Stark, Fla.—Askari Abdullah Muhammad, previously known as Thomas Knight, was executed Jan. 7 for killing a prison guard in 1980.
McAlester, Okla.—Michael Lee Wilson, 38, was executed by lethal injection on Jan. 9 for killing a co-worker at a Tulsa convenience store where the two worked. Wilson was the third person put to death for the 1995 murder. The fourth defendant is serving a life term.
Ohio—Dennis McGuire, 53 was executed Jan. 21 for the 1989 rape and killing of Joy Stewart, 22. According to witnesses of the execution, McGuire appeared to gasp and snort in the more than 15 minutes it took him to die after being injected with the state’s new lethal injection drugs. McGuire’s two children, who witnessed the execution, have filed a lawsuit against the state, alleging the execution violated McGuire’s constitutional protection against cruel and unusual punishment.
Mineola, N.Y.—Martin Tankleff settled a wrongful conviction lawsuit against New York state for $3.4 million. Tankleff spent 17 years in prison after being convicted of killing his parents. In 2007, he was freed when an appeals court found key evidence was ignored in his trial.
Sacramento—Prison officials revealed the location of three Level II housing unit facilities, totaling 2,376 new beds. A 792-bed facility is scheduled to be built on state prison property adjacent to Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego. Two 972-bed facilities are scheduled to be built on state prison property adjacent to Mule Creek State Prison in Ione. The estimated construction cost for the Donovan project is $168.7 million. It will staff about 180 employees at an annual operational budget of $5.5 million. The Mule Creek estimated construction cost is $344.5 million and would staff 375 employees with an annual operational cost of $11 million.
Tehachapi—On December 17, 2013, the first wave of Level II male inmates arrived at the California City Correctional Facility, a private prison leased and operated by CDCR.
Fresno—The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved construction of a 300-bed jail at a cost of $79 million. Funding comes from the approximately $500 million of state funding allocated for upgrades in California county jails.
Kern County—The state has given Kern County $27.8 million to help deal with offenders who must do their time locally instead of in state prisons. That’s $4.3 million more than last year. Kern gets the lowest per-capita from the state to house the shifted offenders at $6,167 per offender. Funding comes from the approximately $500 million of state funding allocated for upgrades in California county jails.
Yuba County—From October 2011 to November 2012, the arrest rate for people arrested within the first year after being released from jail went from 60.3 percent to 46.2. Conviction rate for people convicted of a crime within the first year after being released from jail decreased from 26.1 percent to 18.8 in the same period.
Sutter County—From October 2011 to November 2012, the arrest rate for people arrested within the first year after being released from jail went from 59.1 percent to 54.6. The conviction rate for people convicted of a crime within the first year after being released from jail decreased from 23.2 percent to 21.1 in the same period.
Contra Costa—Offenders are incarcerated and placed on probation and parole at a rate one-half of the rest of the state. The low rates are attributed to the county’s use of trained probation officers who supervise the offenders. The county also uses shorter probation terms, and prosecutors use split sentences more than any other county in the state. A split sentence is when a judge divides a sentence between a jail term and supervised probation.
San Mateo County—The county is set to receive $24 million to upgrade its jails. The money is earmarked to improve mental health services and programming, and to increase the jail’s capacity, along with seismic upgrades. Funding comes from the approximately $500 million of state funding allocated for upgrades in California county jails.
San Joaquin County—The county is set to receive $33 million to build a higher-security jail to replace the current minimum-security Honor Farm. Officials had asked for $40 million under their submitted plan, which included more rehabilitation programs. Funding comes from the approximately $500 million of state funding allocated for upgrades in California county jails.
Boise, Idaho—Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter said because of more than a decade of mismanaging the state’s largest private prison by Corrections Corporation of America, its $29 million contract will not be renewed.
Lexington, Ky—A college-level course developed in 1997 at Temple University called The Inside-Out Program is teaching a class at Blackburn Correctional Complex. The class consists of 16 students from the University of Kentucky and 16 inmates. The class jointly examines the relationship between drugs and crime. The program was developed on the premise that inmates and college students have a lot to learn from each other when studying together.
Boston—The American Civil Liberties Union and Prisoner’s Legal Services are suing the state prison department in an effort to stop the use of drug-sniffing dogs to search prison visitors. The lawsuit alleges that the searches are an invasion of privacy, terrifying for children, and dogs can mistake legal scents for drugs.
Columbia, S.C.—In a 45-page ruling, Circuit Judge Michael Baxely gave prison officials until mid-summer to develop a plan on how to better serve mentally ill inmates. Baxely’s ruling cited prison officials’ failure to properly diagnose inmates when they enter the system and medicate them. The ruling also found prisons do not have enough mental health professionals, do not keep records to assure inmates are getting proper treatment and prison guards rely excessively on force instead of other means to control inmate behavior.
Massachusetts—A judge’s ability to give a life sentence without parole to juveniles was struck down by the state’s high court. Prison officials said the ruling will affect 62 inmates.
Pierre, S.D.—The ability for offenders released on probation to reduce their sentence through good behavior is part of a plan to overhaul the state’s criminal justice system and avoid the need for new prison construction.