Prisons and Corrections in the News
Pennsylvania and Lehigh Valley - Prisons and Corrections in the News
- Despite promises to do better, Pennsylvania continues to jail the mentally incompetent
(Riley Yates, The Morning Call, July 28, 2018)
- Pennsylvania's bail system keeps poor people in jail
(Riley Yates, Peter Hall, The Morning Call, July 20, 2018)
- Behind Erie's falling violent crime, signs of an initiative's success
(GoErie: July 15, 2018)
- Despite new resentencing guidelines, juvenile lifers still getting long prison terms
(philly.com, Morning Call: July 16, 2018)
- Video documentary: American Jail:
- Oscar-winning Easton filmmaker visits hometown prison in new movie
(Express-Times, June 22, 2018)
- Easton native Roger Ross Williams talks about latest film, 'American Jail'
(Morning Call, July 2, 2018)
- Pa. Task Force Report: Changes to death penalty suggested (The Morning Call, June 25)
- Clean Slate Act becomes law:
- Jail to Jobs: Women's prison has a vision for success
(Laurie Mason Schroeder, The Morning Call, June 17)
- Pennsylvania Probation Under Scrutiny
(Riley Yates, The Morning Call, June 10, 2018)
- More Probation violations cost woman jail time
(Riley Yates, The Morning Call, June 16, 2018)
- Can the rural prison economy survive the era of decarceration?
by Samantha Melamed (philly.com, June 7; Morning Call, June 11, 2018)
- Court Fees Pile up, Imperiling the Poor
(Riley Yates, The Morning Call, May 13, 2018)
- Philadelphia's New Top Prosecutor Is Rolling Out Wild, Unprecedented Criminal Justice Reforms (portside.org Mar. 29, 2018)
- Philadelphia City Council Resolution to End Cash Bail
(phillymag.com, Feb. 2, 2018)
- Larry Krasner (Philadelphia District Attorney): prosecutors will no longer seek cash bail for people accused of some misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies
(philly.com, Feb. 21, 2018)
- Philadelphia economic impact study: the city could save $75 million a year by ending cash bail and sending thousands of people arrested each year for nonviolent, low-level crimes home to await their court dates.
(injusticetoday.com, Oct. 26, 2017)
Letters to the Editor
Lehigh County Jail
- Authorities: Former Lehigh County Jail nurse charged in sex assault with inmate
(Morning Call: Oct. 3, 2017)
- Authorities: Inmate at Lehigh County jail found dead
(Morning Call: June 26, 2017)
- Inmate at Lehigh County Jail dies; autopsy to be performed
(Morning Call: July 24, 2015)
- Jail medical care not cause of inmate's death, Lehigh County jury rules
(Morning Call: March 27, 2015)
- Former Lehigh County jail doctor gets 3 1/2 years in prison for cheating taxpayers
(Morning Call: April 20, 2015)
- Lehigh County jail prisoner grieivance (Lehigh Valley IWW: Sept. 12, 2015)
- Families blame Lehigh County Jail inmates' deaths on staff
(Morning Call: Nov. 23, 2014)
- Cellmate: Ex-prison doc talked about shooting judge (Morning Call: July 22, 2014)
[Note: Lehigh County jail contracts for medical services with PrimeCare]
PrimeCare Medical Inc., contract audit - Northampton County (Nov. 25, 2015)
- Inmate hangs himself in Lehigh County Prison cell, officials say
(LehighValleyLive: January 17, 2014)
- No charges in Lehigh County inmate's death following seizure, being placed in restraint chair
(LehighValleyLive: August 8, 2013)
- Court Case:Charles Shumanis v. Lehigh County Warden Dale Miesel, Warden Janine Donate, Sergeant Eric Saborsky, Sergant Ronald March, Correction Office Eric Nowicki
Judicial decision Jan. 18, 2017, regarding jail incident on Nov. 16, 2012.
- Janine Donate resigned as Warden of Lakawanna County prison in 2010, and subsequently was hired as Warden of Lehigh County Jail.
U.S. and International - Prisons and Corrections in the News
CALIFORNIA - end of cash bail:
- California Becomes First State To End Cash Bail After 40-Year Fight (NPR: Aug. 28, 2018) Note that the ACLU and others claim that the new legislation which ends California's cash bail (as of October 2019) will not end discrimination against poor and minority people when determining whether someone will be released or kept in custody.
|
- How Prison Gerrymandering Strips Power from Communities of Color
(In These Times: Aug. 16, 2018).
Also, see this related story on Pennsylvania:
Census Bureau policy costs urban Pennsylvania political clout in legislature.
- Modern Day Debtors' Prisons (NY Times editorial: Aug. 6, 2018)
The time has come to end cash bail, a major factor in inequality in the court system.
- Denouncing America's "Debtor Prison" System, Sanders Introduces Bill to End Cash Bail (Common Dreams: July 25, 2018)
Senator Bernie Sanders has introduced the "No Money Bail Act" (PDF summary), and Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) has introduced a companion bill in the House.
- Vera Institute of Justice - links to many national news stories on mass incarceration
- America's outcasts: the women trapped in a cruel cycle of exploitation (The Guardian, June 29, 2018)
- Pain and terror: America's history of racism (The Guardian, 4/26/2018)
Report about a new museum in Montgomery, Alabama, founded by Bryan Stevenson, the prison reform lawyer -- on America's history of lynching and the link to the present, our present.
- Mental Health Disorders Are Pervasive in the Juvenile Justice System. Here's How One State Is Addressing It (Sojourners: Mar. 22, 2018)
- Voter Opinion Towards Prosecutors Prior to 2018 Elections (ACLU: Dec. 12, 2017)
This ACLU survey shows strong voter support across the country for District Attorneys who are committed to criminal justice reforms.
|
NEW JERSEY - end of cash bail:
|
|