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NEWS ABOUT: prisons

Man Busts Out of Jail Using Homemade Nunchucks

Lorenzo Pollard recaptured within 48 hours after fighting off a dozen guards

(Newser) - Lorenzo Pollard really, really wanted to get out of jail. The inmate, 31, escaped a medium-security facility in St. Louis after fighting off some dozen guards with home-made nunchucks fashioned from bedsheets and a chair, according to cops. Pollard used the weapon to smash through glass blocks and then scaled... More »

California Prisons Set to Release 4K Moms

But female inmates who don't have kids are out of luck

(Newser) - Thousands of mothers currently doing time will head home soon as California rushes to shrink prison populations . Moms with 2 years or less left to serve for “non-serious, non-sexual” crimes—possibly half of the state’s 9,500 female prisoners—may be released within days; once home, they’ll... More »

Tunnels? Today's Jailbreaks Need Hackers

Security experts warn about vulnerable computer systems

(Newser) - A prison warden's worst nightmare came true a few years ago: A freak power surge opened every death row inmate's door at the same time. All ended well, but a security engineer recounts the anecdote to the Huffington Post to highlight a scary vulnerability of modern prisons controlled... More »

Why We Must Bring Back Flogging

It's more humane than prison, argues Peter Moskos

(Newser) - Prisons were invented to replace “barbaric” corporal punishment—but now, with our prison system failing, there’s only one thing to do: Bring back flogging. Yes, it sounds horrible, writes Peter Moskos in the Washington Post . But “America has a prison problem.” Namely, they cost too much... More »

US Military Review Calls for Afghan Prison Changes

(Newser) - Afghanistan’s prison system, including the American-run Bagram facility, needs a complete overhaul, according to a new US military review. The current system, which has a dreadful reputation with both human rights advocates and Afghan civilians, houses radical inmates with more moderate prisoners. The offensive in the southern part of... More »

The Best Prison Breaks

Frenchman's joins infamous company with clever escape

(Newser) - A Frenchman’s daring escape from a London prison—Julien Chautard turned himself in yesterday after busting out by gripping the bottom of a prisoner transport van as it left the courtyard—gets Jon Henley, in the Guardian, thinking about the best such tries ever. His highlights: More »

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’... More »

Record 2.3M Crowd US Prisons

Federal report describes system in crisis

(Newser) - A record 7.2 million criminals were behind bars, on parole, or being supervised on probation in 2006—a figure that cost taxpayers $45 billion and has states rethinking sentencing laws and shipping inmates elsewhere, the Washington Post reports. Of that number, 2.3 million people were in jail or... More »

First Inmates Freed in Crack Overhaul

More than 3,000 eligible for release this year under new sentencing guidelines

(Newser) - Federal prisons are beginning to release prisoners to comply with new crack-cocaine sentencing guidelines, the Washington Post reports. The US Sentencing Commission made more than 3,000 inmates eligible for release this year by voting in December to even out punishments for crack-cocaine offenses against those involving powdered cocaine; crack... More »

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