Maine (Daily Bulldog) – A new bill, LD648, aims to give people convicted as young adults a second chance by expanding community supervision. Eligibility for the program includes anyone who has displayed positive programming while incarcerated, has served a minimum of 15 years of their sentence, and committed their crime before the age of 26. One goal of the bill is to give people in prison hope for early release.
Arizona (Associated Press) – With over 100 people on Death Row, Arizona lawmakers are considering a proposal that replaces lethal injections with firing squads as the method of execution as of 2026. Arizona has experienced setbacks like obtaining the drug for execution and having enough staff. The current law lets those convicted prior to November 1992 be given the option of lethal injection or the gas chamber.
New York (Associated Press) – A 22-day-long union strike over working conditions, resulted in prison guards being fired because they did not return to work. “Termination letters have been sent to over 2,000 officers who remained on strike,” said Commissioner Daniel Martuscello. During the strike, incarcerated prisoners complained about the deteriorating conditions, causing New York Governor Kathy Hochul to send in the National Guard to assist with operations.
Maryland (Bloomberg Law) – Incarcerated workers at an open-air recycling facility in Baltimore County are asking for support under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Workers perform nine- to twelve-hour shifts in harsh weather and wear discarded coats just to stay warm. The Fourth Circuit US Court of Appeals said “There’s ‘no categorical rule’ that the FLSA can’t cover incarcerated workers’ when they work outside their detention facility’s walls.”
California (Associated Press) – Prosecutors in Los Angeles County will be able to recommend the death penalty in rare and egregious cases. Jess Farris, senior policy counsel for ACLU in Southern California, said the issue is failed policy relics. “The issues that have driven L.A. voters to repeatedly reject the death penalty still ring true… it’s tragic fallibility, and its endorsement of brutality and murder as solutions to complex problems,” said Farris.Texas (Associated Press) – Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah have been authorized to use firing squads as another method of execution. John Banzhaf, a professor emeritus of law at George Washington University Law School, said “a number of states are beginning to experiment with new methods of execution … because of the problems with lethal injection.”
