Boise, Idaho – Corrections Corporation of America has been held in contempt of court by a federal judge because of chronic understaffing at a prison south of Boise, reports The Associated Press. The case began in 2010 when the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on behalf of inmates, alleging the prison was so violent that prisoners named it a “Gladiator School.” CCA denied the claims, but subsequently promised to increase staffing levels at the prison. However the judge issued a 24-page ruling pointing out inconsistencies in CCA claims about staffing levels, and warned CCA would suffer “fines as big as needed” to force compliance to adequate staffing levels.
Chicago—In 2011, the average daily jail population at Cook County Jail was 8,900. Most were detainees awaiting trail, reports the Chicago Tribune. In 2013, the daily count is more than 10,000, the highest since 2007. According to the Tribune, about 5 percent of the detainees have been awaiting trial for more than two years.
Alabama—State officials are worried that its prison system might fall into federal receivership because of “horrific conditions” similar to those in 1976, when it became the first prison system to come under federal oversight, reports The Montgomery Advertiser.
Texas—Crime rates in the state have been falling the past 20 years while the overall population has risen significantly, reports Grits for Breakfast, an on-line blog for Texas criminal justice policy. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the state had the second largest decline after California, down 5,852, the report finds.
Angola, Louisiana—Herman Wallace, one of the “Angola 3” died three days after he was set free from what a judge ruled was an unconstitutional conviction, reports the Los Angeles Times. In 1972, Wallace was found guilty of stabbing a prison guard. He was subsequently sent to solitary confinement. Wallace always maintained his innocence, according to the Times. Wallace, 71, died of complications of liver cancer.
Kansas City, Missouri—The Missouri Society of Anesthesiologists has urged state officials not to use propofol in a scheduled execution, reports The Associate Press. Propofol is the most commonly used execution drug in the U.S. The anti-death penalty European Union is weighing whether to limit exporting the drug to the U.S., raising unease about a shortage in the U.S.
Michigan—State lawmakers plan to re-sentence more that 360 or so inmates who were under 18 when they committed crimes. Lawmakers are responding to the U.S. Supreme Court striking down mandatory life without the possibility of parole for juveniles, reports The Associated Press.
Santa Cruz—In an innovative response to realignment, county officials are boosting the use of home confinement for 370 offenders. Inmates must serve a third of their jail sentences to become eligible for confinement at home with electronic monitoring. With some counties scrambling to add more jail beds, the Custody Alternatives Program helps Santa Cruz avoid that problem, reports the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
Texas—The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has refused to return lethal injection drugs purchased from two compounding pharmacies, despite calls from the firms not to use their substances for executions, reports IPS news service. “The drugs were purchased legally and we were upfront with the vendors that their names would be subject to public disclosures after the purchase,” Texas DCJ’s spokesman Jason Clark told IPS. “We are not going to return the drugs.”
Wetumpka, Alabama—An HIV-infected female inmate testified in a closed hearing about the prison system’s policy of segregating HIV-positive inmates. The purpose of the hearing was to determine whether the policy is legal, reports The Associate Press.
Charleston, West Virginia—Correction Corporations of America and Community Education Centers of Houston have submitted bids to house inmates out-of-state, reports The Associated Press. The state has more than 1,600 inmates who should be in state prison, but are still in county jail because of a lack of beds. The state’s constitution bans sending prisoners out-of-state, involuntarily, so the inmates would have to agree to the transfers, the report states.
Huntsville, Texas—Michael Yowell, 43 was executed with a controversial lethal injection drug—a compounded pentobarbital, reports Reuters. Yowell was convicted in 1998 for killing his parents and blowing up their home in Lubbock.
New York City—Jailing inmates in NYC for one year is more expensive than a four year Harvard undergrad degree, finds a new report by Al Jazeera America. The Independent Budget Office found the 2012 annual incarceration cost for each inmate was $167,731, while the annual tuition for a Harvard undergrad is $38,891.
