that.

U.S. Shouldn't Jail Youth For Life

Youth Radio -- Youth Media International | Posted 11.05.2009 | Politics


Youth Radio -- Youth Media International

How the Supreme Court rules in two cases concerning juvenile incarceration could determine whether sentencing juveniles to life without parole is cruel and unusual punishment.

God Tells Me Things

Sophie Pollitt-Cohen | Posted 11.02.2009 | Comedy


Sophie Pollitt-Cohen

I guess if I had to sum up all that God has taught me in three points, it would be 1. Keep it real, and 2. People are jerks, so always fake them out.

Children of Prisoners: Innocent and At Risk

Pat Nolan | Posted 10.28.2009 | Politics


Pat Nolan

Maintaining the child-parent relationship during a parent's incarceration improves a child's emotional development and their behavior, and will help keep him or her from following their parent to prison.

Female Journalist Sentenced To 60 Lashes For Sex Show On Saudi Arabia TV

AP | DONNA ABU-NASR | Posted 10.24.2009 | World


RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — A Saudi court on Saturday sentenced a female journalist to 60 lashes after she had been charged with involvement in a TV ...

Are There Good Men in Sing Sing?

Tom Matlack | Posted 10.24.2009 | New York


Tom Matlack

I am here at Sing Sing to to bring The Good Men Project, the anthology I've edited, inside the prison -- physically and in spirit.

Governor Rick Perry and His Texas Death Machine Are In Big Trouble

David A. Love | Posted 10.24.2009 | Politics


David A. Love

Cameron Todd Willingham is now a free man, but unfortunately it took death to release him from the confines of his prison bars.

Torn Apart by Deportation, Families Struggle to Stay Together

Seth Freed Wessler | Posted 10.24.2009 | Politics


Seth Freed Wessler

Families are being torn apart by deportation at the treacherous intersection of immigration enforcement and the criminal justice system.