Prison overcrowding
FILE - In this Aug. 5, 2021, file photo, an empty Swanston Street is seen at night in the Central Business District as lockdown due to the continuing spread of COVID-19 prepares to start in Melbourne. Melbourne, the city that was once Australia’s worst COVID-19 hot spot has announced a seven-day lockdown, its fourth since the pandemic began. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake, File)
The Latest: W Virginia steps up prizes for vaccination

By The Associated Press May. 27, 2021 01:43 AM EDT

Nuns watch Pope Francis as he recites the Regina Caeli noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St.Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, April 18, 2021. Pope Francis said he is happy to be back greeting the faithful in St. Peter’s Square faithful for his traditional Sunday noon blessing after weeks of lockdown measures. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
The Latest: Michigan governor: State's surge may be ending

By The Associated Press Apr. 18, 2021 05:07 AM EDT

Female prsioners wave goodbye to their fellow inmates following their release from Chikurubi prison on the outskirts of Harare, Saturday, April 17, 2021. Zimbabwe began the release of about 3,000 prisoners under a presidential amnesty aimed at easing congestion and minimizing the threat of COVID-19 across the country's overcrowded jails. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
Zimbabwe frees some inmates to reduce COVID-19 risk in jails

By Farai Mutsaka Apr. 17, 2021 08:50 AM EDT

Senators give initial OK to $9.7B Nebraska budget package

By Grant Schulte Apr. 08, 2021 07:45 PM EDT
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers gave initial approval Thursday to a $9.7 billion state budget that includes more money for property tax credits and...

Carrie Shipp shows a photo of her incarcerated 21-year-old son Matthew Shipp that she keep on her cell phone Friday, April 2, 2021, in Irving, Texas. Fewer than 20 percent of state and federal prisoners have received a COVID-19 vaccine, according to data collected by The Marshall Project and The Associated Press. Carrie Shipp said her son decided not to get vaccinated out of fear and distrust of prison medical staff. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
As states expand vaccines, prisoners still lack access

By Katie Park And Ariel Goodman Of The Marshall Project And Kimberlee Kruesi Of The Associated Press Apr. 06, 2021 06:01 AM EDT

Carrie Shipp shows a tattoo on her arm for her children, April 2, 2021, in Irving, Texas. Shipp, whose 21-year-old son Matthew is incarcerated at Ruben M. Torres Unit in Texas, said her son decided not to get vaccinated out of fear and distrust of prison medical staff. Fewer than 20 percent of state and federal prisoners have received a COVID-19 vaccine, according to data collected by The Marshall Project and The Associated Press. “To have your child, someone you took care of be afraid of something that would protect them… I will lose sleep over it,” Shipp said. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
As states expand vaccines, prisoners still lack access

By Katie Park And Ariel Goodman Of The Marshall Project And Kimberlee Kruesi Of The Associated Press Apr. 06, 2021 06:00 AM EDT

Editorial Roundup: North Carolina

By The Associated Press Mar. 17, 2021 08:14 AM EDT
Recent editorials from North Carolina newspapers: ___ March 14 The Greensboro News & Record on...

Migrant community: Fire at Yemen hangar on Sunday killed 44

By Ahmed Al-Haj And Samy Magdy Mar. 10, 2021 02:15 PM EST
SANAA, Yemen (AP) — A fire that earlier this week tore through an overcrowded detention center for migrants in Yemen’s rebel-held capital has killed at least...

UN urges Yemen’s rebels to allow access to injured migrants

By Samy Magdy Mar. 08, 2021 02:43 PM EST
CAIRO (AP) — The U.N. migration agency Monday urged Yemen’s Houthi rebels to allow access to dozens of migrants injured in a fire at an overcrowded detention...

Signs and posters are left outside the Wisconsin governor's mansion in Maple Bluff, Wis., on June 18, 2020, as part of a "Drive to Decarcerate" event. Those attending urged Gov. Tony Evers to release inmates from Wisconsin's overcrowded prisons to slow the spread of COVID-19. Before the pandemic, Evers set a goal to cut the state's prison population in half. But 23 state prisons still exceed their designed capacity. (Coburn Dukehart/Wisconsin Watch via AP)
COVID rate in Wisconsin prisons five times higher than state

By Vanessa Swales Of Wisconsin Watch Feb. 20, 2021 01:01 AM EST

FILE - In this Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021, police officers detain a man during a protest against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow, Russia. Unprecedented nationwide protests have rocked Russia for two weekends in a row, with tens of thousands rallying in support of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Detainees are recounting their miserable experiences as Moscow jails were overwhelmed following mass arrests from protests in support of opposition leader Alexei Navalny this week. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
Moscow's jails overwhelmed with detained Navalny protesters

By Daria Litvinova Feb. 05, 2021 11:42 AM EST

Alabama parole board plans extra meetings to ease backlog

Jan. 29, 2021 08:47 AM EST
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama's parole agency plans to hold additional meetings to reduce a backlog of more than 8,000 requests for early release from the...

Zimbabwean journalist Hopwell Chin'ono arrives at the magistrates courts in Harare, Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021. On Friday, Zimbabwe police arrested the prominent journalist for the third time in six months. Chin’ono posted on his Twitter account that police had picked him from his house and said they were charging him with “communicating falsehoods.” (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
Zimbabwean journalist released on bail after weeks in prison

By Farai Mutsaka Jan. 27, 2021 06:22 AM EST

Efforts slow to reduce crowded Texas jail amid pandemic

By Juan A. Lozano Jan. 26, 2021 05:07 PM EST
HOUSTON (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday expressed frustration over what she saw as a lack of progress in efforts to try and relieve overcrowding at Texas’...

Inmate releases debated at Texas' biggest jail amid pandemic

By Juan A. Lozano Jan. 15, 2021 04:50 PM EST
HOUSTON (AP) — A federal judge on Friday asked officials to review how more than 1,900 inmates in Texas’ largest county jail could be released to relieve...

FILE - In this Sept. 8, 2012 file photo, a Pakistani paramilitary soldier stands guard on the rooftop as a police officer escorts prisoners at central prison on the outskirts of Rawalpindi, Pakistan. A joint human rights report by London-based Amnesty International and Justice Project Pakistan report released Monday, Dec. 14, 2020 harshly criticized Pakistan’s response to the coronavirus threat faced by tens of thousands of inmates living in overcrowded and often unsanitary prisons. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed, File)
COVID-19 runs unchecked in Pakistan's overcrowded prisons

By Kathy Gannon Dec. 13, 2020 02:06 PM EST

Kentucky reopens former private prison closed after scandal

Dec. 05, 2020 12:20 PM EST
WHEELWRIGHT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced on Friday that the Department of Corrections has officially reopened a prison in Floyd County that...

Family members of the inmates of Sri Lanka's Mahara prison complex gather demanding to know the present condition of their relatives following an overnight unrest in Mahara, on the outskirts of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Monday, Nov. 30, 2020. Sri Lankan officials say six inmates were killed and 35 others were injured when guards opened fire to control a riot at a prison on the outskirts of the capital. Two guards were critically injured. Pandemic-related unrest has been growing in Sri Lanka's overcrowded prisons. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Rights group asks Sri Lanka to probe deadly prison unrest

By Krishan Francis Dec. 01, 2020 12:29 AM EST

A family member of an inmate cries demanding the authorities reveal the condition of her relative as others console her outside the Mahara prison complex following an overnight unrest in Mahara, outskirts of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Monday, Nov. 30, 2020. Sri Lankan officials say six inmates were killed and 35 others were injured when guards opened fire to control a riot at a prison on the outskirts of the capital. Two guards were critically injured. Pandemic-related unrest has been growing in Sri Lanka's overcrowded prisons. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Asia Today: 8 dead in pandemic unrest at Sri Lanka prison

Nov. 30, 2020 02:27 AM EST

Sri Lankan inmates of the Mahara prison come out from a damaged building following an overnight unrest in Mahara, outskirts of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Monday, Nov. 30, 2020. Sri Lankan officials say six inmates were killed and 35 others were injured when guards opened fire to control a riot at a prison on the outskirts of the capital. Two guards were critically injured. Pandemic-related unrest has been growing in Sri Lanka's overcrowded prisons. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Sri Lankan prison riot leaves 8 inmates dead, 59 injured

By Bharatha Mallawarachi Nov. 29, 2020 01:57 PM EST