COLORLINES

CEO of Largest Private Prison Company: No Worries About Immigration Reform

by Seth Freed Wessler on February 14 2013, 4:26PM

On a call for investors on Thursday, the president and CEO of the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the country’s largest private prison contractor, said that he’s not concerned about the impact that immigration reform might have on the immigration…

Topics: Immigration Reform, /NOW Blog

Prison GEO Group Exec Threatened to Deport Daughter-in-Law

by Jorge Rivas on December 6 2012, 4:00PM

Thomas M. Wierdsma, a Senior Vice President for Project Development at GEO is seen confirming he said he would use his position to deport his son’s Hungarian wife.

Topics: Immigration, /NOW Blog

Spanish-Speaker Spends Months Locked Up After Interpreter Dies

by Seth Freed Wessler on November 28 2012, 9:35AM

If you’re fluent in English and Spanish and looking for a job, Mississippi needs you.

Topics: Criminal Justice, /NOW Blog

Family Becomes Focal Point in Fight to Lower Prison Phone Rates

by Jamilah King on November 20 2012, 10:13AM

The criminal cost of talking to a loved one behind bars has taken center stage at the Federal Communications Commission. And that’s exactly what organizers had in mind.

Topics: Criminal Justice, Media

Man Sentenced to 3 Years For Leading Mississippi Prison Riot

by Seth Freed Wessler on November 20 2012, 9:35AM

Juan Lopez-Fuentes became the first inmate to be sentenced for a riot that rattled a Mississippi federal prison in May.

Topics: Criminal Justice, Immigration, /NOW Blog

Bloomberg: Don’t Worry About Prisoners at Rikers Island

by Jorge Rivas on October 29 2012, 4:34PM

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg tellingly misinterpreted a reporter’s question during a pre-Sandy press conference Sunday.

Topics: /NOW Blog

In Virginia, 350K Would-Be Voters Wait for Democracy’s Slow Return

by Brentin Mock on October 24 2012, 9:28AM

Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell is restoring the voting rights of more formerly incarcerated residents than any previous administration. And it’s still a drop in the bucket.

Topics: 2012 Election, Voting Rights 2012, Criminal Justice, Politics

Advocates Want Halt to Expansion Of Private Prisons For Non-Citizens

by Seth Freed Wessler on September 14 2012, 9:25AM

The government has a plan to expand private prisons for immigrants, despite those facilities’ deadly track record.

Topics: Immigration

DOJ Finds Violation of Constitutional Rights in Kansas Correctional Facility

by Jorge Rivas on September 7 2012, 3:25PM

The investigation was conducted by the Civil Rights Division’s Special Litigation Section and focused on whether prisoners at the facility were subject to sexual abuse in violation of their constitutional rights.

Topics: Criminal Justice, /NOW Blog, Todd Akin

Private Prison Company’s New Profit Source: Mental Health

by Seth Freed Wessler on September 6 2012, 10:00AM

The State of Texas is poised to outsource management of a public psychiatric hospital to a company that’s made its billions in the business of private criminal and civil immigration lockup.

Topics: Health

60 Percent of Louisiana Prison Doctors Disciplined by State Med Board

by Jamilah King on July 30 2012, 10:30AM

Louisiana’s is the world’s prison capital — and also a dumping ground for shady doctors.

Topics: Criminal Justice, /NOW Blog

Despite Decrease in Violent Crime, Incarceration Rates Have Soared [Infographic]

by Jorge Rivas on June 26 2012, 2:09PM

Despite a 41% decrease in violent crime since 1990 incarceration rates have soared.

Topics: Criminal Justice, /NOW Blog

What Started a Mississippi Prison Riot? Depends on Who You Ask

by Seth Freed Wessler on May 22 2012, 9:37AM

A for-profit, Corrections Corporation of America facility holding non-citizen inmates is on lockdown after a weekend riot. Officials insist it was a gang feud. But reports from inside suggest a pattern of abuse and neglect that has recurred at privately run prisons.

Topics: Criminal Justice, Immigration

New Federal Rules Aim to Curb Sexual Assault in Prison

by Julianne Hing on May 18 2012, 4:57PM

One in ten inmates report being sexually assaulted or raped in prison, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Topics: Criminal Justice, /NOW Blog

The Criminal Cost of Talking to a Loved One Behind Bars

by Leticia Miranda on May 14 2012, 9:00AM

For years, states have worked with private phone companies to charge high rates on phone calls to and from prisons. Now activists are trying to force the FCC’s hand to do something about it.

Topics: Criminal Justice

An Interactive Look at the Heavy Price of American Freedom

by Jamilah King on April 25 2012, 8:55AM

An ambitious new timeline traces the brutal relationship between freedom and confinement in the United States.

Topics: Criminal Justice, History

The Prison Industrial (Retirement) Complex, by the Numbers

by Hatty Lee on February 1 2012, 9:14AM

After decades of indiscriminately locking people up and throwing away the key, states are discovering yet another consequence of over-incarceration: rapidly aging prison populations.

Topics: Criminal Justice