Inmates must test negative for COVID-19 before their release. No one convicted of a sexual offense or crime of violence is eligible. The move is to protect both prisoners and prison employees.
"Inmates who have stood on the frontlines, battling historic fires should not be denied the right to later become a professional firefighter," Gov. Gavin Newsom said upon signing the bill on Friday.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Nevada prison official says 17 inmates from the state being held at a private prison in Arizona have tested positive for a second time for the new coronavirus.
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.
The spread of coronavirus behind bars is likely much more rampant than what's known right now. In prisons, jails and immigration detention centers, limited testing already shows widespread infection.
In California, former inmates released early to help reduce coronavirus risks behind bars lack support when they get out, say advocates, who want better, organized help to address the crisis.
Some prisons are waiving fees for hygiene supplies and county jails are releasing certain inmates early to combat the potential threat posed by the Covid-19 virus.
Inmates and guards don't have the option of staying home during a coronavirus outbreak, so detention centers risk becoming "incubators" for the disease. Some are scrambling to mitigate the risk.
Overcrowding, understaffing and poor treatment for inmates with mental health issues held in Los Angeles jails underscore growing failures in America's mental health and justice systems.
Nearly three years after the state of Illinois agreed in a court settlement to revamp mental health care in prisons and provide better treatment, a judge says the care remains "grossly insufficient."
The state has started to reduce overdose deaths by offering counseling and medication for opioid addiction in prison. Research finds the treatment helps inmates avoid relapse after release.
Amid a severe shortage of psychiatric beds and community-based treatment throughout the state and nation, county jails have become repositories for people in the throes of acute mental health crises.
The documentary chronicles the opening of Edwins, a fine-dining restaurant in Cleveland that provides education, housing and steady employment for former inmates.
The department said it has increased inmates' free allotment of sanitary pads, after protesters launched the #letitflow campaign and sent a lawmaker tampons in the mail.
A U.S. District judge issued the ruling Tuesday in a class action lawsuit brought by inmates who argued the prisons' conditions were cruel and unusual punishment.
For people in prison, rules limiting access to technology make seeing video of their kids' first steps difficult. But a Colorado woman is using a 19th century solution for this 21st century problem.
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Corrections officials would have to ask Nevada jail and prison inmates what they want to happen to their pets while they're incarcerated under a bill advancing in the statehouse.
The former Maricopa County sheriff routinely pointed to the notorious outdoor facility as a symbol of his "tough on crime" stance. The new sheriff says it is costly and not a deterrent.
Several states across the U.S. are curbing their use of solitary confinements in prison. But in New York, corrections officers say it's a necessary tool to keep the guards and prisons safe.
