Chowchilla—Valley State Prison is doing its part to conserve water, according to the Merced Sun-Star. The facility has cut its water consumption by nearly 20 percent since January, when Gov. Jerry Brown declared a drought state of emergency.
Boise, Idaho—Corrections officials discovered claims of a medication shortage, medication overpayment and missing medical records to be overstated or without merit after taking over the running of the state’s largest prison from Corrections Corporation of America in July, reports Fox Business.
Utah—The state’s prison population is expected to grow by some 2,700 inmates during the next two decades, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. According to the most recent statistics, 46 percent of Utah inmates who leave prison are back behind bars within three years, and inmates are staying behind bars 18 percent longer — or about five months — than they were 10 years ago, the Tribune reports. “We’re calling on the foremost experts on public safety to create a new roadmap for our criminal justice system,” Gov. Gary Herbert said in a statement. “The prison gates must be a permanent exit from the system, not just a revolving door.”
Arizona—The execution of Joseph Rudolph Wood III was marked by nearly two hours of lengthy, repeated bouts of labored breathing before he died on July 23, reports the Wall Street Journal. Wood was injected with 15 separate doses of a drug combination because the initial drug protocol of one dose didn’t seem to be enough to kill him, according to documents released by the state Department of Corrections to the inmate’s attorney.
Wisconsin—A nonprofit, nonpartisan organization based in Madison has made allegations of staff-on-inmate abuse in the segregation unit of Waupun Correctional Institution, reports the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel. Twenty-eight of the 40 allegations in the report involve a single guard who is accused of “physical and psychological abuses against inmates, including knee strikes, choke holds, wall slams, racial slurs and genital touching during strip-searches,” the Sentinel reports.
Ontario—A recent attempt by Canada’s federal government to cut inmates’ pay by 30 percent has prompted a lawsuit by the affected inmates, reports CBC News. The government said the cuts would save about $4 million of its more than $2.6 billion annual budget.
Canada —This year was the 40th anniversary of Prisoners’ Justice Day in Canada. The John Howard Society, the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies and other prisoners’ advocacy groups, held events in cities across Canada in recognition of Prisoners’ Justice Day on Aug. 10, reports CBC News.
Vermont—Nearly 500 of the state’s inmates have been sent to privately run out-of-state facilities in Kentucky and Arizona, according to Vermont Public Radio. Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) operates the private prisons. CCA’s contract comes up for renewal next year. A group of concerned Vermonters, including state Rep. Suzi Wizowaty, who is director of Vermonters for Criminal Justice Reform, is proposing to return the prisoners to the state.
Philadelphia—High school students in Temple University’s Urban Apps and Maps Studios Building Information Technology Skills have developed a web-based app called “Gotcha,” which allows anyone to post crimes they’ve witnessed. The app is accessible by desktop computer or through a web browser on mobile phones.
Washington, D.C.—Attorney General Eric Holder is opposing the use of some statistical tools used in determining jail time, reports Massimo Calabresi of Time magazine. Calabresi cited Holder criticizing the use of large databases about criminals to identify dozens of risk factors associated with those who continue to commit crimes and saying this could have a disparate and adverse impact on the poor, on socially disadvantaged offenders and on minorities. Such data includes prior convictions, hostility to law enforcement and substance abuse and are used to help determine how long a convict should spend in jail. Holder said, “I’m really concerned that this could lead us back to a place we don’t want to go.”
Washington, D.C.—Nearly 10 percent of the 216,000 federal inmates receive medications designed for one of many mental illnesses. The cost for the meds in the past four years is more than $36.5 million, according to USA TODAY. Nearly 20,000 federal inmates are on psychotropic medications, according to the Bureau of Prisons (BOP). Federal prisons are 43 percent over capacity and about 25 percent of the Justice Department budget supports the BOP’s operation. In an attempt to ease overcrowding, the U.S. Sentencing Commission approved a measure that would make nearly 50,000 inmates eligible for sentence reductions
New South Wales—Despite dropping crime rates, New South Wales incarceration rates have increased during the past year, according to University of New South Wales Professor of Criminology Eileen Baldry. “In 2013 there were 9,900 prisoners across the state. This year there are 11,000, and this rate of increase is likely to continue,” Baldry wrote.
