DA calls for prisoner clemency, guard raises
As riots rock Mississippi prisons and continue to claim lives, 16th Circuit District Attorney Scott Colom called for actions from state leadership Monday to improve Mississippi’s detention system at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Unity Breakfast in Columbus.
States weigh bans on shackling jailed moms during childbirth
Michelle Aldana gave birth to her first child chained to a hospital bed.
Then serving time at the Utah state prison on a drug charge, she says she labored through the difficult 2001 birth for nearly 30 hours, her ankles bleeding as the shackles on both her legs and one arm dug in. “I felt like a farm animal,” she says.
Show up drunk: Indictments spotlight prison rehab scams
It’s a tip that has been passed onto convicts for years: On your way to federal prison, say you have a substance abuse problem, and you could qualify for a treatment program that knocks up to a year off your sentence.
Judge wants new look at prison conditions before ruling
A federal judge wants experts to re-examine a privately run Mississippi prison after a trial where inmates claimed unconstitutionally harsh conditions.
Rethinking ‘life without parole’ for juvenile offenders
Clay County resident Joey Chandler was only 17 when he committed the murder that would land him in prison for life.
Mississippi prison consultant will plead guilty to kickbacks
The wife of a former Mississippi lawmaker says she wants to plead guilty to paying kickbacks to the state’s former corrections commissioner.
Having a voice: Tyler Edmonds seeks compensation from Mississippi for three years he spent in prison
Tyler Edmonds was about to take the stage to speak to a room full of attorneys in Biloxi earlier this month when he received some unfortunate news.
Ex-lawmaker sentenced to 6 years for bribes
Former Mississippi legislator Irb Benjamin was sentenced Friday to nearly six years in prison for bribes he paid to former state Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps, but his sentence could be reduced if information he provided to investigators results in prosecutions of others in the bribery scandal.
Texan gets 5 years for bribing Mississippi official
A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced a Texas man to the maximum term of five years in prison for his role in bribing Mississippi’s former corrections commissioner.
Union: Guard killed at prison saved colleagues’ lives
Forced into a closet by inmates at Delaware’s largest prison, Sgt. Steven Floyd called out to officers coming to his aid, warning them that inmates had set a trap — saving their lives with his final actions, the head of the state corrections officers’ union said.
Macon woman, 70, serving decade prison term for pot
During the summer of 2014, law enforcement agents with the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, while flying in a helicopter, spotted marijuana growing in a garden near a home in Macon.
North Korea sentences US tourist to 15 years in prison
North Korea’s highest court sentenced an American tourist to 15 years in prison with hard labor for subversion today, weeks after authorities presented him to media and he tearfully confessed that he had tried to steal a propaganda banner.
Ala. authorities regain control of prison dorm after uprising
Dozens of inmates barricaded themselves inside a dormitory at an Alabama prison for more than four hours Monday until authorities were finally able to regain control in what marked the second violent uprising in the same area of the overcrowded correctional facility in three days.
Consultant pleads guilty in Mississippi prison bribery case
A business and government consultant pleaded guilty Thursday to a federal bribery charge, admitting he paid thousands of dollars in kickbacks to the former head of Mississippi’s prison system and a county supervisor on the Gulf Coast.
Obama bans solitary confinement for juveniles in federal prisons
President Barack Obama says he will ban the use of solitary confinement for juvenile and low-level offenders in federal prisons, citing the potential for “devastating, lasting psychological consequences” from the use of the isolation as punishment.
Prosecutor: Suspect confesses in prison drone case
A man arrested near a maximum-security state prison with an aerial drone and packages of illegal drugs, tobacco and pornographic videos in his pickup truck told police he was part of a ring that flew contraband into the prison, a prosecutor said as the conspiracy trial began Thursday.
Mississippi may close 3 more inmate work centers
Facing a tight budget, the head of Mississippi’s prison system said Monday that staff shortages may prompt him to close three more inmate community work centers that provide free labor to counties.
Corrections head: Miss. prison commissaries may close
The head of the Mississippi prison system might halt the commissary program inside Mississippi prisons, saying it causes more problems than it solves.
Senate bill could cut nonviolent drug offenders’ sentences
Nonviolent drug offenders could be eligible for shorter prison sentences under legislation approved by a Senate panel Thursday, as Congress took initial steps to change the nation’s criminal justice system.
Senators reach deal to reduce prison time for some
Some non-violent drug offenders could get reduced prison sentences under a bipartisan Senate package that would overhaul the criminal justice system and encourage rehabilitation.