prisons

Steve and Neiva MagaÃ±a's baby is now 8 months old. Steve has still not met his son in person.

National

When The Pandemic Closed Prisons To Visitors Loved Ones Picked Up Pen And Paper

8:19am March 13, 2021

by Ninna Gaensler-Debs

In the year since the pandemic caused most prisons to shut their gates to visitors, people have not been able to see their incarcerated friends and family. So, some turned to letter writing.

Queue Listen Now

The IRS distributed the second round of stimulus money to eligible inmates using debit cards, which state prisons are unable to process. Correctional officials have communicated the problem to the federal agency, but it's unclear what steps the IRS will t

National

Stimulus Debit Cards Unusable For Prison Inmates In At Least Four States

8:01am February 06, 2021

by Jimmy Jenkins

The debit cards can't be processed in prisons so inmates can't deposit their payments. The IRS has acknowledged the problem, but hasn't offered an immediate solution.

Supervisors In North Carolina Prisons Issued Tasers

10:27am September 01, 2020

by Neal Charnoff

Supervisors at North Carolina's maximum-security prisons are getting Tasers to help break up fights. But critics worry that the stun guns could endanger the lives of some inmates.

Waiting for an Echo, by Christine Montross

Psychiatrist: America's 'Extremely Punitive' Prisons Make Mental Illness Worse

3:42pm July 16, 2020

by Dave Davies

Dr. Christine Montross says people with serious mental illnesses in the U.S. are far more likely to be incarcerated than to be treated in a psychiatric hospital. Her new book is Waiting for an Echo.

Queue Listen Now

Judge: State Prisons Out Of Compliance With COVID-19 Safety Mandate

11:04am July 13, 2020

by Neal Charnoff

A North Carolina judge says that state prisons have failed to comply with a court order mandating actions to be taken regarding COVID-19.

Politics & Government

North Carolina To Test All Prison Inmates, Staff Members

8:55am June 19, 2020

by Bryan Anderson, Associated Press

State Prisons Ordered To Devise Plan For COVID-19 Testing Of All Inmates

11:33am June 09, 2020

by Neal Charnoff

A North Carolina judge has ruled that state prisons must come up with a plan to test all inmates for COVID-19.

Prison inmates gather in cramped conditions in Manila's Quezon City Jail. Guards and inmates at the notoriously overcrowded Philippine jail tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus, officials said last month, sparking urgent calls for the release of s

As COVID-19 Fears Grow, 10,000 Prisoners Are Freed From Overcrowded Philippine Jails

2:16pm May 05, 2020

by Julie McCarthy

"Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, we had already been receiving reports on the terrible conditions in the jails that made sickness a normal thing," says a leading Philippine human rights lawyer.

Plainfield Correctional Facility, an Indiana state prison southwest of Indianapolis, listed 89 cases of test-confirmed COVID-19 among inmates and four deaths from the illness, as of Thursday.

Health & Safety

Crowded Prisons Are Festering 'Petri Dishes' For Coronavirus, Observers Warn

11:06am May 01, 2020

by Jake Harper

Indiana prisoners say they can't protect themselves from the virus, as the governor resists calls to reduce overcrowding. "Scared for our lives," says an inmate.

National

Second Federal Inmate Dies From COVID-19

5:26pm April 01, 2020

by Rosemary Westwood

On March 31, the Federal Bureau of Prisons began a systemwide 14-day quarantine for inmates to stem the spread of the coronavirus.