Photo: Meredity Nierman / WGBH A Massachusetts state prison is expanding the graveyard where it buries inmates who die in custody, one consequence of the state’s huge increase in aging prisoners. And as more inmates age and die behind bars, the cost of their care is skyrocketing, fueling new efforts to release prisoners who are too […]
Other News
In this section you'll find recent developments and news stories that are relevant to our work.
FDC withdraws proposed rule to cut prison visitation hours From WCTV
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (CNS) — Prison reform groups are celebrating a victory after a proposed rule to cut visitation hours in Florida prisons was withdrawn after extensive public outcry. The Florida Department of Corrections had been trying to cut prison visitation hours since February. The department was met with outrage from families of those behind bars. “I […]
Despite Privatization, Prison Health Costs Continue To Rise From WUSF
As a candidate, Gov. Rick Scott pitched the idea of having private companies provide health care to the state’s prisoners in a plan to save taxpayers $1 billion over seven years. But in the first five years of privatization, the cost has climbed from $278 million to $375 million. Privatization isn’t the only cause for […]
Florida inmates’ families will have to pay for video “visits” From the Tampa Bay Times
TALLAHASSEE — Faced with in-person visitations slashed in half and an offer to pay for the privilege, a coalition of inmate families and reformers announced Thursday they will fight the Florida Department of Corrections where hurts: in the pocketbook. The Campaign for Prison Reform said it will boycott a new FDC program that will allow […]
Florida prisons see visitation upheaval as corrections officials cite contraband crisis From the Florida Times-Union
After a ramp up of enforcement that led to thousands of prisoner visitor strip searches beginning last summer, the Florida Department of Corrections will cut visitation days in half, saying it can’t safely facilitate the process. Since July, Florida corrections officials have implemented a contraband crackdown that has weighed heavily on inmates’ girlfriends, wives and […]
Arizona death row inmates die from hepatitis C, not lethal injection From KHOU
PHOENIX — Since executions were put on hold by a federal judge in 2014, five Arizona death-row inmates have died of “natural causes.” All of them were related to hepatitis C infections, according to attorneys and relatives of the dead prisoners. The medical director at the Arizona prison complex that until last year housed the majority of death […]
Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2018 From the Prison Policy Initiative
By Peter Wagner and Wendy Sawyer March 14, 2018 Press release Can it really be true that most people in jail are being held before trial? And how much of mass incarceration is a result of the war on drugs? These questions are harder to answer than you might think, because our country’s systems of confinement are so […]
Prisoner Rights Advocates Rally Against Visitation Cutbacks In Florida Prisons From WUFT
They arrived in street-parked caravans carrying stark white banners and neon signs with slogans like, “Invest in people, not in prisons.” Several of them donned black-and-white striped prisoners costumes as they gathered to the screech of the megaphone and the beat of a snare drum. Around 50 protesters were barred from the building by police tape. […]
More Prison Inmates Get Access to Hepatitis-C Drugs From the Wall Street Journal
Massachusetts state prison officials agreed to expand treatment for inmates with hepatitis C, in the first settlement among several class-action lawsuits accusing state prison systems of denying many prisoners access to costly drugs. Drugmakers including Gilead Sciences Inc., AbbVie Inc. and Merck & Co. since 2013 have . . . Read the full article.
Visitation cut at Florida state prisons. Agency cites staff shortages, safety concerns From the Miami Herald
Citing severe staff shortages and safety concerns, Florida has taken the drastic step of curtailing visitation at all 50 state prisons. The smuggling of cellphones, weapons and drugs continues unabated throughout the state, leading to turmoil that has threatened the safety of corrections officers, staff and inmates, officials said. But one state lawmaker said the […]
