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News Articles: prison

Sen. Jon Ossoff

Tagged as: 

  • News

U.S. government failed to properly count deaths of people in prisons and jails, Senate report says

The Department of Justice did not properly count nearly 1,000 deaths of incarcerated people in jails and prisons, according to a bipartisan report released Tuesday by a U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee.

September 21, 2022
|
By:
  • Ariana Figueroa
Gavel

Tagged as: 

  • News

Where is it hardest to gain ‘compassionate release’ in America? Georgia.

Federal judges in Georgia’s Middle and Southern districts are the least likely to approve releases for prisoners fearing COVID sickness, data shows.

September 16, 2022
|
By:
  • Jake Shore
Stanley Andrisse says his 21-year-old self, who was once facing 20 years to life in prison, could never have imagined his life today: Andrisse is now an endocrinologist, scientist and professor at Howard University's College of Medicine. He has a Ph.D., an MBA, and a lab full of students who affectionately call him Dr. Stan.

Tagged as: 

  • Education

HBCUs are building a new prison-to-college pipeline

Historically black colleges and universities are developing new pathways for formerly incarcerated people to earn a degree and transition

August 19, 2022
|
By:
  • Sequoia Carrillo

Tagged as: 

  • Perspective

What People Really Make (and Spend) Behind Bars

The Marshall Project asked people in prison to track their earning and spending — and bartering and side hustles — for 30 days. Their accounts reveal a thriving underground economy behind bars.

August 16, 2022
|
By:
  • Beth Schwartzapfel,
  • The Marshall Project,
  • and 1 more
Washington State Prison in Davisboro is one of two Georgia prisons completely without air conditioning.

Tagged as: 

  • Law

Lots of things drive violence in prison. Add heat to the list

To keep our cool in this record hot summer, most of us are probably choosing to spend more time in air conditioned spaces. But many people in prison, especially across the South, don’t have that option. Meanwhile, the federal Department of Justice is still investigating Georgia prisons, trying to get to the root of persistent violence there. They might take a look at the heat.

 

August 16, 2022
|
By:
  • Grant Blankenship
Counterfeit Fentanyl Pills

Tagged as: 

  • News

Feds break up Georgia prison drug ring

Fourteen Georgians, including eight prison inmates, face federal charges of participating in a drug trafficking ring operating in southeastern Georgia.

July 14, 2022
|
By:
  • Dave Williams
Georgia Department of Corrections Commissioner Timothy C. Ward, second from right, after the March meeting of the Board of Corrections in Forsyth.

Tagged as: 

  • News

Federal investigators are asking the court to force transparency on Georgia prisons

The U.S. Department of Justice has asked a federal judge to force Georgia’s Department of Corrections to comply with a wide-ranging subpoena issued as part of the agency's investigation of Georgia prison conditions. 

April 05, 2022
|
By:
  • Grant Blankenship
A photo of Joshua Lester, left, and his son Memphis, on Nancy Masters' phone.

Tagged as: 

  • Law

A mother's son was killed in a Georgia prison. She's at a logjam for answers

Nancy Masters' son Joshua Carl Haynes Lester was killed while serving time at Central State Prison in Macon. She'd like to file suit for wrongful death, but first she needs documents the prison system won't give up. 

March 25, 2022
|
By:
  • Evey Wilson Wetherbee
Georgia Department of Corrections Officers at the department's training facility in Forsyth in  2011.

Tagged as: 

  • Law

Amended Georgia budget could include big raise for correctional officers

Correctional officers in Georgia prisons could see a significant raise if an amendment to the state budget makes it to the governor’s desk.

March 04, 2022
|
By:
  • Grant Blankenship
Georgia Department of Corrections cadets and trainers before the 2010 ribbon cutting for the department's training facility and offices in Forsyth. A labor strike of the incarcerated would come about month later. GDC lost over 2,000 correctional officers in the following year.

Tagged as: 

  • News

What's behind the understaffing at Georgia prisons? Ask the staff

Understaffing is acknowledged problem in Georgia prisons that's likely at the root of a lot of dysfunction. When did the staffing crisis start? And why?

January 24, 2022
|
By:
  • Grant Blankenship
Kristen Clarke US DOJ

Tagged as: 

  • Law

The justice department is investigating Georgia prisons: What is it looking for?

The DOJ will investigate whether “the state of Georgia adequately protects prisoners” in medium and high-level security prisons “from physical harm at the hands of other prisoners as required by the 8th Amendment.”

December 07, 2021
|
By:
  • Caleb Slinkard
Nerissa Wright's son, Dontavis Mintz, died for reasons she still doesn't know while jailed at Ware State Prison near Waycross. The US Department of Justice is investigating the Georgia Department of Corrections largely because of such deaths.

Tagged as: 

  • Law

A mother's son died in Georgia prison. The Department of Justice wonders if understaffing is why

The U.S. Department of Justice wants to know if understaffing in Georgia prisons is deadly. And a Georgia mother has questions about how — and why — her convicted son died at 24, just six years into his life sentence.

 

November 17, 2021
|
By:
  • Grant Blankenship
Plates depicting what two juveniles on Death Row ate for their final meals, painted by artist Julie Green.

Tagged as: 

  • Opinion

Opinion: Artist Julie Green, who depicted humanity of death row inmates, has died

NPR's Scott Simon remembers artist Julie Green, who died this week. Green's painted plate project, "The Last Supper," depicts the final meal of death row inmates.

October 23, 2021
|
By:
  • Scott Simon
Pamela Winn

Tagged as: 

  • Law

Solitary confinement in prison can lead to long-term health issues. The pandemic may make it worse

Research has long shown that solitary confinement — isolating prisoners for weeks, months, years and sometimes decades — has devastating effects on their physical and mental health. 

October 07, 2021
|
By:
  • Katja Ridderbusch
Residents Julio Orsini and Jesse Mackin share a meal together with staff during lunch break in the garden at the Mountain View Correctional Faciltiy in Charleston Maine in August of 2021.

Tagged as: 

  • National

This Prison Teaches Inmates How To Grow Their Own Food

Inmates at Maine's Mountain View Correctional Facility are growing their own food. Advocates say the alternative to "mystery meat" means healthier inmates who are learning valuable skills.

September 17, 2021
|
By:
  • Susan Sharon
  • Load More

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