Penology
In Finland’s ‘open prisons,’ inmates have the keys
How did Finland moved having the highest incarceration rate in Europe to having one of its lowest? Part of the answer lies in its open prisons, where prisoners — even those convicted of crimes like rape and murder — can be gradually eased back into normal life.
Two Louisiana prisoners mark 40 years spent in solitary confinement
This April marks the 40th anniversary of Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace being sentenced to solitary confinement in a Louisiana prison. That’s the longest period someone has spent in solitary in U.S. history. Now it has some saying the practice isn’t constitutional.
Use of solitary confinement in America’s prisons criticized
Solitary confinement was designed to separate volatile inmates from the rest of the prison population. Today however, many prisons exploit solitary confinement as a tool of punishment, critics say. Recent high profile cases and policy changes in Mississippi have shed new light on solitary.
VIDEO: Mississippi Supreme Court to hear case over ex-Governor’s many pardons
Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour ignited a firestorm of controversy when he pardoned nearly 200 individuals, some of them still in jail and at least one a convicted murderer, shortly before he left office. Now the state Supreme Court will take up the case.
California Prison System Sees Scrutiny for Overcrowding, Inhumane Conditions
California’s state prison system–one of the country’s largest–is under a great deal of scrutiny these days. A hunger strike by almost 30,000 prisoners protesting their long-term solitary confinement is going into its second week. Federal courts have repeatedly found that California’s prisons are overcrowded and underfunded, and prisoners face inhumane and unsanitary conditions, such as […]