The $2 Drug Test Keeping Inmates in Solitary
Reason tried out the field test kits used to test for drugs in prison. They were unreliable and confusing.
Prisons
Will the Spike in Murder and Violence Undermine Criminal Justice Reform?
Growing criticism of big-city progressive D.A.s George Gascón and Chesa Boudin underscores the importance of distinguishing necessary reform from simply failing to enforce the rule of law.
Louisiana Can't Prove This 74-Year-Old Inmate Took Drugs. They Revoked His Parole Anyway.
After spending 47 years behind bars, Bobby Sneed may die in prison for no good reason.
He Was Granted Parole After Serving 47 Years Behind Bars. Now the Prison Won't Let Him Leave.
"It feels like we've gone from tragedy to farce."
New York Legislature Passes Bill To Limit Solitary Confinement
The HALT Act would allow incarcerated people to be held in solitary confinement for no more than 15 days.
Belly of the Beast
A new documentary explores forced sterilizations in California's women's prisons.
A Prison Guard Who Pepper-Sprayed an Inmate Without Provocation Got Qualified Immunity. SCOTUS Disagreed.
An encouraging sign from the Supreme Court
Study: Democratic Governors Feed the Prison-Industrial Complex
Electorally vulnerable Democratic governors have historically been tougher on crime than Republicans.
'I Use Heroin to Be a Better Person': Columbia University Neuroscientist Carl Hart
His new book, Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear, is a provocative manifesto for legalizing all drugs.
Federal Court Confirms That Shackling an Inmate During Exercise Is Cruel and Unusual Punishment
The warden at the center of the case was originally given qualified immunity.
Federal Judge Orders Oregon To Offer Vaccines to Incarcerated People Immediately
"During difficult times we must remain the most vigilant to protect the constitutional rights of the powerless," the judge writes.
A Pennsylvania Inmate Dies of COVID-19 While Awaiting Mercy from the Governor
The Board of Pardons recommended Bruce Norris’ release. A signature didn’t come in time.
U.S. Incarcerated Population Dropped Below 2 Million Last Year For First Time Since 2003
The COVID-19 pandemic drove an unprecedented drop in incarceration, a new study finds, but the authors warn it could bounce right back.
Biden's Private Prisons Executive Order: A Solution in Search of a Problem?
Our incarceration system needs reform: how about reforming it by increasing private prisons instead?
Justice Department Finds Rampant Sexual Assaults and Constitutional Violations in Country's Largest Women's Prison
The report confirms what news investigations and advocates have said for years: Lowell prison lets guards abuse women without consequence.
Study: Prison COVID-19 Spread Led to Hundreds of Thousands of Community Infections
Thanks to poor management and massive rates of incarceration, people are dying both inside and outside prisons.
Justice Department Sues Alabama Over Its Violent Prison System
The suit follows a scathing 2019 report detailing unchecked violence and sexual assault against incarcerated people.
The Inmates Are Running Venezuela's Prisons. They've Created Autonomous Micro-Dictatorships.
The documentary La Causa is a raw look into these self-organized societies, complete with taxes, courts, and a strict "thug code.”
An Inmate Firefighter Might Be Deported After California Handed Him Over to ICE
Bounchan Keola was injured while fighting the deadly Zogg Fire. California rewarded him with a possible deportation.
Cops Who Beat and Killed an Innocent Man Are Not Entitled to Qualified Immunity, Appeals Court Rules. But the Cops Who Watched Are.
The legal doctrine provides rogue government agents cushy protections not available to the little guy.
Prison Guards Who Forced Naked Inmate To Sleep in Sewage and Urine Were Given Qualified Immunity. SCOTUS Disagreed.
The legal doctrine is a free pass for rampant government abuse.
U.S. Incarceration Rate Fell Last Year to Lowest Level Since 1994
Total prison population, imprisonment rates, and racial disparities in incarceration all continued their slide.
Debate's Best Moment: Trump and Biden Bragging on Prison Reform
The U.S. incarceration rate peaked in 2008, but it's good to see two "law and order" candidates talking about clemency.
Prison by Any Other Name
State involvement in people's lives—even "for their own good"—ends up becoming a backdoor way of policing and control.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom Signs Policing, Probation, Juvenile Justice Reforms
Limits on probation length, a ban on chokeholds, and a plan to dismantle a state juvenile prison system
In April, She Was Jailed on a Probation Violation. By June, She Was Dead.
Holly Barlow-Austin suffered horrifying medical neglect at a Texarkana detention facility, according to video evidence in a new lawsuit.
The U.S. Prison System Has Reached 1,000 COVID-19 Deaths
The infection and death rates have surpassed those of the general population.
Florida Will Pay Out $4.6 Million to Female Inmate Paralyzed After Guard Beating
Cheryl Weimar's case put a gruesome spotlight on Florida's troubled prison system.
San Quentin Prison's COVID-19 Deaths Highlight Officials' Inept Pandemic Response
Six dead in a week, and 1,500 infections, all due to poor decisions by the state. And leaders still wonder why people won't do what they say.
COVID-19 Pulls Back the Mask on America's Prison System
This deadly and contagious disease has exposed problems with prison systems that have been ignored for decades.
Inmate Coronavirus Infections Skyrocket in California
A third of prisoners at San Quentin have gotten COVID-19, most in just the last two weeks.
These Women Received a Death Sentence for Being Sick In Prison
A Reason investigation has identified three deaths from alleged medical neglect at FCI Aliceville, a federal women's prison. Current and former inmates say it's routine, but the Bureau of Prisons won't talk about it.
Prison Guards Who Locked Naked Inmate in Cell Filled With 'Massive Amounts' of Feces Got Qualified Immunity
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals acknowledged that the plaintiff's Eighth Amendment rights were violated.
Report: Solitary Confinement in U.S. Prisons Spiked by 500 Percent When Coronavirus Hit
In a matter of weeks, the number of inmates in solitary jumped from 60,000 to nearly 300,000.
'Where Are Libertarians on Police Reform?' Right Where We've Always Been.
Real changes will require fewer laws and less violent enforcement.
At Angola, Coronavirus Turns Life Without Parole for Selling Weed Into a Potential Death Sentence
Fate Vincent Winslow, who has never committed a violent crime, fears catching coronavirus in prison.
Lawmakers Call Out Cuomo and Other Governors for Letting Prisoners Die of COVID-19
Plus: "Karenology," failing fashion brands, and more...
Celebrity Criminals Are Leaving Prison Early Because of COVID-19. What About the Drug Offenders?
If officials want to ease the burden of the pandemic behind bars, there are hundreds of thousands of inmates who can help them do it.
8 of The Top 10 Biggest U.S. Coronavirus Hotspots Are Prisons and Jails
And those numbers are likely an undercount.
Prisoner in Ohio Halfway House Complains About Lack of COVID-19 Preparations. He's Sent Back to Prison. Now Ohio Prisons are Exploding with COVID-19.
While his own prison is not yet facing a huge problem, Brandon Baxter had a prescient complaint for which he seems to be being punished.
Chicago Jail Inmate With COVID-19 Dies Shackled to His Hospital Bed
The Cook County jail is the country's largest known single source of new coronavirus infections.
Ohio Governor Says State Will Seek Release of Some Inmates in Response to Coronavirus
The state will seek the release of nearly 200 inmates who are either at risk or nearing their release dates anyway in response to COVID-19.
Texas Inmates Sue for Access to Hand Sanitizer as Coronavirus Threatens Prisons
The ACLU is also suing Washington, D.C. jails.
Coronavirus Fears Mount in D.C. Jail After Quarantines
Lawyers, inmates' families, and correctional officers worry the jail is ill-prepared to handle an outbreak.
Justice Department Investigates Appalling Conditions at Mississippi Prisons
Videos and photos smuggled out by Mississippi inmates have shown gruesome violence and wretched living conditions.
Groups Call for Justice Department To Investigate Mississippi Prisons after Violence Leaves Five Inmates Dead
In Mississippi's severely understaffed prisons, gangs run the show.
Prison Guards Forced an 8-Year-Old Girl To Strip Before She Could Visit Her Father
Virginia is now suspending its strip-search policy for minors.
