Prisons
North Dakota's 'Truth-in-Sentencing' Bill Could Cost More Than $250 Million
The bill would also create mandatory minimum jail sentences for fleeing the police.
Marc Fogel, Who Was Imprisoned in Russia for Having Medical Marijuana, Is Freed
Fogel's story closely mirrored that of Brittney Griner's. But he did not receive the same urgency from the Biden administration, even though he was arrested six months prior.
El Salvador Offers To House Violent U.S. Criminals and Deportees
Yet its penitentiary centers are already running at over 300 percent capacity.
El Salvador's Bukele: Authoritarian or Model President?
Frontier magazine's Peter Gietl and Salvadoran journalist Ricardo Avelar debate the merits of Nayib Bukele's criminal justice policies.
Trump's Aggressively Broad Executive Order on Transgender People
Like many of his other "Day 1" decrees, the order seems more concerned with scoring points in the culture war than advancing sensible policy.
Sister Helen Prejean on Capital Punishment, Justice, and Meeting Victims' Families
"Jesus said, 'Love your enemy.' Jesus didn't say, 'Execute the hell out of the enemy,'" the Catholic nun and anti–death penalty activist tells Reason.
This Holiday Season, Remember That Charity Is More Effective Than Government
Charities can focus resources on those who genuinely need a hand while saying no to those who just need "a kick in the butt."
Women Allegedly Raped in Prison by Trans-Identifying Inmate Will Have To Refer to Attacker as 'She/Her'
The recent ruling means that on the stand those women may be subject to speech policing from their alleged rapist—who has opted for self-representation.
CNN Presented a Syrian Jailer as a Torture Survivor
The fiasco around the “Syrian prisoner” filmed by CNN demonstrates that sometimes institutions aren’t the best judges of misinformation.
5 Years After Giving Birth, a Mississippi Mother Was Arrested for a Felony Based on a Postnatal Drug Test
Brandy Moore, who stopped using meth midway through her pregnancy, was charged with "aggravated domestic violence" because she decided not to have an abortion.
What Happened to Biden's Ambitious Criminal Justice Reform Plans?
Joe Biden ran on some good ideas to reform policing and incarceration, which he mostly failed to deliver.
New York City's Push To Ban Mail at Rikers Was Based on Drug Test Kits With an 85 Percent Error Rate
The problems with these test kits are well-known, and there have been hundreds of documented cases of wrongful arrests based on them.
Amanda Knox: 'I Have Felt Utterly Exploited' by True Crime
Amanda Knox falsely confessed to murder after law enforcement subjected her to "psychological torture." Now she wants to stop it from happening to others.
The Bureau of Prisons' Casual Cruelty to Families of Those Who Die Behind Bars
Families whose loved ones died in federal prisons describe outrageous delays in being notified, ignored phone calls, and troubling discrepancies in the official reports.
Russian Court Denies Appeal of U.S. Citizen Sentenced to 12 Years for Donating $51 to Pro-Ukraine Charity
Ksenia Karelina was prosecuted as part of a larger “treason” crackdown that is unprecedented even by Russia’s illiberal standards.
Texas Lawmakers Temporarily Save Death Row Inmate Robert Roberson From the Execution Chamber
Roberson was scheduled to become the first person in the country to be executed based on "shaken baby syndrome" evidence, until Texas lawmakers subpoenaed him to testify.
These Texas Inmates Wrote a Book. Then the Prison System Banned It.
The government will prevent prisoners from getting TEXAS LETTERS, an anthology about experiences with solitary confinement.
The ACLU of South Carolina is Suing To Publish Interviews With a Death Row Inmate
South Carolina bans all media interviews with incarcerated people, a policy the state's ACLU chapter says is the most restrictive in the country and infringes on its First Amendment rights.
Nashville Attorney Sues Federal Judges Over Gag Order Barring Him From Talking About a Notorious Prison
Daniel Horwitz often represents people illegally silenced by the government. This time he says a court violated his First Amendment rights when it gagged him from publicly speaking about a troubled state prison.
Federal Judge Rules Inmate Death Records Can Remain Secret Because They Could Embarrass Prison Officials
The Reason Foundation filed a FOIA lawsuit last year seeking reviews of deaths at two federal women's prisons with numerous allegations of medical neglect.
A Federal Prison Was Warned About Synthetic Marijuana. Then Inmates Started Overdosing.
"We are living in pure chaos," an incarcerated woman at a federal prison in Minnesota tells Reason following a string of suspected overdoses.
America Criminalizes Too Much and Punishes Too Much
When those on parole or probation are included, one out of every 47 adults is under “some form of correctional supervision.”
Texas Prisoners Are Being 'Cooked Alive' by High Temperatures, Investigation Says
Last year, one prison's temperatures stayed above 100 degrees for 11 days.
The DOOBIE Act Would Limit Government Discrimination Against People Who Have Smoked Weed
Under the law, the feds couldn't deny you a job or security clearance just because you've used marijuana in the past.
FCC Will Cap the Cost of Prison Phone Calls
The move would lower the per-minute cost precipitously and allow inmates to better keep in touch with friends and family.
The Man Who Hated Rules
Hacktivist-journalist Barrett Brown sets out to settle scores in his new memoir.
Labour Wins U.K. Elections as Conservatives Collapse and Third Parties Surge
Keir Starmer’s Labour secures a sweeping victory, taking the helm from Rishi Sunak.
Rapper B.G. Ordered To Turn Over New Song Lyrics to the Feds
Supervised release shouldn't require former inmates to give up their First Amendment rights.
Reason Wins 7 Southern California Journalism Awards
First-place finishes include an investigative piece on egregious misconduct in federal prison, a documentary on homelessness, best magazine columnist, and more.
The Supreme Court Again Strengthens the Right to a Jury Trial in Criminal Sentencing
Paul Erlinger was sentenced to 15 years in prison based largely on a determination made by a judge—not a jury.
Review: An Arkansas Jail Unlocked the Cells. Did it Work?
A new Netflix documentary series shows what happened when inmates were free to roam the cellblock with no guards in sight.
Advocates Say the Justice Department Is Failing To Provide Relief to Women Who Were Abused in Prison
The Justice Department announced last year that it would expand a program to grant compassionate relief to federal inmates who've been sexually assaulted by staff.
Federal Supervised Release Is a Wasteful Mess. A Bipartisan Bill in Congress Is Trying To Fix That.
The Safer Supervision Act would create an off-ramp for those with good behavior to petition to have their supervised release sentences terminated early.
Daniel Perry's Pardon Makes a Mockery of Self-Defense
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott takes a tactic from the progressive prosecutors he says he opposes.
Reason Is a Finalist for 14 Southern California Journalism Awards
Nominated stories include journalism on messy nutrition research, pickleball, government theft, homelessness, and more.
Murder Rates Are Plummeting. What Should We Make of It?
In data from over 200 cities, homicides are down a little over 19 percent when compared to a similar time frame in 2023.
Trump Promises To Give Police 'Immunity From Prosecution'
The pledge, while mostly legally illiterate, offers a reminder of the former president's outlook on government accountability.
This Elderly Man Was Arrested After Shooting a Burglar in Self-Defense—for Carrying the Gun Without a License
Vincent Yakaitis is unfortunately not the first such defendant. He will also not be the last.
She Only Served 10 Months Behind Bars. Florida Still Slapped Her With A $127,000 Bill.
Under Florida's "pay-to-stay" law, inmates are charged $50 for every day of their sentence—including time they never spent incarcerated.
