In a 5-3 decision March 28,2017, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the methods that Texas has been using to gauge whether a defendant’s intellectual ability should spare them the death penalty.
Read More »Christopher Zoukis
Justice Department Maps New Course on Forensic Science Review
The new Attorney General’s announcement made clear the National Commission on Forensic Science will be allowed to expire April 23, at the end of its current term.
Read More »Heath Care Falls Short for Aging Inmates – BOP Seeks Better Data
With the general population of federal prisons growing older, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is looking for ways of analyzing its healthcare data in order to improve healthcare services for aging prisoners.
Read More »Maryland Focuses on Crime Prevention and Re-entry Programs
Maryland is boosting efforts to focus on crime prevention and rehabilitation programs for offenders to reduce recidivism and reliance on the prison-industrial complex.
Read More »Female Inmates Sue over BOP Guidelines for Transgender Males
Three female inmates in a federal prison in Texas have gone to court in an attempt to block a Bureau of Prisons (BOP) policy that requires them to share bathrooms and showers with inmates who identify as transgender females but are biologically male.
Read More »High Court Rebuffs Inmate’s Challenge to Execution Drug
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider a Feb. 21 appeal by an Alabama death-row inmate claiming midazolam, a controversial sedative used in the lethal injection process, may produce protracted, unbearable pain.
Read More »U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions: Private Prisons Are Back in Business with BOP
The idea that a corporation should ever profit from warehousing humans still remains beyond offensive and should not be tolerated in a civil and just society.
Read More »High Court to Weigh If Withheld Evidence Undoes Old Convictions
The Court will rule on whether convictions must be overturned if prosecutors withheld potentially exculpatory evidence from the defense.
Read More »Prison Education Transforms Lives, Reduces Recidivism
Prison education and rehabilitation programs can provide practical skills, career and vocational skills, and critical thinking skills. They can help with mental and behavioral issues, and provide access to higher education courses; some achieve diplomas and degrees while incarcerated. These programs are vital to improving lives, especially since many prisoners come from poverty, do not have high school diplomas, and lack outside support networks.
Read More »Mental Healthcare in Federal Prison: An Inside Look at the Bureau of Prison’s Mental Health Companion Program
Some Bureau of Prisons staff have recognized that, at least in some cases, approaching chronically self-destructive behavior as a treatment issue (not a disciplinary one) is the only way to rehabilitate someone with serious mental illness.
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