Prisons
Pennsylvania drops mask mandate

Jun. 28, 2021 10:37 AM EDT
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania lifted its mask mandate on Monday, more than 14 months after the administration of Gov. Tom Wolf began requiring people to...

NYC jails to resume in-person visits after pandemic pause

Jun. 25, 2021 08:47 AM EDT
NEW YORK (AP) — In-person visits at New York City jails are resuming after being suspended at the start of the coronavirus crisis. The...

Death-row inmates of Sri Lanka's Welikada prison protest holding banners from the roof of the prison in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, June 25, 2021. About 150 death-row inmates in Sri Lanka began a hunger strike to demand their sentences be commuted, prison officials said, after the nation's president pardoned a former lawmaker who had been condemned for an election-related killing. Banners read "Treat all inmates equally," "Grant bail on appeal applications," "Minister! Stop bogus promises," "Grant pardon to us like you did to terrorists and notorious politicians." (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Death row inmates in Sri Lanka protest ex-lawmaker's pardon

By Bharatha Mallawarachi Jun. 25, 2021 03:15 AM EDT

FILE - In this June 2, 2020, file photo, Michael Carvajal, director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, testifies during a Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington. Senior officials in the Biden administration have been discussing whether to remove the director of the beleaguered federal Bureau of Prisons, one of the few remaining officials from the Trump administration. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Pool via AP)
AP sources: Officials mulling ousting US prisons director

By Michael Balsamo And Michael R. Sisak Jun. 23, 2021 01:47 PM EDT

25 people in jail custody test positive for COVID-19

Jun. 23, 2021 08:30 AM EDT
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Officials confirmed Tuesday that another COVID-19 outbreak at Multnomah County’s Inverness Jail has infected 25 people in custody in the...

Min Min Soe, a lawyer assigned by the National League for Democracy party to represent deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, meet journalists in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Monday, June 21, 2021. As the trial for ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi entered its second week, her lawyers said prosecution witnesses testified about charges that she had illegally imported and used walkie-talkies for her bodyguards, and along with Win Myint, president in her government, had flouted laws on public gatherings that were meant to combat the spread of COVID-19. (AP Photo)
Suu Kyi tells lawyers trial testimony against her is wrong

By Grant Peck Jun. 21, 2021 11:42 AM EDT

FILE - This file photo released April 19, 2013, by the Federal Bureau of Investigation shows Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, convicted for carrying out the April 15, 2013, Boston Marathon bombing attack that killed three people and injured more than 260. The most prominent step on the death penalty by an administration led by a president who pledged during campaigning to eradicate capital punishment came this week when it asked the Supreme Court to reinstate the Boston Marathon bomber’s death sentence. (FBI via AP, File)
Biden's silence on executions adds to death penalty disarray

By Michael Tarm Jun. 18, 2021 06:00 AM EDT

COVID-19 early release program for inmates to end July 1

By Denise Lavoie Jun. 16, 2021 02:27 PM EDT
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — As the coronavirus pandemic raged over the past year, Virginia prison officials released more than 2,100 inmates early to try to control...

Editorial Roundup: Pennsylvania

By The Associated Press Jun. 16, 2021 09:00 AM EDT
York Dispatch. June 14, 2021. Editorial: Awful ‘audit’ idea hatched by GOP in Pa. It seemed only a matter of time...

Prison that housed Connecticut death row is closes early

Jun. 11, 2021 04:43 PM EDT
SOMERS, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut has closed the maximum security prison that once housed the state's death row. Gov. Ned Lamont announced...

Virus outbreaks in Hawaii jails prompt inmate lawsuit

By Jennifer Sinco Kelleher Jun. 09, 2021 07:13 PM EDT
HONOLULU (AP) — A class-action lawsuit on behalf of Hawaii inmates says the state has failed to protect people from COVID-19 outbreaks in unsanitary jails. ...

This photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows Raymond Riles. Riles, the longest serving death row inmate in the U.S. was resentenced to life in prison on Wednesday, June 9, 2021 after prosecutors in Texas concluded the 71-year-old man is ineligible for execution and incompetent for retrial due to his long history of mental illness. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice via AP, File)
Longest serving death row inmate in US resentenced to life

By Juan A. Lozano Jun. 09, 2021 04:53 PM EDT

Editorial Roundup: New York

By The Associated Press Jun. 09, 2021 01:10 PM EDT
Albany Times Union. June 4, 2021. Editorial: An institutional problem THE ISSUE: COVID-19...

Wisconsin prisons to resume in-person visits

Jun. 07, 2021 02:58 PM EDT
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin prison officials announced Monday they will a ban on in-person visits later this month as the COVID-19 pandemic subsides. ...

Sheriff, watchdog group at odds over confidential calls

By Kevin Mcgill Jun. 07, 2021 12:49 PM EDT
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A watchdog group is calling on New Orleans jail officials to do more to assure that inmates can have private conversations with attorneys. ...

Broward County, Fla., public defender Gordon Weekes poses Friday, June 4, 2021, in San Francisco. By the middle of 2020, the number of people in jails nationwide was at its lowest point in more than two decades, according to a new report by the Vera Institute of Justice, whose researchers collected population numbers from about half of the nation’s 3,300 jails to make national estimates. Judges in multiple counties said they are now more likely to release people to await resolution of their cases at home than in jail, and are in conversation with others in the system to bolster electronic monitoring and other programs to keep an eye on people pre-trial. But it’s not clear if these changes will stick. “It’s a slow progression back into what people know,” said Weekes. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
Jails emptied in the pandemic. Should they stay that way?

By Weihua Li And Beth Schwartzapfel Of The Marshall Project And Michael R. Sisak Of The Associated Press Jun. 07, 2021 10:01 AM EDT

An elevated walkway leading from the Miami-Dade County Pre-Trial Detention Center to the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building is shown, Friday, June 4, 2021, in Miami. By the middle of 2020, the number of people in jails nationwide was at its lowest point in more than two decades, according to a new report by the Vera Institute of Justice, whose researchers collected population numbers from about half of the nation’s 3,300 jails to make national estimates. But the numbers have begun creeping back up again as courts are back in session and the world begins returning to a modified version of normal. It’s worrying criminal justice reformers who argue that the past year proved there is no need to keep so many people locked up in the U.S. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Jails emptied in the pandemic. Should they stay that way?

By Weihua Li And Beth Schwartzapfel Of The Marshall Project And Michael R. Sisak Of The Associated Press Jun. 07, 2021 10:00 AM EDT

Illinois state Rep. Maurice West, D-Rockford, introduces Senate Bill 825, an election omnibus bill which would change Illinois' 2022 primary election from March 15 to June 28 along with voter access changes, on the floor of the Illinois House of Representatives at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Ill., Monday, May 31, 2021. (Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register via AP)
While states restrict voting, Illinois would expand access

By John O'connor Jun. 06, 2021 09:38 AM EDT

Some South Carolina prisons to resume in-person visits

Jun. 02, 2021 02:09 PM EDT
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Some South Carolina prisons will allow in-person visits this month, more than a year after officials canceled visitations due to the...

Judge: COVID was reason for jail to go from books to tablets

May. 31, 2021 10:15 AM EDT
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Officials at a Louisiana jail reacted reasonably to the COVID-19 pandemic by taking away printed books and giving inmates tablets on which...