prisoners

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Female Inmates Sue Over Shackles While Giving Birth

Say they endure labor with arms, legs cuffed

(Newser) - Twenty former inmates are suing the Cook County sheriff's office alleging that they had to give birth while restrained with handcuffs and leg shackles, reports the Chicago Tribune . The practice is illegal, though a sheriff's spokesman says women are allowed to be restrained until labor begins, and they rely on...

Inmates Got $9.1M in 'Homebuyer' Tax Credits

IRS working to recoup money

(Newser) - Almost 1,300 prisoners, including 241 serving life sentences, filed for the Obama administration’s First Time Homebuyer Credit on their taxes, claiming they’d bought homes while incarcerated, according to a Treasury Department report released today. The IRS paid out $9.1 million on those claims, money it now...

How to Curb Prison Rape
 How to Curb Prison Rape 
opinion
May 15, 2010 9:38 AM CDT

How to Curb Prison Rape

Prisoners should be separated into weight classes

(Newser) - Bryan Caplan has what he thinks is an easy way to cut down on rape and brutality in prison: separate inmates by something akin to weight class. We already do so by gender and, to a lesser extent, by severity of crime, "but there's still a long way to...

Madoff Was Beaten in Prison
Madoff Was Beaten in Prison
Mar 18, 2010 7:26 AM CDT

Madoff Was Beaten in Prison

Burly fellow inmate broke his nose, fractured his ribs over apparent debt

(Newser) - Bernie Madoff suffered a broken nose, fractured ribs, and cuts on his face in a prison beating in December, a fellow prisoner tells the Wall Street Journal . One prison source said the assailant thought Madoff owed him money, and another said the assailant was a muscular man serving time for...

Iraqi Prisoners Taunt Wis. Soldiers Over Favre Defection

Detainees get into the Packers-Vikings rivalry

(Newser) - An allegiance to the Green Bay Packers has come back to haunt Wisconsin National Guardsmen on duty at a prison camp in Iraq, with detainees using quarterback Brett Favre’s defection to the rival Vikings to taunt the soldiers. A Packers-themed paint job sparked curiosity, one officer tells WTMJ-AM , “...

Stars Demand Bush 'Music Torture' Files

Time for torturers to face the music, say celebs

(Newser) - A coalition of celebrity musicians is demanding the release of Bush administration documents revealing how music was used to torture Guantanamo Bay inmates. Songs from Metallica, The Real Slim Shady, and the Star Spangled Banner, among many others, were blasted all day for days on end to rattle prisoners, inmates...

'We Were Just Pawns:' Lynndie England

(Newser) - Lynndie England is trying to rebuild some semblance of a normal life, but her past continues to haunt her, she tells the AP. “It’s my face that's always recognized,” the former Army Reservist and poster child for Abu Ghraib abuse said of trying to get a job—...

Thugs in Cop Uniforms Free 59 Mexican Drug Prisoners

(Newser) - Some 15 vehicles packed with criminals wearing police uniforms arrived at a Mexico prison yesterday to free as many as 59 inmates linked to a drug cartel, reports the BBC. The men convinced guards they were members of the federal police there to conduct an inspection. Once inside, they overpowered...

Prisoners Run Crime Ops Via PlayStation

Console used to pass messages, charge cell phones: UK watchdog

(Newser) - Organized criminals use PlayStation and interactive games to pass on orders while behind bars, says a British agency monitoring 5,000 global crime lords. The masterminds also charge illegally kept cell phones through the gaming console. A prison spokesman refuted the charge, saying that only older versions of such devices—...

Calif. Could Go Bust by July
 Calif. Could Go Bust by July 
May 8, 2009 3:51 AM CDT

Calif. Could Go Bust by July

State budget may fall short by as much as $23B

(Newser) - California could be broke by July if voters reject a handful of upcoming budget proposals, the Los Angeles Times reports. Officials predict the state will fall as much as $23 billion short if the unpopular propositions fail. To save money, the state may commute the sentences of 38,000 “...

Shrink Waterboard 'Experts' Racked Up $1K a Day

Operation's architects lacked training in conducting interrogations, say CIS records

(Newser) - Two US psychologists with no training in conducting interrogations boasted of earning $1000 a day designing and helping to implement use of waterboarding techniques on CIA detainees, reports ABC News. Bruce Jessen and Jim Mitchell, former military officers, are considered the architects of the interrogation operation that Barack Obama has...

Afghan Detainees Have Right to US Courts: Judge

(Newser) - A federal judge overruled both the Bush and the Obama administrations today, declaring that prisoners held at a military base in Afghanistan can challenge their detention in US civilian courts, the New York Times reports. The prisoners deserve the same right that the Supreme Court granted to Gitmo detainees last...

Solitary Confinement: Looks a Lot Like Torture

(Newser) - Rhesus monkeys raised in isolation are anti-social, catatonic, and profoundly disturbed even after they are introduced to their peers. The same is true of humans kept in solitary confinement for prolonged periods of time, whether as hostages or prisoners, writes Atul Gawande in the New Yorker. As months roll on,...

Packed Calif. Prisons Must Dump 1/3 of Inmates: Judges

Judges say squeeze threatens inmate health

(Newser) - A panel of federal judges ruled yesterday that overcrowding in California's 33 prisons—158,00 inmates in space meant for 84,000—poses a threat to inmate health. The court tentatively required the state to reduce the prison population by up to 57,000, the LA Times reports. The governor’...

Obama OK With CIA Rendition
Obama OK With CIA Rendition
Feb 1, 2009 6:50 PM CST

Obama OK With CIA Rendition

Prez allows abductions, transfers to continue, promises suspects won't be tortured

(Newser) - Torture techniques are out and Guantanamo Bay is facing closure, but Barack Obama is keeping one anti-terror tool: rendition, the Los Angeles Times reports. He signed an executive order allowing the CIA to continue the practice of secret abductions and transfers of prisoners to US-friendly nations. "You still...

Civilian Jury Acquits Ex-Marine of Iraqi Murders

'No one saw who did the shooting,' says juror

(Newser) - A former Marine sergeant accused of killing Iraqi prisoners has been acquitted by a California jury, reports the Los Angeles Times. Jose Luis Nazario, 28, wept as he heard the verdict. It's the first time in modern history a civilian jury has ruled on actions taken in combat, and promised...

Taliban Jailbreak Frees 1,200
 Taliban Jailbreak Frees 1,200 
Jun 13, 2008 11:02 PM CDT

Taliban Jailbreak Frees 1,200

Inmates spill into streets after suicide blast at Kandahar prison

(Newser) - Taliban fighters blasted into Kandahar's main prison last night and freed about 1,200 inmates, including 350 Taliban, the New York Times reports. Prisoners, including Taliban leaders, quickly flooded the streets and scattered into nearby villages. “It is very dangerous for security," a Kandahar politician said. "They...

Pentagon to Build Giant Prison in Afghanistan

New Bagram complex marks intention to hold prisoners abroad for years to come

(Newser) - The Pentagon is planning to build a huge new detention complex in Afghanistan, reports the New York Times, acknowledging that the US expects to hold prisoners there for many years to come. The 40-acre, $60-million facility at Bagram Air Force Base will replace the existing makeshift prison in a converted...

UK Questions Mount Over US 'Torture Flights'

Brits uncertain of extent that rendition flights utilized UK territory

(Newser) - Amid pressure British officials said yesterday that they were “working behind the scenes” to root out more information about the CIA rendition flights that landed on British soil, the Guardian reports. The UN’s special torture investigator has said there is credible evidence to suggest that the US ran...

1 in 100 Americans in Prison
1 in 100 Americans in Prison
Feb 28, 2008 2:45 PM CST

1 in 100 Americans in Prison

'Tough on crime' proving expensive stance as state resources dwindle, study reports

(Newser) - One American adult out of 100 is incarcerated, a new study shows—the first time in US history such a high proportion of the population is behind bars. The Pew Center on the States reports the nationwide prison population grew by 25,000 last year, to 1.6 million, with...

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