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03/09/10: California: Alameda County Jail Workers Go On Strike
More than 140 healthcare workers who treat inmates at Alameda County jails are striking over contract negotiations. Tuesday's one-day strike includes nurses, physicians assistants and dental assistants at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin and Glenn Dyer Detention Facility in Oakland. The workers say Tennessee-based Prison Health Services has not been negotiating a new contract in good faith and has backtracked after agreeing to a 10-percent increase in wage and health care benefits.
KTVU News 2
03/09/10: Kentucky: Woman charged with murder of dead baby found at prison
A 20-year-old Corbin woman has been charged with murder after she gave birth to a baby girl in a visitors' restroom at a state prison here on Sunday and hid the baby in a trash bin, police said. The baby was found dead hours later. Kentucky State Police arrested Ashley Nicole Cox on Monday and charged her with first-degree murder and concealing the birth of an infant. Cox was being held at the Oldham County Jail. Preliminary autopsy results show her baby was alive and healthy when she was born at the Roederer Correctional Complex, police said. The cause of death has not been determined.
By Andre Udhe, Cincinnati Enquirer
03/09/10: Florida: Sheriff, CCA lobby Hernando commissioners to run county jail
Promising commissioners the same level of efficiency he has achieved in his own agency, Sheriff Richard Nugent made his pitch to take over the county jail to Hernando County commissioners on Tuesday. Corrections Corporation of America, which runs the jail now, pleaded its own case for keeping the contract, citing a 22-year history of working well with Hernando. Company officials also urged the board to be certain it had full information before making a decision. Reversing a long-held position, the Nashville-based company offered to open its books to allow the sheriff and the county to examine operational costs, something it has refused to do before, citing confidentiality concerns.
By Barbara Behrendt, St. Petersburg Times
03/09/10: Kentucky: Prison incidents reveal lapses at lockups
Days after a Texas prison trusty sneaked into a Sugar Land Walmart to buy cigarettes, contraband-sniffing dogs outside Beaumont's Stiles Unit pinpointed a cache of tobacco, 19 cell phones and 18 phone chargers hidden behind a prison food barn. Both cases came on the heels of the discovery of 200 packages of forbidden tobacco and 4 gallons of booze stashed outside the fences of Brazoria County's Darrington Unit. To Texas Sen. John Whitmire, chairman of the Senate's criminal justice committee, the February contraband cases show that recent security improvements at state lockups haven't made prisons secure enough.
Houston Chronicle
03/08/10: Arizona: Arizona inmates picking up trash along interstate
State agencies are teaming up to use prison inmate labor to clean up Arizona highways. The new initiative between the Departments of Corrections and Transportation was announced Monday by state Sen. Al Melvin during a brief Senate floor speech. Melvin said inmates have started picking up trash along Interstate 10 between Phoenix and Tucson and that future stages will have them cutting down dead trees and clearing brush.
Associated Press
03/08/10: Michigan: Baraga Max Officer is Michigan C.O. of the Year
A corrections officer at Baraga Max Prison is the best at what he does in Michigan. Shawn Minerick is Michigan's Corrections Officer of the Year. The honor comes from the Michigan Correctional Training Council.
ABC News 10
03/08/10: New Jersey: Assembly committee plans to study N.J. prison inmate population
New Jersey's Assembly Judiciary Committee wants to create a panel to study the state's prison inmate population. The Blue Ribbon Panel to Review New Jersey's Inmate Policy would analyze things including race, length of incarceration and participation in prison education and jobs programs. Committee Chairwoman Linda Greenstein says the bill cuts language from an earlier version that would have allowed the review of individual prisoners.
Associated Press
03/08/10: South Carolina: Info sought after corrections officer shot
Crimestoppers wants your help finding the person who shot a Midlands corrections officer in his own home. Robert Johnson works for the S.C. Department of Corrections. Sumter police say someone went into his home early Friday and shot him in the chest.
WIS News 10
03/07/10: Arizona: State using Kino for inmate care, costing Pima
The Arizona Department of Corrections is sending hundreds of inmates to Kino Hospital's emergency room every month, shifting much of the cost of their care to Pima County taxpayers - and making it more likely that Tucsonans will be treated alongside criminals. The state is paying less than it used to for inmate care, leaving the county to pick up the slack. The change also requires the county to spend up to $500,000 on safety and security upgrades, said Honey Pivirotto, Pima County assistant administrator for health policy.
By Bethany Conway, Arizona Daily Star
03/07/10: Maryland: Frivolous lawsuit? Not up to prison officials to decide
Prison inmates throughout the country fill local courthouses with lawsuits that appear
frivolous. Raymond Taylor, serving three life sentences for attempted murder, seemed
to have joined this dubious group when he sued a woman in a petty dispute over drawings
of cartoon characters. Taylor was locked in a cell in Cumberland. The defendant -
who Taylor claimed never paid him $685 for his purported sketches of Shrek and Garfield
to be sold at a flea market - lived 256 miles away in Princess Anne.
By Peter Hermann,
Baltimore Sun
03/06/10: California: State Overtime May Be Canceling Out Savings By Furloughs
Like many other state employees, prison nurse Nellie Larot was hit last year with furloughs that cut her salary: It dropped $10,000, to $92,000. But she more than made up for it by working extra shifts, raking in $177,512 in overtime, according to state records. Her total $270,000 in earnings last year eclipsed the $225,000 paid to Matthew Cate, head of the entire state prison system.
By Patrick McGreevy, LA Times
03/06/10: Maryland: 1 fired, 7 more disciplined for inmate's release
The state prison agency said Friday it has fired one employee and disciplined seven others whose sloppy work led to the mistaken release of in inmate serving three life terms. The Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services said the workers included correctional officers, their uniformed supervisors and administrators of the Maryland Correctional Adjustment Center in Baltimore. Three of the workers were suspended without pay, while three others received reprimands
By DAVID DISHNEAU, Associated Press
03/06/10: Oklahoma: Jail Closing 'Big Blow' For Watonga
The mayor of Watonga said the decision to close the Diamondback Correctional Facility will be a big blow to his city's economy. The facility is expected to close within the next 60 days. The decision means that more than 300 Oklahoma employees will be out of work or forced to transfer to other jobs out of state.
KOCO News 5
03/05/10: Colorado: Prison Guards Warn Against More Budget Cuts
Pam Kahanic was working as a corrections supervisor when the state cut 588 full-time
employees during the last recession in 2002. In 2007, when state lawmakers were still
struggling to cover staffing shortages created by those cuts, an inmate took her
hostage and slashed her throat. On Friday, she begged lawmakers not to make that
mistake again as lawmakers look for ways to cover a $1.5 billion shortfall in next
year's $18 billion budget. "Cutting staff any more or reducing training we receive
will only make the job that much more dangerous," she said. "We just can't afford
to have any more staff taken away from us."
By Steven K Paulson, Associated Press
03/05/10: Tennessee: Private prison company loses appeal over records
A magazine that advocates for the rights of prisoners has won another round in the legal battle with private prison giant Corrections Corporation of America. The Tennessee Supreme Court has declined to hear CCA's appeal of a lower court's ruling that it must turn over some documents on lawsuits and complaints against the company. Alex Friedmann, a former prisoner who is now an editor at Prison Legal News, asked for the information in April 2007 and sued Nashville-based CCA after the company refused to turn it over.
Associated Press
03/04/10: Arizona: Sheriff Joe Arpaio: I'll take all juvenile inmates
A proposal from Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio to take custody of all of Arizona's juvenile inmates offers a glimpse into the complexities of dismantling the state Department of Juvenile Corrections. Gov. Jan Brewer's budget proposes eliminating the $63 million agency, an idea that raises significant concern among county officials around the state. They fear the costs of caring for juvenile inmates will be pushed back on to their taxpayers.
By JJ Hensley and Yvonne Wingett, Arizona Republic
03/04/10: California: State prison cuts could backfire, report says
Recent cuts to California prison programs could result in more former inmates returning to prison and an increase in prison crowding, according to a draft state report. The report from the California Rehabilitation Oversight Board, charged with overseeing rehabilitation programs, appears to contradict contentions by state prison officials who have said the budget cuts would not affect recidivism rates and will make prison programs more effective. The report warns that the $250 million cut from inmate programs this year "may well mean that the hoped for reduction in recidivism will not be achieved any time soon," and that without those reductions "it seems likely that California will be unable to get control of the inmate population crisis."
By Maria Lagos, San Francisco Chronic
03/04/10: Georgia: Baldwin prison to close by May 1
The Georgia Department of Corrections has made it official: Bostick State Prison in Baldwin County, already tabbed for closure, will shut down by May 1. The 700-bed facility is a 1950s-era dormitory that was converted for prison use in 1987. It lacks the safety features of other state prisons, requires more staff and is more expensive to run, the department said. The department expects to save about $6.7 million a year by closing the prison, and its shutdown already is written into the state budget, which is working its way through the Georgia General Assembly
By Travis Fain, Macon
03/04/10: Kentucky: As prison costs soar, new trend and local non-profit save money
Kentucky lawmakers are examining every penny in the Commonwealth's budget as the state faces more than a $1 billion shortfall in the next two years. And while funds for education and healthcare are at risk, it might surprise you that on average $19,000 is spent yearly to house each inmate in the state. With over 21,000 people incarcerated, that adds up to a lot of money.
By Carrie Weil, WAVE News 3
03/04/10: Illinois: Cook County Jail downsizes as inmate population drops
he has shuttered one building and will soon close another, saving up to an estimated $15 million a year and easing staffing woes. Surrounded by rows of empty metal bunk beds in closed Division 2, Dart told reporters he believed this marked the first time ever that the sprawling West Side jail had been downsized. The closings lower the jail's capacity to about 9,100, down some 900 beds.
Tribune
03/04/10: Michigan: Geo Prison to Remain Closed, Community Devastated
It's been a
prison decision waiting game, and the end result is not good news for Northern Michigan.
The Geo Prison in Lake County will not reopen anytime soon. The Federal Bureau of
Prisons decided not to move forward on a contract with the prison in Baldwin.
News
9
03/04/10: New York: Safety, bureaucracy among union's gripes
AUBURN - Area correctional officers rallied Thursday in Auburn against the proposed 2011 closure of four state correctional facilities, including a portion of Butler Correctional Facility in Red Creek, which employs a number of people from Cayuga County and Auburn. More than 40 people, most of them members of the 3,000-strong New York State Correctional Officers Police Benevolent Association, went to the rally at the Ukrainian National Club to share information and unite against the closures. “To hamper public safety and the safety of correctional officers and our employees ... that doesn't fit,” said Christopher Hickey, executive vice president of NYSCOPBA.
By Kelly Voll, The Citizen
03/03/10: Connecticut: Law denies inmate access to guard info.
The Freedom of Information law is designed to help people find out what their government is doing. But when prison inmates use it, lawmakers are ready to draw a line. There are approximately 4,500 correction officers working at the state's 18 prisons, guarding and supervising a prison population of approximately 18,000 inmates. What has prompted this legislation is the requests by some inmates for correction officers' personal information such as where they live under the State's Freedom of Information Law.
WTNH News 8
03/03/10: States reduce prison populations as budgets shrink
Many state governments continued last year to reduce their prison populations through sentencing reforms enacted because of shrinking state budgets, according to two reports released Wednesday by a research group that advocates for lower rates of imprisonment. In 2009, at least 19 states adopted criminal justice policies intended to cut down on the number of prisoners they house by shortening sentences, according to the Sentencing Project. For example, Minnesota, New York and Rhode Island each scaled back mandatory sentencing laws for some drug offenses.
By Krissah Thompson, Washington Post
03/02/10: California: New jail program targets illegal immigrants
Sonoma County this week will become the first in the Bay Area in which anyone booked into the county jail automatically will have their immigration status checked.
Under the program announced Tuesday by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, the fingerprints of those arrested will be electronically sent to the Department of Homeland Security for comparison with more than 100 million fingerprint records. Those with immigration records will be flagged for review by ICE agents.
By Julie Johnson, Press Democrat
03/02/10: Florida: Hernando County sheriff considers taking over jail operations
After researching the matter, Sheriff Richard Nugent believes he can take over operations of the Hernando County Jail and save the county money. Due to the current economic condition of the county and the continually rising cost of the county's contract with Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) to operate the jail, Nugent said Tuesday he has conducted research into the possibility of his office assuming the task. The sheriff will make a presentation to county commissioners at their meeting next Tuesday.
Hernando Today
03/01/10: Illinois: Lawmakers rail on state's juvenile prison system
Illinois’ system
for handling young criminals came under searing criticism Tuesday by lawmakers who
said the agency has been mismanaged since it was formed in 2006. In a review of an
audit covering the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice’s first two years of existence,
members of a legislative panel raised questions about the cost of treating youthful
offenders, as well as the agency’s apparent failure to hire guards despite having
the money to do so. “This isn’t normal,” said state Sen. Chris Lauzen, R- Aurora,
pointing to the nearly $200,000 per year cost to incarcerate each of the 19 minors
at a juvenile prison north of Alton. “This is bizarre spending of money.”
By Kurt Erickson, Journal Gazette, Times Courier
03/02/10: Oregon: Juvenile correction staff get drug, alcohol training
The state's juvenile corrections agency plans to begin dramatically increasing the number of staff members formally certified to deliver alcohol and drug counseling to youth offenders when it begins training counselors this month. Twenty-five Oregon Youth Authority staff members from the North Coast and MacLaren youth correctional facilities in Warrenton and Woodburn, respectively, will begin formal training at the Warrenton facility March 10. Although the agency has a number of staff members with training in alcohol and drug counseling, only two staff members at these facilities are certified by the Addiction Counselor Certification Board of Oregon.
KOIN News 6
03/02/10: Oregon: Jail's first female commander steps in
Commander Sheila Lorance has a closet full of boxes begging to be unpacked onto empty shelves in her new office at the Marion County jail, but that will have to wait. Lorance, who becomes the first female institutions division commander in the sheriff's office's history, was promoted to the position last week and started Monday. "It's a challenge and it is really exciting," Lorance said. "I have a lot to learn."
By Stacey Barchenger, Statesman Journal
03/02/10: Pennsylvania: Prison head: Release short-term state inmates to halfway houses
The head of the state prison system today outlined steps that could be taken at little or no cost to free up as many as 2,000 prison beds statewide and save the state $200 million, the cost of a new prison. Current law prevents the Department of Corrections from sending newly jailed inmates -- even those with a "short sentence," meaning less than a year to serve -- to community correctional facilities or halfway houses, Corrections Secretary Jeffrey Beard told the Senate Appropriations Committee. All new inmates now must go to state prison for the first nine months of their sentence. Since more than 3,500 inmates with short sentences enter the prison system each year, they are a major driver of the state's prison-overcrowding problem.
By Tom Barnes, Post-Gazette
A male inmate serving a prison sentence for sexual assault attacked a female correctional officer early Monday at the Mount Pleasant state prison, state officials said. The assault renewed questions about the adequacy of prison staffing in the wake of recent state budget cuts. The incident happened about 3 a.m. inside the Mount Pleasant prison’s sex offender unit when Antonio Mikhal Johnson, 24, stuffed a piece of clothing into the officer’s mouth and wrestled her to the floor, said Fred Scaletta, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Corrections.
By William Pertowski, DesMoines Register
02/28/10: Vermont: Jail guard says denial of medication led to attack by mentally ill inmate
A Corrections guard attacked by a mentally ill inmate in 2005 is suing the company that provided health care services to prisons statewide at the time, alleging the firm denied the inmate prescription medications meant to control his penchant for violent outbursts. The guard, Christopher Barrett of Newport, sustained a traumatic brain injury as a result of the attack by Daniel Heart, 46, of Whiting, and he has been unable to return to his job at the Northern State Correctional Facility in Newport, where the attack occurred. Heart was convicted of aggravated assault following the incident.
By Sam Hemingway, Free Press
02/23/10: Connecticut: Prison population declining
Connecticut's Department of Correction says the state's prison population has dropped by almost 5 percent over the past year, and the downward trend is likely to continue at a slower pace. According to the Feb. 14 population forecast report, the number of prisoners went from 18,978 in January 2009 to 18,052 in January 2010, a sharper decline than anticipated. The report says while arrest rates have remained steady over the past five years, the prison population dropped because of a reorganization of the parole process, and better use of community-based programs.
Associated Press
02/23/10: Louisiana: Juvenile justice in Louisiana making transition from confinement to treatment
This isn't the same Louisiana lock-up where a teenager died after a guard knocked him to the ground seven years ago, one of the last horrors to unfold at a youth prison before the state ended its historic practice of treating juvenile delinquents the same as adult convicts. For starters, the 132-bed riverside campus is called the Bridge City Center for Youth, not a "correctional" facility. Instead of a warden, Linda London is the director.
By Gwen Filosa, The Times-Picayune
02/23/10: Nevada: State workers protest cuts, call for fairness
As lawmakers met inside the Legislature to try to hammer out solutions to the state's budget crisis, state workers paraded up and down the sidewalk in front of the building carrying placards and shouting, “They say cut back, we say give back!” Aldo Vennettilli, area field services director for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO, said a couple of hundred people turned out for the rally, showing up mainly on their lunch hours to let Gov. Jim Gibbons and legislators know that they've had enough Ron Brady, a retired state worker, said he came out because he doesn't like what the governor is doing.
By Sandi Hoover, Nevada Appeal
02/23/10: South Carolina: Prison department expects $29M budget deficit
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford balked Tuesday at ordering the early release of nonviolent inmates to ease a $29 million deficit at the Department of Corrections. Instead, he said there needed to be consensus among all three branches of state government before any prisoners are set free early. The governor's comments came during the state Budget and Control Board meeting. The panel cleared the way for the prisons agency to spend more money than it has. It's the third time in three years the prisons agency has run short of cash as budget cuts have taken a toll on its operations.
By Jim Davenport, Associated Press
02/22/10: Colorado: Inmate assaults Limon prison employee
An employee of the Limon Correctional Facility was assaulted this morning by an inmate and is being treated for injuries, said Katherine Sanguinetti, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Corrections. The assault occurred about 10:25 a.m. Police in Limon said an ambulance was sent to the prison, which is about six miles southwest of downtown Limon.
By Howard Pankratz, The Denver Post
02/21/10: New York: Prison stats undercut jailhouse slashings: probe
A performance-measure ment system that was set up by Bernard Kerik when he was at
the city Correction Department in 1995 and is still in use today doesn't provide
the public with the full story on inmate slashings, according to the Department of
Investigation. "Violent jail incidents are recorded in the statistics without capturing
the actual number of slashing and stabbing victims," investigators wrote in an Aug.
27, 2008, memo obtained by The Post through the Freedom of Information Law. "A single
incident involving multiple slashings/stabbings is being classified in the same manner
as an incident where only one inmate is slashed/stabbed."
By David Seifman, NY Post
02/21/10: North Carolina: N.C. working to stem prison crowding problems
North Carolina is ready to begin a comprehensive effort to figure out how to curtail its swelling prison population, and state leaders hope it will create neither additional fears about public safety nor another political football on crime. With all three branches of government and both major parties on board, outside groups with expertise in criminal justice and corrections plan to roll out in the coming weeks a 1 to 3-year project. The hope is to lower recidivism rates and reduce the need for prisons.
Associated Press
02/21/10: Wyoming: Prison employees love work, worry about pay
The prototype Wyoming correctional employee likes his or her job but believes the pay could be better -- and so could the availability of affordable housing and child care. That composite could be Dee Garrison, who works at the Wyoming State Penitentiary at Rawlins. Garrison also is president of the Wyoming Association of Correctional Employees, which has members at all of the state's correctional institutions.
By Joan Barron, Star Tribune
As the state Department of Corrections closes its youth operations here, officials are paving the way for the former Heman G. Stark youth prison to become a part of the California Institution for Men. The change comes as the state deals with federal pressure to relieve inmate overcrowding in its prison system and as the state prison system is preparing to significantly increase its adult housing operations in the Chino Valley. Corrections officials are planning to bring nearly 3,000 more adult beds to the Stark site.
By Neil Nisperos, Whittier Daily News
02/20/10: New York: Jail guards, Sullivan County reach tentative 5-year contract
Sullivan County announced Friday that it has reached a tentative five-year contract with correction officers at the jail. But while county officials and the sheriff hailed the new contract, several correction officers blasted the proposal as unfair. "It is a slap in the face," said one officer, who was standing outside the jail and didn't want her name used. Several others said they doubted that officers would ultimately ratify the contract.
By Victor Whitman, Times Herald-Record
02/19/10: Colorado: CSP II will open this year
One tower of the new CSP II will have inmates in residence beginning Sept. 1, Gov. Bill Ritter announced Thursday. The Department of Corrections will begin hiring the 229 employees needed to run that portion of the prison July 1, spokeswoman Katherine Sanguinetti said. Transfer of 316 high-security inmates from various other facilities will begin Sept. 1.
Rachel Alexander, The Daily Record
02/19/10: North Carolina: Prison health care costs topped $230 million
Last fiscal year, the state of North Carolina spent nearly $230.9 million on health care costs for prison inmates. Inmates, however, don’t get their doctor bills totally paid by taxpayers. They’re charged
By Barry Smith, Sun Journal
02/18/10: California: Some California prison officers resent CHP
For years, the unions representing prison officers and California Highway Patrol officers have had a not-so-friendly rivalry. It boils up whenever The Bee reports on one or the other. This column reignited the flame last week by revealing that the state could sue the California Correctional Peace Officers Association over a $4 million tab run up over nearly five years.
By Jon Ortiz, Sacramento Bee
02/18/10: Illinois: Union will fight to keep prison workers employed
Closing the Thomson prison should not keep workers from finding jobs at nearby state prisons, a union official said Wednesday. Anders Lindall, a spokesman for the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, Council 31, said they have received notification from the state regarding the intention to close the Thomson prison effective April 30. This process is necessary in order for the federal government to take over the Thomson prison.
By Scott Levine, Associated Press
02/18/10: Maryland: Teacher found dead at Cheltenham youth detention center
An educator at a state-run juvenile detention center in Prince George's County was found dead on the facility's grounds Thursday, and her death is being investigated as a homicide, police said. Maryland State Police identified the woman as Hannah E. Wheeling, 65, of the 200 block of Portland Place in Bel Air in Harford County. Another employee at the Cheltenham Youth Facility found Wheeling's partially clothed body about 7:45 a.m. in a secluded area just outside the Murphy Cottage -- a building beyond the facility's fence that houses 20 boys deemed not dangerous to themselves or others, police said
By Matt Zapotosky, Washington Post
02/18/10: Massachusetts: Union files suit to stop double-bunking at prison in Shirley
The
state corrections officers' union has filed a federal injunction to stop the state
from double-bunking prisoners at the maximum-security Souza-Baranowski Correctional
Center in Shirley. In September 2008, the state Department of Correction began placing
two inmates in 450 single-occupancy cells. The double-bunking also increased the
number of prisoners who participated in out-of-cell activities at any given time,
and double-bunking increased in up to six Special Management Unit cells.
By Lisa Redmond, Lowell Sun
02/18/10: New York: State denies prison permission to continue to go over capacity
The State Commission of Correction, citing its disapproval of the Erie County Correctional Facility, decided Wednesday to no longer allow the prison to exceed its capacity—a decision that threatens to cost county taxpayers. After March 1, the prison might have to board extra inmates in other counties, at a cost of around $100 a day, because the state commission doubts the correctional facility can handle even moderate overflow. “Does the loss of these variances mean that the county will be required to house inmates outside of Erie County?
By Matthew Spina, Buffalo News
02/17/10: Alabama: Prison system to graduate year's first class of correctional officers
Graduation ceremonies will be Thursday for the first of four classes of correctional officers that the Alabama Department of Corrections plans to add to its ranks this year. According to a department news release, 119 officers are scheduled to graduate. The ceremony will be in J.A. Pickard Auditorium at The School of Discovery in Selma. Based on overall numbers, the Alabama prison system's ratio is about 12 inmates to one line officer, about twice the national figure.
By Tom Gordon, The Birmingham News
02/17/10: Michigan: Corrections Officers Protest Inmate Release Plan
Local prison officials and corrections officers picked up their signs to protest Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s inmate early release plan. “Put them somewhere else, Jenny,” said one protestor Wednesday, referring to Granholm's idea to let inmates out of state prisons early. The move is designed to save the state money, but protestors claim it could end up putting residents and their families in danger.
WNEM News 5
02/17/10: Montana: ACLU Seeking UN Intervention in Montana Inmate Case
The American Civil Liberties Union asked the United Nations on Wednesday to intervene in the case of a Montana State Prison inmate the ACLU says is being subjected to "torturous" treatment. The ACLU and the ACLU of Montana sent a letter to the United Nations special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, asking him to review the case of the inmate identified as "Robert Doe." The ACLU sued the state in December, alleging mistreatment of Doe, who at the time was 17.
Associated Press
02/16/10: Illinois:Illinois set to close Thomson prison
The state of Illinois intends to close the nearly vacant Thomson Correctional Center effective April 30, according to a letter sent to the union representing prison employees. “This notice is part of the process the state must go through in order to close the prison, declare the property surplus and then to sell it to the federal government,” Januari Smith, a spokesperson for the state Department of Corrections, said in a statement Tuesday. The Obama administration wants to buy the nearly vacant prison to house 1,600 federal inmates, as well as a limited number of suspected terrorists who are now being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
By Ed Tibbits, Quad City Times
02/16/10: Maryland: Feds allow prison phone jamming test
Equipment that jams cell phones will get its first federally sanctioned test inside a prison in Maryland this week, as state officials try to show Congress how the technology can prevent inmates from using the contraband devices to commit crimes, a governor's spokesman said Tuesday. The state wants to show the equipment can be used without interfering with emergency response and legitimate signals outside the prison perimeter, said Shaun Adamec, Gov. Martin O'Malley's spokesman. The Federal Communication Commission can only allow federal agencies — not state or local authorities — permission to jam cell phone signals.
Associated Press
02/16/10: New York: Corrections officers use radio, TV to fight prison closings
In
response to the governor's Executive Budget proposal to close four prisons in New
York state, the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association
announced an advertising campaign that is now appearing on television, radio, the
Internet, and in voters mailboxes. The state Department of Correctional Services
budget proposes closing Lyon Mountain minimum security prison in Clinton County and
Butler minimum security prison in Wayne County in January 2011. Additionally, the
Moriah shock facility in Essex County and Ogdensburg medium security prison in St.
Lawrence County would close in April 2011.
By Andrew Beam, Legislative Gazette
02/16/10: Nevada: State May Close Maximum Security Juvenile Detention Center
Juvenile criminal offenders housed at Summit View in Las Vegas are facing eviction. The state's only high-security rehabilitation center for juveniles is on the chopping block. By the time Summit View closes in May, some of the juveniles will be paroled. But about 20 will need to be transferred to other facilities in Elko and Caliente.
News 8
02/16/10: North Carolina: Governor says state can't afford inmate bill
Governor Beverly Perdue said Tuesday she's outraged after learning the state wasted millions on inmate healthcare. It's a problem she says she thought was fixed. A former senator whom she recently appointed to the State Parole Commission is at the center of the controversy. Perdue says the state can't afford the whopping inmate healthcare bill, but she stopped short of blaming anyone in particular.
WTVD News 11
02/16/10: Texas: Prison officials seek waiver from some budget cuts
Texas prison administrators have submitted plans to comply with a proposed 5 percent budget cut but warned that unless the agency gets an exemption from some of the cuts, the state will have to lay off thousands of employees and recidivism and the inmate population will increase. The proposed reductions for the nation's second-biggest prison system were disclosed Tuesday in a letter from Texas Department of Criminal Justice Executive Director Brad Livingston to the governor's office and the Legislative Budget Board. Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Joe Straus last month asked all state agencies to offer proposals cutting 5 percent of their budgets to deal with a projected state budget shortfall from $10 billion to as high as $16 billion next year. Deadline for the proposals was Monday.
By Michael Graczyk, Associated Press
02/15/10: New Mexico: Bullets fly through prison guard's home
An Albuquerque man, who had his house shot at, thinks he may have been targeted because he works as a correctional officer at a state penitentiary. The man, who asked that his identity be concealed, said someone fired five shots into his home near Eubank and Indian School early Saturday morning. "It came through and went into the kitchen cabinet," he said as he pointed to a patched bullet hole in his dining room wall. "It's just an unbelievable feeling that somebody driving by your home at 3:00 in the morning firing into your home."
By Ian Schwartz, KRQE News
02/15/10: Oklahoma: Women’s prison alternative plan advances in Oklahoma House
House subcommittee on judiciary and public safety voted 8-0 Monday for a bill to develop an alternative program intended to help keep nonviolent women offenders from going to prison. It would be similar to Tulsa County’s Women in Recovery program, which started in June. Women selected to the Tulsa County program are nonviolent offenders but didn’t qualify for drug court or mental health court programs
By Michael McNutt, The Oklahoman
02/14/10: Arizona: Oldest US death row inmate dead at 94 in Arizona
Deaf, nearly blind, confined to a wheelchair and suffering from dementia and mental illness, the oldest death row inmate in the United States has died of natural causes at age 94. Viva Leroy Nash died late Friday at the state's prison complex in Florence, said an Arizona Department of Corrections spokesman. Nash was still officially on death row, but spokesman Barrett Marson said Sunday he did not know if Nash died in his cell or in a medical facility at the prison.
By Bob Christe, Associated Press
02/14/10: Kentucky: Jailers, chamber disagree over jail privatization
The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce is advocating privatizing local jails, a prospect drawing the ire of jailers around the state. The chamber noted in a recent position paper that there is substantial money at stake with Kentucky having the fastest growing prison population in the country. The Kentucky Department of Corrections says it cost an average of $50.55 per day to house an inmate at one of the three private prisons operated in Kentucky compared to an average cost of $54.74 daily at the state-run prisons
Associated Press
02/14/10: New Hampshire: Prison reform plan includes supervision
New Hampshire prison inmates would be paroled at least nine months before their maximum sentences end so they could be supervised as they transitioned back into their communities, under legislation recommended by a national prison reform group. Monitoring paroled inmates is "better for public safety than just opening the door and saying, 'Good luck,' " said Senate President Sylvia Larsen, the bill's prime sponsor. Sandra Matheson, director of the Office of Victim and Witness Assistance, said victims' families support early parole, which would allow the state to set release conditions
By Norma Love, Associated Press
02/13/10: Florida: Inmate: Sex, drugs anything goes in Palm prisons
Hidden from the outside world, an illicit marketplace is thriving behind the walls and razor wire of Palm Beach County prisons, an inmate told state and federal authorities. Favors from corrections officers are bought and sold, prisoners barter for heroin and cocaine but also for high-end sneakers, electronics, cigars and tattoo ink, and women working for state contractors trade sex for money, the inmate said in documents made public Friday. The account, detailed in sworn statements by a Palm Beach County Sheriff's narcotics agent, provides a window into the closed and gritty world of Palm Beach County prisons, a place where the inmate said anything goes.
By Michael LaForgia, Palm Beach Post
02/13/10: New Jersey: South Woods officers hurt in prison assaults
Two corrections officers and an inmate were assaulted in separate incidents at South Woods State Prison. In the first incident, an inmate was involved in a fight with two other inmates around 1 p.m. Thursday. The inmate was found unresponsive in his cell Friday morning, said Deirdre Fedkenheuer, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections.
By TIM ZATZARINY Jr. Daily Journal
02/11/10: Arizona: Prison disturbance leaves 12 inmates hurt
A private prison in Arizona is on lockdown after a brawl broke out that involved as many as 150 minimum-security inmates and left a staff member and 12 prisoners with minor injuries. The Arizona Department of Corrections said the fight broke out before 10 p.m. Wednesday but was contained within an hour. A 20-member tactical unit from Arizona State Prison Complex-Tucson responded to help put down the disturbance.
Associated Press
02/11/10: California: Judge rules that California jail inmates were released by mistake
More than 1,000 California county jail inmates were freed over the past few weeks due to an apparent misreading of a new state law intended to reduce state prison overcrowding. Sacramento Superior Court Judge Loren McMaster halted the releases Wednesday. Calling them “a formula for disaster,” Judge McMaster ruled that an amended statute, which increases “good time” credits for inmates and allows many to reduce their sentences, was never intended to apply to county jails.
By Michael B Farrell Christian Science Monitor
02/11/10: Florida: 15 prison workers arrested in drug sting
Fifteen prison guards were arrested Thursday by the FBI at two South Florida prisons for attempting to deal drugs to inmates, authorities said. Eleven guards were employed by the Department of Corrections at the Glades Correctional Institution, including three who had worked for DOC for more than 30 years and four others with 25 years or more experience.
"These were people who should have known better," Department of Corrections Secretary Walt McNeill said. "It wasn't some young rookie who was overcome by circumstance."
The Associated Press
02/11/10: North Carolina: Audit: State pays too much to treat prison inmates
The state overpays hospitals and doctors to treat prison inmates, according to a new state audit, which recommends that the Department of Correction do a better job of controlling costs. On average, medical providers billed the corrections department nearly 5 times more than the government insurance programs Medicare and Medicaid would pay, according to the audit, which was made public today. The prison department tried to remedy the problem by getting legislation passed last year that would tie reimbursements to fees paid by the state health plan. But the provision was gutted in a law passed soon after.
By Lynn Bonner, News & Observer
02/11/10: Pennsylvania: Expensive arbitration for county
An arbitration ruling that awarded unionized Luzerne County prison employees raises totaling 16 percent over five years will cost the county $1.9 million to $2.1 million over the life of the contract, a county official estimates. The award gives correctional officers and support staff raises of 4 percent retroactive to July 1, 2009 and 3 percent for each year from 2010 to 2013. It affects 319 workers who are members of the Public Service Employee Union Local 1300.
By Terrie Morgan-Besecker, Times Leader
02/11/10: Texas: Prison budget cuts
Closing some Texas prisons is an option as the correctional system faces a Monday deadline to put together a budget-cutting plan. Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Joe Straus asked all state agencies in January to offer proposals cutting 5 percent of their budgets by Feb. 15. Texas is facing a projected state budget shortfall of at least $10 billion.
Associated Press
02/10/10: Colorado: Prison's future murky
The possible closing of the private prison and loss of almost 200 jobs have leaders in this small, close-knit town voicing fear about the impact the shutting down could have on a tenuous economy. When Mayor Bruce Quintana heard last month the news that the second largest employer in Huerfano County may close, he said he was in disbelief and immediately concerned about the future economy of the town and county. Corrections Corporation of America, which owns and operates the Huerfano County Correctional Center, announced last month that it will suspend operations at the prison in April.
By Anthony A Mestas, Chieftain
02/10/10: Maryland: A new move against illegal immigrants
Some Maryland lawmakers want to require the state prison system to notify federal authorities when an inmate may be in the country unlawfully - potentially resurrecting last year's debate about how the state is responding to an influx of illegal immigrants. The proposal, backed by a group of powerful Democratic senators that includes Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, came before a committee Tuesday. Sen. James E. DeGrange Sr. of Anne Arundel County said the measure could save the state millions by shifting incarceration costs away from the state by deporting more illegal immigrants.
By Julie Bykowicz, Sun
02/10/10: Nevada: Officers question savings of closing Nevada prison
Correctional officers and others Wednesday questioned whether closing Nevada State Prison in Carson City would produce the projected $13 million in savings as claimed by Gov. Jim Gibbons. Closing the 140-year-old prison was proposed by the governor but rejected by lawmakers during the 2009 Legislature. Gibbons again is pushing for its closure as a way to help meet an $881 million budget deficit.
By Sandra Chereb, Sparks Tribune
02/10/10: New Option for the States on Inmates in the Census
For decades, predominantly rural and Republican districts have had extra clout in state and local legislative bodies because their large inmate populations were counted as local residents in apportioning representation. Now, the Census Bureau has agreed to give states a tool that could dilute the political power of those districts. In May 2011, in time for Congressional and legislative reapportionment, the bureau will identify exactly where group quarters like prisons are and how many people occupy them.
By Sam Roberts, NY Times
02/09/10: California: Court OKs blanket strip-search policy at jails
constitutional rights when strip-searching them without any reason to believe that they had weapons or contraband. In doing so, the narrowly divided and badly split 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned by a 6-5 vote three of its previous rulings, contradicted two other federal circuit court of appeals holdings and upended a privacy issue thought settled. Legal analysts said there are strong indications that this case is primed for U.S. Supreme Court review if the inmates' lawyers decide to appeal.
By Paul Elias, Associated Press
02/09/10: Maryland: Bills would limit private juvenile detention centers to 48 beds
Bowling Brook Preparatory School opened its doors in Carroll County in 1957 as a small school for orphans. But by the time 17-year-old Isaiah Simmons died there after being improperly restrained by staff in 2007, Bowling Brook had grown into a large, privately run juvenile detention center housing more than 170 boys. A law passed after Simmons' death capped the number of beds allowed at state-run residential facilities at 48, but left privately run programs open to expansion.
By Shauna Miller, Sun
02/09/10: Tennessee: Jail Inmate Assaults Three Correctional Officers
The sheriff in Putnam County is commending a trio of correctional officers who tangled with a jail inmate over the weekend. The suspect fashioned a weapon from a broken broomstick, according to the sheriff. "He took a mop stick, a broomstick, and broke it - and made it basically a spear," said Sheriff David K. Andrews.
By Brent Frazier, News 5
02/09/10: Texas: Middleton Unit Employees: We Want Our Overtime Pay
The searches started after state Sen. John Whitmire received a death threat from a death-row inmate in Texas. The inmate called Sen. Whitmire from a cell phone authorities believe was brought into his cell by a prison employee. Since then, employees statewide have endured regular and at random contraband searches, requiring some to come in early and stay late, without any financial compensation.
By Katherine Lane, Big Country
02/08/10: Georgia: Deputies Hospitalized After Augusta Jail Fight
Three deputies at the Richmond County jail were hospitalized Friday after efforts to shut down an inmate card game ended in violence. Officials say the deputies were attacked after confronting a group of 31 inmates who were caught gambling. Captain William Reeves is in charge of the Richmond County jail. He blames the violence on what he sees as a trend in the type of inmates coming into the jail.
Georgia Public Broadcasting
02/08/10: New York: Union: Prison closures "absolutely devastating"
Testifying before the State Legislature this week, the correction-officer union president called the next round of possible prison closures "absolutely devastating." New York State Corrections Officer and Police Benevolent Association President Donn Rowe spoke at a hearing Monday to address his concerns with Gov. David Paterson's latest plan to close four more facilities, including Lyon Mountain in Clinton County and Moriah Shock Incarceration in Essex County.
By Andrea VanValkenburg, Press Republican
02/08/10: Tennessee: Lawmakers raise questions about sexual abuse at juvenile facility
State lawmakers pressed officials from the Department of Children’s Services on Monday about a federal report showing a Nashville juvenile detention facility to have one of the highest rates of sex abuse in the country. Members of the joint Select Committee on Children and Youth questioned DCS about its policies related to how youths at state-run juvenile centers file claims of sex abuse, and how those claims are subsequently investigated. A report issued by the Department of Justice in January showed that Woodland Hills Youth Development Center, a Nashville facility housing about 120 boys, had one of the highest rates of sexual victimization in the country
By Nate Rau, Tennessean
02/07/10: Connecticut: Prison focus changed in 2004
The acronyms and phrases, a mix of medical shorthand and prison jargon, can be misleading.
"GP" stands for "general population," not general practitioner. "PC" isn't "politically correct," but protective custody. But to the dozen mental health professionals and Department of Correction personnel gathered around the long conference table, and an almost equal number seated elsewhere in the room, they are readily understood.
By John Pirro, New Cannan News
02/07/10: Florida: County Training Firefighters To Be Jail Guards
Volusia County is about to train some of its firefighters to do a different job. The county wants to train firefighters to become jail guards. Eighteen firefighters may have to change jobs just to stay employed. With budget cuts coming, this may be the only way to avoid layoffs.
WFTV News
02/07/10: Louisiana: 10 years after prison guard killed, first trial set
Ten years after five inmates serving life sentences for murder were accused of killing a state prison guard, the first trial has been scheduled. Jury selection is tentatively scheduled to begin July 6 in Covington for Jeffrey Cameron Clark, and jurors will hear the trial in St. Francisville, retired District Judge Dennis J. Waldron of New Orleans said Friday. Prosecutors want death sentences for Clark, David Mathis, Robert G. Carley, Barry S. Edge and David Brown.
Associated Press
02/06/10: Georgia: Jail Fight Over Gambling Injures Deputies
At least three deputy jailers have been hurt and are recovering from their injuries after a fight involving 31 inmates at the Richmond County Jail. Sheriff Ronnie Strength told The Augusta Chronicle that one deputy jailer had a broken nose, another had a broken rib or rib injuries and a third was stabbed in the face with a pencil. He said the fight began after the officers caught a group of inmates gambling Friday night. Strength said the inmates got mad and started fighting the officers.
Associated Press
02/06/10: Nevada: Union vows to fight for prison
Union officials promised Friday to fight the planned closure of the historic Nevada State Prison on Fifth Street. Closing the 140-year-old prison would save an estimated $12.7 million this two-year budget cycle, according to Director of Corrections Howard Skolnik. But it will result in 136 layoffs in Carson City and the loss of business to a number of vendors and other contractors.
By Geoff Dornan, Nevada Appeal
02/05/10: Arizona: Arpaio's office wins lawsuit over jail uniforms
A federal jury ruled Friday in favor of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office in a lawsuit that claimed its policy of forcing resistant inmates with psychological problems to wear jail uniforms was unconstitutional. The lawsuit centered on the detention of Eric Vogel, a mentally ill man who in November 2001 refused to get out of his street clothes and into the striped jail suit and pink underwear that are fixtures in Sheriff Joe Arpaio's jails. Joel Robbins, an attorney who argued the case against the sheriff's office, says as jail officers removed Vogel's clothes, Vogel mistakenly viewed the pink underwear as an attempt to rape him, even though the officers didn't sexually assault him. He didn't suffer physical injuries.
Associated Press