Richmond County, Ga.— Sheriff’s officials began a new program that charges offenders a $5 co-pay for medical services, reports the Augusta Chronicle. Medical services cost the sheriff office about $5 million in 2011, nearly $800,000 more than the contract for service was supposed to cover, according to the report.
Montgomery, Ala.— The state Legislature has moved forward to pardon the nine African-American teenagers, known as the Scottsboro boys, who were falsely accused of raping two white women more than 80 years ago, reports The Los Angeles Times. The bill was unanimously passed by the state Senate. Gov. Robert Bentley said he would sign the bill.
Dover, Del. — The State Senate narrowly approved repealing the death penalty by a vote of 11-10, reports The Associate Press. There are currently 17 people on the state’s condemned row. Democratic Gov. Jack Markell has not said whether he will support the legislation.
Starke, Fla. — Larry Eugene Mann, 59 was executed by lethal injection on Apr. 10, reports The Associated Press. Mann was convicted for the kidnapping and killing of a 10-year old girl in 1980.
Indianapolis, Ind. — The state Senate has voted 46-4 to overhaul its criminal sentencing laws. The changes would send fewer non-violent offenders to prison, while those with the more serious offenses would spend more time in state prison, according to The Associated Press.
Onneaut, Ohio — The American Civil Liberties of Ohio criticized the private prison company, Correctional Corporation of America, for operating an overcrowded facility at the Lake Erie Correctional Institute in northeast Ohio, reports The Associated Press. The ACLU said overcrowding contributed to two recent incidents of fighting among the offenders and attacks on guards.
New York, NY — David Ranta spent 23 years in prison before being released for the 1991 murder of a prominent Hasidic rabbi. Prosecutors acknowledged that the evidence had fallen apart against Ranta, reports The New York Times. Ranta suffered a heart attack on his second day of freedom and is now awaiting surgery to repair his damaged heart.
Tupelo, Miss. — The state’s department of corrections has found a new way to teach offenders how to stay out of prison. The federally funded course, Think for a Change, is designed to improve offenders’ “soft-skills and pro-social behaviors,” reports The Associated Press. “It goes back to social learning,” said James Johnson, associate director of community corrections,” in the AP report. “I grew up in a pro-social environment and learned through family, friends and school programs. Many offenders don’t grow up in these environments. Just like you can learn these bad problem solving skills, we can teach good ones.”
Helena, Mont. — A state lawmaker is proposing a bill that would allow convicted offenders the chance to take 10 years off their sentence by agreeing to take 20 lashes, reports The Associated Press. “…perhaps two lashes a year. What would you choose?” said the bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Jerry O’Neill.
Raleigh, N.C.—Executions are scheduled to resume after more than a six-year halt. The state’s Senate judiciary panel voted along party lines for the measure that would also end a method for death row prisoners seeking life sentences on racial bias claims, reports The Associated Press. There have been no executions in North Carolina since 2006.
Carson City, Nev. — Lawmakers are considering a way to limit the use of solitary confinement of prisoners. Prisoners are more dangerous when they are ultimately released, state Sen. Tick Segerblom told the judiciary committee, in an Associated Press release.. Segerblom then showed a video that highlighted seemingly barbaric conditions in some American prisons.
New Orleans, La.—The Orleans Parish Prison has been cited for being “so dangerous and poorly run that the facility violates inmates’ constitutional rights by the U.S. Department of Justice,” reports The Associated Press. City officials have asked a judge to appoint a replacement for the sheriff, according to court papers.
New York, N.Y.—The state prison commission is recommending county jail law libraries closed because staffing them is becoming unaffordable, reports the Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog.