South Carolina –The failure to find drugs to carry out lethal injections led lawmakers to pass a bill that would force Death Row prisoners to pick the electric chair or firing squad when lethal injections are not possible, The New York Times reported.
USA – As prisons close, communities across the nation are finding new ways to use the shuttered buildings, The Associated Press reports. New York converted the Arthur Kill Correctional Facility into a film and television studio. Connecticut repurposed two out three closed prisons into a document storage and training facility. A shut down prison in Gainesville, Florida is a homeless shelter — Waynesville, North Carolina did the same thing with a closed prison. In Wagram, North Carolina, an abandoned prison turned into an educational farm that provides training to at-risk youth and veterans.
Texas – Lydell Grant spent more than a decade in prison before DNA evidence showed he was not the person who killed Aaron Scheerhoorn. Grant is now seeking compensation of $80,000 for each year he spent wrongfully incarcerated, NBC News reports.
Minnesota – Gov. Tim Walz signed into law a bill that ends the practice of separating mothers from their babies when giving birth while in prison. Under the new law, the new mothers will be placed into community alternatives, such as halfway houses (under supervision) where they can be provided treatment for up to one year after birth, the Star Tribune reports.
Missouri – Ricky Kidd spent 23 years in prison for a double murder he did not commit. Larry Callanan spent 25 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. Kidd and Callanan are not eligible for financial compensation because only those exonerated by DNA evidence can get financial relief, the Kansas City Star reports.
Texas – Quintin Jones, 41, was executed by lethal injection on May 19.
USA – Last May, detention facilities in Georgia and Massachusetts had their contracts terminated by The Department of Homeland Security, The Associated Press reports.
Washington – Gov. Jay Inslee signed into law bills that ban police use of chokeholds, neck restraints and no-knock warrants such as the one that helped lead to Breonna Taylor’s killing in Louisville, Kentucky. An independent office to review the use of deadly force was created as well as reforms to the private arbitration system, The Associated Press reports.
