San Quentin — Death of condemned inmate Michael Lamont Jones, 44, is being investigated as a possible suicide, prison officials said. He was pronounced dead, May 25 at 3:51 p.m.
San Quentin — A group of Death Row inmates has filed a federal lawsuit against the state for keeping them in the Adjustment Center at San Quentin State Prison for years, even decades, locked in windowless cells with no phone calls or human contact, The Associated Press reports. Its treatment, they said, “amounts to torture.” According to the suit, they are held in their cells 21 to 24 hours a day with no natural light, no access to education or work programs, no phone calls and no contact visits from family members, who must speak to them by phone across a glass barrier.
Raleigh, N.C. — Henry McCollum, 51, and Leon Brown, 47, qualified for $750,000 from the state for being wrongfully imprisoned for three decades. The brothers were convicted for the 1983 murder and rape of an 11-year-old girl. DNA evidence pointed to another man, The Associated Press reports.
Fresno — Advocates for Fresno County jail inmates said that the county has settled a lawsuit alleging mistreatment, The Associated Press reports. The settlement improves care for inmates with chronic ailments and mental health issues.
Little Rock, Ark. — Ulonzo Gordon will get a new sentencing hearing after the state’s high court upheld a lower court ruling that he should receive a new sentence consistent with a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling barring mandatory life sentences for juveniles, The Associated Press reports.
Montgomery, Ala. — A settlement has been reached between prison officials and the U.S. Justice Department, which found that correctional officers at Julia Tutwiler Prison coerced inmates into sex, watched them shower, use the bathroom and organized a New Year’s Eve strip show, The Associated Press reports. The settlement came after months of negotiations about changes that include requirements to have sexual abuse and harassment allegations properly and thoroughly reported, a tracking system for prison staff, installation of monitoring cameras, increased privacy in bathrooms and the hiring of a compliance manager to comply with the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act.
Lincoln, Neb. — Gov. Pete Ricketts and several officials, including a state senator and a Toastmaster director, visited 15 inmates who participate in a club that helps them connect and communicate with others, The Associated Press reports. The INnovators Club helps prisoners learn how to communicate with others and to appropriately disagree with alternative opinions.
Hartford, Conn. — John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation awarded Connecticut a $150,000 grant to help the state come up with a plan to reduce the number of people jailed while awaiting trial or serving short sentences, The Associated Press reports. The grant is one of 20 across the nation.
New York City — City officials have agreed to reforms at Rikers Island, including the appointment of a federal monitor to oversee the jail complex, prohibitions against guards striking prisoners in the head and even the introduction of body cameras to be worn by guards, The Associated Press reports. Other reforms include the development of a computerized system to better track the use of force by correction officers, the implementation of an early warning program to flag guards who use force against inmates three or more times in six months, injuring at least one of them, and the installation of 8,000 new surveillance cameras throughout the jail complex.
Chicago — Jason Strong, 39, was released from prison after his conviction for a 1999 murder was overturned. County prosecutors found that findings by pathologists were erroneous and that witnesses were pressured by authorities to say Strong did the killing, The Associated Press reports.
NewYork — Shabaka Shakur was released from prison after a judge ruled there was a “reasonable probability” Shakur’s confession was fabricated, and he was granted a new trial, The Associated Press reports. Shakur spent 27 years behind bars for the 1988 killing of two friends.
Chicago — Angel Gonzalez, 41, received a certificate of innocence from a county judge for a 1994 abduction and rape, The Associated Press reports. DNA evidence cleared him of the crime.