Prisons
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.
Oklahoma Prisoners Say They Were Locked In Filthy, Tiny Shower Stalls for Days
At least one inmate claims that the shower stalls, which were just 3 feet by 3 feet, were covered in human feces.
The Feds Will Close a Notorious California Prison Where Guards Abused Women with Impunity
In 2021, the Associated Press uncovered rampant sexual abuse at FCI Dublin. After three years of failing to fix the problem, the Bureau of Prisons is shutting it down.
Georgia Independent Bookstore Sues Jail Over Policy Banning Book Shipments
Officials claim the policy is intended to prevent people from smuggling in contraband, but it allows shipments from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Federal Appeals Court Says Texas Inmate's Decade-Long Lawsuit Over Sleep Deprivation Can Keep Going
Michael Garrett and other Texas inmates get less than four hours of sleep a night. He argues it's cruel and unusual punishment.
Texas Takes Intellectually Disabled Inmate Off Death Row
Randall Mays, who has an IQ of 63, was resentenced to life without parole.
Lawsuits Allege Michigan Sheriffs Colluded To End In-Person Jail Visits and Price Gouge Families for Calls
Two class-action lawsuits say Michigan counties take cuts of the exorbitant costs of inmate phone calls while children go months without seeing their parents in person.
No, Imprisoning a School Shooter's Parents Isn't Justice
James Crumbley, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, may be an unsympathetic defendant. But this prosecution still made little sense.
Alabama Discovers There Is No 'Humane' Way To Execute Someone
Instead of searching for gentle execution methods, states should just stop killing prisoners.
A Paramedic Got 5 Years in Prison for Elijah McClain's Death. That's Not Justice.
It can certainly be true that Peter Cichuniec made an egregious professional misjudgment. And it can also be true that punishing him criminally makes little sense.
Commander in Chains: 7 Scenarios If Trump Is Jailed and Wins the Election
There is nothing in the Constitution that prevents an inmate from winning the presidency.
Justice Department Finds Unconstitutional Conditions in 3 More Mississippi Prisons
Mississippi's prisons are falling apart, run by gangs, and riddled with sexual assaults, a Justice Department report says.
Louisiana Legislature Advances Bills To Roll Back Criminal Justice Reforms
Criminal justice advocates say the evidence doesn't back up Republicans' claims that Louisiana's landmark 2017 reforms are to blame for violent crime.
Writer's Suspended Death Sentence Is a Reminder of China's Awful Record on Human Rights
Yang Hengjun's punishment will be commuted to life in prison if he passes a probationary period. But the espionage accusations against him are highly spurious.
Argentina, Once One of the Richest Countries, Is Now One of the Poorest. Javier Milei Could Help Fix That.
The new libertarian president believes in free markets and the rule of law. When people have those things, prosperity happens.
Alabama Killed an Inmate With an Experimental Execution Method. Ohio Could Be Next.
Following the nitrogen hypoxia execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith last week, Ohio lawmakers introduced a bill to bring the execution method to their state.
'The Most Horrible Thing I've Ever Seen': Alabama Executes Inmate With Experimental Method
Kenneth Eugene Smith was likely the first person in the world to be executed by nitrogen hypoxia.
Hair Sample That Put a Man in Prison Turned Out to Be Dog Hair
From bite marks to shaken babies, the Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences is debunking bad science.
Here's Why Charity Is Better at Solving Problems Than Government
Big government has been ruinous for millions of people. Charities aren't perfect, but they are much more efficient and effective.
A Tennessee Youth Detention Center Has Been Illegally Throwing Kids in Solitary Confinement
An investigation from ProPublica shows that one Knoxville-area facility is putting kids in solitary but skirting scrutiny by classifying the seclusion as "voluntary."
Florida's Bloated Prison System Will Cost Billions To Maintain
Florida's mandatory minimum sentences created a large, elderly prison population. Now the bill is coming due.
Illinois Youth Lockup Is 'No Place for Children,' According to ACLU Lawsuit
Children held in the Franklin County Juvenile Detention Center are routinely subjected to solitary confinement, inadequate meals, and filthy cells, according to legal documents.
Senate Resolution Would Send Federal Offenders Back to Prison 3 Years After Being Released to Home Confinement
The Bureau of Prisons released more than 12,000 people on home confinement during the pandemic. Three years later, Republicans want to overturn a Justice Department rule allowing those still serving sentences to stay home.
Federal Prison Censors Reason Issue About How Federal Prison Employed Serial Rapists
The issue was rejected because it "jeopardizes the good order and security of the institution."
Banning Criminal Background Checks Will Lead To More Housing Discrimination, Not Less
The best reforms would correct the real problems of overcriminalization and overincarceration, as well as removing all artificial barriers to building more homes.
Washington State Prison System Sued for Using Unreliable Drug Tests To Put Inmates in Solitary
Reason reported in 2021 how prisons use cheap field kits to test mail for contraband—and use the faulty, unconfirmed results to severely punish inmates.
Former Prisoner Can Sue Officials Who Illegally Detained Him for 2 Months, 5th Circuit Says
The case is just one example of miscalculations that routinely keep Louisiana prisoners behind bars after they complete their sentences.
Federal Prison Guards Confessed to Rape and Got Away With It
"I knew they were scumbags," a former Bureau of Prisons officer tells Reason.
Could Louisiana's Governor Empty the State's Death Row?
Gov. John Bel Edwards has directed the state to review 56 death-row clemency applications after he made comments opposing capital punishment in April.
'This Is Not an Emergency'
How Florida prison officials let a man's prostate cancer progress until he was paralyzed and terminally ill.
Idaho Keeps Scheduling This Inmate's Execution Even Though It Lacks the Means To Kill Him
A federal judge ruled in favor of an Idaho death-row inmate who says that the state is "psychologically torturing" him.
DOJ Opens Probe Into Jail Where Inmate Died Covered in Insects
The Justice Department will investigate reports that inmates at Fulton County Jail are subject to filthy living conditions.
'I Owe Freedom My Life': Jimmy Lai Is Imprisoned for Criticizing the Chinese Government
Lai's media company covered the Communist government's abuses when other Hong Kong media wouldn't.
Alabama Isn't Ready To Kill Inmates By Nitrogen Hypoxia. It Wants To Try Anyway.
James Barber is set to be killed next month, the first execution after a string of botched lethal injection executions in the state.
Hunter Biden's Prison-Free Plea Should Be Available to Everybody
If it's not a sweetheart deal, everyone else deserves the same leniency.
Louisiana Gov. Said He Opposed the Death Penalty. Then Almost Every Death Row Inmate Applied for Clemency.
Only two clemency applications from death row inmates in Louisiana have been granted in the past 50 years.
Police Almost Beat Him To Death. After His Conviction Was Dismissed, Prosecutors Are Recharging Him.
Joseph Zamora spent nearly two years in prison after being convicted of assaulting police officers. The Washington Supreme Court overturned his conviction, but local prosecutors want to charge him again to show him the "improperness of his behavior."
Under Scrutiny for New Deaths, Rikers Officials Shut Down Communication
No longer will the troubled jail system publicly report when somebody dies in custody.
Minnesota Caps Length of Probation Sentences
A Reason investigation earlier this year detailed the case of a Minnesota woman who was sentenced to 40 years on probation for a drug crime.
These Murders Don't Fit Into the Culture War
By glossing over routine crime victims in favor of stories with unorthodox circumstances, the press paints a distorted picture of a very real problem.
Alabama Botched His Execution. Now He Wants To Die Differently.
On Monday, the Supreme Court sided with an Alabama death-row inmate who, after surviving a botched lethal injection attempt last year, says he wants to die by gas chamber instead.
