Bismarck, N.D.— “There are too many inmates and not enough capacity,” said Leann Bertsch, director of the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, The Associated Press reports. Prison administrators blame the state’s overcrowded prisons on people coming to the state to work on the oil fields. The prisons are holding 500 more inmates than they are designed to hold, topping 1,800 prisoners. Negotiations are under way to send some inmates to a private prison in Colorado.
Oklahoma — Execution of prisoners on the state’s Death Row has been suspended until at least 2016 because of a botched lethal injection last January, The Associated Press reports. Attorney General Scott Pruitt has agreed not to seek any execution until 150 days after an investigation is concluded regarding compliance with the state’s protocol for lethal injections
Oklahoma — The state’s overcrowded prison system is switching its reliance on private prisons, news.ok.com reports. The state spent $92.2 million last year, a 16 percent increase over the year before, according to the state Corrections Department. The private prison companies, GEO Group, Inc., and Corrections Corporation of America own or operate five prisons in the state.
Marysville, Ohio— Melissa Etheridge performed a show for about 2,300 women at the Ohio Reformatory for Women after seeing a video of the women singing one of her songs, The Columbus Dispatch reports.
Columbus, Ohio — Executions are suspended until at least 2017 while prison officials seek supplies of lethal injection drugs, prison officials reported to The Associated Press. Gov. John Kasich extended all executions for 11 inmates scheduled for next year and one scheduled for early 2017. The state’s last execution was January 2014.
Augusta, Maine—Prisoner advocates and representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine are protesting prison rule changes that would limit the ability of inmates to communicate outside of prison, Bangor Daily News reports.
Richmond, Va. — Seven men awaiting execution on Virginia’s Death Row are receiving more recreation time, The Associated Press reports. In addition, the condemned men will be able to go to a room to watch TV, make phone calls, play games, send emails and have contact visits.
Washington, D.C. — When prosecutors in a Georgia murder case used racially coded notes, the U.S. Supreme Court was asked to determine if dismissing potential jurors as a way to discriminate is legal, The Washington Post reports. A 2014 Washington Post-ABC News poll revealed only one in 10 African-Americans believes minorities receive equal treatment with Whites in the criminal justice system. Six in 10 White Americans had confidence that police treat the races equally.
Washington, D.C. — Reductions of pork from the federal prison menu led to cutting it all together for a few weeks, Edmond Ross, a spokesman for the federal prison system told The Washington Post. In the last two years, bacon, pork chops and sausages, were eliminated from the menu, leaving only pork roast.
Washington, D.C. — Hillary Clinton, Democratic presidential candidate, said her campaign would no longer take money from private prison companies, campaign spokesperson Xochitl Hinojosa told ThinkProgress. The Clinton campaign said the money it has already received from private prison companies will be donated to charity.
Montgomery, Ala. — Beniah Alton Dandridge was released from prison after serving nearly 20 years in prison for a 1994 murder. Court records show that there were credible claims of innocence, including his co-defendant’s sworn testimony saying Dandridge was not present at the murder.
South Carolina — Seven prison inmates have been sentenced to a combined more than 7,000 days in solitary confinement for a rap video that was placed on the Internet. They made the film in 2014 while in a cell, nydailynews.com reports.
Florida — A coalition of 14 human rights groups asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate Florida’s prisons, contending that “immediate intervention” is necessary to stop the widespread abuse, neglect, torture and deaths of inmates, the Miami Herald reports.