California prison

When he was in prison, Lee Reed was in agonizing back pain. His doctors there told him he needed back surgery, but because he was so close to his release date, they said he'd have to get it done on the outside. Reed saw that surgery as his ticket to being able to get a job and effectively reenter society.

Health & Safety

Red and blue states look to Medicaid to improve the health of people leaving prison

5:01am February 23, 2023

People leaving jail or prison are at extremely high risk of hospitalization and death, and policymakers from deep blue California to solidly red Utah think bringing Medicaid behind bars could help.

Given The Choice Between Prison Life And Fighting Wildfires, These Women Chose Fire

5:24pm July 30, 2021

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with writer Jaime Lowe about her new book, Breathing Fire, which tells the stories of the incarcerated women who are part of California's wildfire crews.

High Desert State Prison in Susanville, Calif.

National

State Report Finds Pattern Of Abuse At A Northern California Prison

5:09pm December 17, 2015

by Merrit Kennedy

A new study finds a pattern of guards abusing inmates at remote High Desert State Prison. That includes a "culture of racism" and mistreating inmates with disabilities.

What To Do With California's Mentally Ill Defendants?

4:29pm October 21, 2015

by Scott Shafer

Jail is too dangerous for many defendants found incompetent to stand trial because of illnesses like schizophrenia, judges say. But psychiatric hospitals are now overcrowded and violent, too.

California has agreed to revise its rules on solitary confinement. This file photo shows a cell in the Secure Housing Unit of Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City, California.

California's Prisons Will Change Solitary Confinement Rules

3:46pm September 01, 2015

by Bill Chappell

The state agrees to stop placing inmates in solitary confinement solely because of a gang affiliation. The changes could move more than 1,500 inmates out of solitary.

A Los Angeles County Department of Public Health worker shows condoms for weekly distribution to inmates in the Men's Central Jail.

California Prisons Aim To Keep Sex Between Inmates Safe, If Illegal

8:13pm January 21, 2015

by George Lavender

A new state law requires that condoms be made available to all prison inmates — even though state law also forbids sex between prisoners.

Queue Listen Now

A watchtower rises above the maximum security complex at Pelican Bay State Prison near Crescent City, Calif.

National

Inmates Across California Join Hunger Strike Over Conditions

4:52pm July 18, 2013

by Doreen McCallister

Thousands of prisoners across the state are expressing solidarity with inmates being held in solitary confinement at Pelican Bay State Prison in Northern California.

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