Prison Life
latest news
Organization offers help to those with loved ones in prison
Houston Chronicle, 19 October 2006
At 44 years old, Danny Torrence understands one critical thing:
If nothing changes, nothing changes. A small group of men and women,
members of Texas Inmate Families Association, gathered in a chilly
room at the Montgomery County Central ...
Youths
see jail life first-hand
BBC News Online, 18 October 2006
A project in Devon to try to teach youngsters about the reality
of life behind bars is proving a success. The group of five boys
aged between 12 and 16 were taken to Dartmoor Prison to meet inmates
and witness prison life for themselves.
Federal
prisons discriminate against aboriginals, says ombudsman
Canadian Press, Oct 16 2006
The Canadian prison system is practising "systemic discrimination"
against aboriginal offenders, says the federal ombudsman for inmates
- a finding that his political masters in the Conservative government
refuse to accept...
Keep
an eye on prison life
Newsquest Media Group 11 October 2006
FOUR new members have joined the Independent Monitoring Board at
Thorn Cross Young Offenders Institute - and more are needed.
Pistolero
Gang Leader Convicted
States News Service 4 October 2006
Hermandad de Pistoleros Latinos gang leader Alberto Rodriguez, a/k/a
"Copi," was convicted by a federal jury of drug trafficking
and federal firearms charges...
Exonerated
Prisoner Shares His Message
The Hartford Courant
After 18 years in prison, James Tillman said, a stop at Burger King
can seem like a night out at a five-star restaurant...
Inmate
charged in jail beating death
St. Paul Pioneer Press, Aug. 21, 2006
Correctional Services Canada Acknowledges Poor Prison Conditions
Canada's correctional facilities are suffering from "wear
and tear," according to a recent article by the Citizen, with
80% of the nation's correctional officers (about 4,700) set to retire
in the next 5 years. Spokespeople from CSC acknowledge that prison
infrastructure is failing, saying that most of the service's 54
institutions are over 40 years old. While the prison system receives
about $1.6 billion a year, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day
says his government may have to funnel another $225 million over
the next 5 years to add, repair, and rebuild new prison cells for
the expected growth in inmates due to the Conservative government's
plan to stiffen prison sentences. Because more prisoners have historically
been sentenced to shorter prison terms, the prisons experience a
"revolving door syndrome" that taxes the stability of
the facilities. CSC says there is an added burden of prison populations
changing, such as an increase in younger and gang-related offenders
that require different housing specifications (Aug 22, 2006 The
Ottawa Citizen).
Aryan Brotherhood Ruling Could Have Wide Impact on Future
Death Penalty Cases
After Aryan Brotherhood members Barry Mills and Tyler Bingham were
convicted of murder, conspiracy and racketeering charges (some of
which went back 30 years) in 2006, a federal court judge has now
decided that the two members have a right to defend themselves and
present evidence during their death sentencing hearing, a decision
based on the result of Crawford vs. Washington in 2004. When attempting
to document evidence for one of the alleged crimes for presentation
during the members' upcoming death sentencing hearing, assistant
US attorney Stephen Wolfe found that 3 key witnesses had either
died or vanished (15 August 2006, Associated Press). The
two members, who had ordered a race riot in a federal prison in
Lewisburg, PA, were convicted under the Violent Crime in Aid of
Racketeering law, making them both eligible for the death penalty.
The main issue in this trial is whether the accused in death penalty
cases has the right to confront his or her accuser at the sentencing
hearing. Sentencing begins August 28.
Legal network to demand Canadian Government commitment
to prison needle exchanges
The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network is set to hold a news conference
at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto to press the
government to keep needle exchange programs in place in Canadian
prisons (14 August 2006 Canada NewsWire).
Alleged prison gang member sentenced to 12 years in prison
27 year-old Pedro Garza Diaz, an alleged member of the Texas Syndicate
prison gang, was sentenced to a 12 year prison term, concurrent
with an additional sentence, after pleading guilty on August 7 to
several counts of aggravated assault, deadly conduct, aggravated
robbery and burglary of a habitation. Some of his cases involve
codefendants, including the robbery offence (9 August 2006 Valley
Morning Star).
Pelican Bay Inmate Caught Running Prison Painting Business
Murderer Donny Johnson was recently sanctioned by prison officials
for creating and selling post-card sized paintings made with brushes
fashioned from his own hair and ink lifted from M&Ms candies.
He lives in the administrative segregation unit at Pelican Bay,
confined to an 8x12 foot cell 23 hours a day, after slashing the
throat of a prison guard in 1989. His painting routine consisted
of purchasing 10 packages of M&Ms per month at the commissary,
then soaking the candies in water. His brush is made with foil,
plastic wrap, and human hair. His work was good enough to attract
the attention of abstract artist Kenneth Noland, who saw a sample
of his paintings in a New York Times article in July (4 August 2006
Associated Press Newswires).
Brazilian
inmate: 'For the love of God, help us'
PRISON LIVING CONDITIONS SPARK PUBLIC OUTRAGE The
Lexington Herald Leader, 5 August 2006
Brazilian Gang Runs Streets From Prison
Associated Press Newswires, 12:27, 6 August 2006
Hope
for Bali inmates as exchange deal nears
10 August 2006 The Paducah Sun
Correctional
Progress in the Canadian Praires: Pathways Units for Aboriginal
Offenders
Let's Talk, VOL. 31, NO. , Correctional Services Canada
Prison
Life Growing Tougher, Activists Say
The Moscow Times, 27 July 2006
Prison
killing suspects could face death penalty: Both are serving life
terms for murders committed as teens
Baltimore Sun, 28 July 2006
We're
a four-star prison, and it's all thanks to my staff
South Wales Echo, 26 July 2006
Boundary-Spanners:
the New Heroes of Prisoner Reentry?
A common buzzword attracting a bit of a mixed response in corrections
these days is the concept of prisoner reentry, characterizing a
kind of love-hate relationship where citizens willingly support
rehabilitation, but are unwilling to dirty their hands in the process...
New
Prison Gang Attacks on Sao Paulo
The violence continued yesterday, as new offensives by members
of the gang First Command of the Capital (see our profile)
laid siege to the city's transit system. In the 130th attack since
since the destruction began Tuesday, five buses were torched just
before dawn...
Stony Mountain Institution Drug Bust Nets $34,000
The largest seizure of illegal narcotics in the prison's 129-year
history came earlier this week when guards confiscated 161 capsules
of heroin, 89 grams of marijuana and 35 morphine tablets from Winnipeg's
Stony Mountain Institution. Drug-smuggling attempts failed after
inmates tried to throw a package of drugs over the 12 metre-high
fence surrounding the facility, but threw it short and snagged it
on the razor wire. A nearby guard noticed shortly after. According
to the Broadcast News, the drugs in prison were worth over 10 times
their value on the street.
Public
Protest at "Easy Life" Inside Wymott Prison
Pictures taken of convicted paedophile Toby Studabaker, depicting
the former US Marine playing computer games in his cell and allegedly
"enjoying himself," have outraged public spokespersons
in Leyland. The 34 year-old, who began serving a four-and-a-half
year prison sentence in 2004 for forcing a 12-year-old girl to perform
sexual acts, reportedly has his own Playstation.
Sao
Paulo Prison Guards Strike After Gang Slayings
In the fifth such killing in Brazil's Sao Paulo prison system occurring
in less than 10 days, off-duty prison guard Paulo Gilberto de Araujo
was gunned down by...(more)
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InsidePrison gets some press!
Insideprison.com was recently quoted in the San Gabriel Valley
Tribune: "...The Mexican Mafia membership inside prisons
continues to rise, according to insideprison.com, a Web site
dedicated to spreading the word about the Mexican Mafia's threat
to society..." See the full opinion article here.
Study
on Inmate Assaults Clears Up Some Myths About Institutional Conditions
A recent survey conducted by researchers at the University of Houston
found that the vast majority of inmate assaults in Texas prisons
could be explained by the personal characteristics...
Poorer
Outlook on Race Relations in Some British Prisons Rather than Others
A recent study at the University of Cambridge's Institute of Criminology
found that among a sample of prisoners in England and Wales, certain
prisons stood out as...
What
do Wardens Think of Prison Sex?
A recent study in the Prison Journal found that wardens
and correctional administrators did not believe that there was a
significant prevalence of either consensual or coerced sexual
Do
Women Have it Better than Men in Prison?
A recent study conducted by Ohio and New Mexico researchers found
that women in prison have better social supports, and participate
in...
"Make-Believe"
Family Relationships exist among Female Texas Prisoners
A recent study in the Prison Journal found that 28% of a
correctional sample of female inmates in two Texas prisons for women
developed "Familial-like"
50%
Canadians believe prison life "too cushy," 33% believe
it's "just right"
When asked on their attitudes about prison life in Canadian prisons,
respondents across the country were mostly approving...
Scottish
Prison Service introduces week-long home leave
The approximately 140 inmates at the Noranside Prison in Angus,
which includes murderers and rapists, will now enjoy a brief taste
of freedom...
Life
in prison made falsely-accused Milgaard question own innocence
Canadian falsely-accused inmate David Milgaard spent more than
two decades behind bars for a crime he didn't commit...
Gwinnett
County Detention Center Inmate Died from Meningitis Infection
May 2 2006 - 20 year-old Gwinnett County Detention Center inmate
Zachary Harris, who had been admitted 3 days before, was stricken
dead with a meningitis bacterium, forcing 175...
Millhaven hunger-strikers
end riot
May 1 2006 - The hunger strike and riot that began on April 13
with prisoners in Millhaven's J Unit finally ended last week. Last
Monday, inmates...
Proposal
Rejected: Live online footage to monitor Bangkok prison life
The Department of Corrections for the Ministry of Justice, Thailand,
had proposed in January of 2005 that it would begin to broadcast
live...
Prison escapee
hid in billiard table
Inmate Lazaro Bringas Nuñez, a convicted kidnapper and murderer,
escaped from a prison in Ciudad Cuauhtemoc on April 23rd, hiding
in a... >>
more
Prison
suicide questions institutional conditions
27 year-old inmate Michael Keohane used a torn sheet to hang himself
in his cell at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center on Sunday...
>>
more
Brazilian prison riot
kills seven
In a protest against inmate transfers to another prison, prisoners
at the Jundai Jail in Sao Paolo state broke into a riot on Wednesday,
taking police and prison guards hostage... >>
more
CSC
Officers get "Stab-Proof" Vests
As per agreement between Correctional Services Canada and the Union
of Canadian Correctional Officers, a correctional employee association
founded in 1999... >>
more
Inmate
Escapes from North Bend Prison, Oregon
Marion
County Detention Center employees accused of sex with detained teens
Kenya
prison conditions slammed
Liberals
Challenge Government Over Sydney Prison Conditions
Locked
Down: Gangs in the Supermax
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