1 of every 133 Americans in prison or jail, Justice Dept. figures show

WASHINGTON – The U.S. prison population edged up slightly last year, though the number of total inmates dropped in 20 states, including New York, Georgia and Michigan.

Justice Department figures released Tuesday show the overall state and federal prison population stands at a record 1.6 million and is still rising, but the rate of growth is slowing as state authorities look for cheaper ways to mete out justice.

If you add in those people in jails – where some are held while they await trial – the total number of people behind bars comes to 2.3 million.

The government figures show one out of every 133 U.S. residents was in prison or jail at the end of last year.

The statistics are the latest evidence that the rapid growth of prisons seen in the 1990s has cooled significantly in this decade.

US continues to lock ’em up

US Justice Department figures have shown the overall state and federal prison population stands at a record 2.3 million and is still rising.

One out of every 133 US residents is now in prison.

The biggest jump in incarceration figures was put down to immigration detainees, a third of whom originated from Mexico.

The population of prisoners has continued to edge up in all but 20 states, causing authorities to look for better and cheaper ways to deliver justice.

Politicians have realised prisons cost too much to maintain and are saving money with alternative sentencing programs, such as treatment or monitoring.

Officials released more prisoners during the year; some 735,454 prisoners.

Eight percent of those were pushed out without conditions.

source: http://story.floridastatesman.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/c08dd24cec417021/id/575060/cs/1/

Ohio inmate ‘traumatized’ after failed execution

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – The lawyer for an inmate whose execution was halted after an unprecedented two hours said trying to put him to death again in a week could be a disaster.

Romell Broom is still recovering from Tuesday’s prolonged execution attempt and is physically and emotionally traumatized, his attorney, Adele Shank, said Wednesday.

“It went so badly when he was walking in without injured veins, to go forward so soon afterward just seems to be inviting disaster,” Shank said.

Gov. Ted Strickland’s decision to stop Tuesday’s execution and grant a one-week reprieve appeared to be unprecedented since capital punishment was declared constitutional and the nation resumed executions in the 1970s.

Inmates in several states have experienced delays with the injection of lethal chemicals, but those executions have always proceeded the same day.

Shank said one option was to ask Strickland to consider a request for clemency and to commute Broom’s sentence.

Strickland said he is reviewing the incident and consulting with prison officials and others about the next step.

“That does not mean there will be a review of the larger issue of lethal injections,” Strickland said Wednesday. “That’s been settled. Obviously yesterday demonstrated that we have a problem with this particular set of circumstances.”

Inmate injures five prison guards at CFCF

A mentally ill inmate injured five prison guards during a vicious attack at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility earlier today, officials said.
The guards were in the process of locking inmates in their cells about 10:30 a.m. when they found Edward Braswell sitting in the wrong cell, said prison spokesman Bob Eskind.
“They tried to move him, but he refused,” he said.
An instant later, chaos filled the cell as Braswell launched into an attack.
He rained fists down on a female sergeant, three male corrections officers and one female officer, all of whom were unable to stop the onslaught, Eskind said.
The guards tried using pepper spray on Braswell, to no avail.
“Pepper spray doesn’t help with mental-health inmates. Nothing can stop them,” said Lorenzo North, the president of the prison guards’ union, Local 159.
Other guards rushed to the scene and eventually subdued Braswell, Eskind said.
When the dust settled, the five guards were all nursing injuries, some of them serious.
One male officer suffered a broken ankle and broken finger, and was being monitored overnight at Aria Health-Torresdale, Eskind said.
The female sergeant suffered head trauma, after Braswell slugged her in the face five times, grabbed her by the hair and slammed hear head into a cinder-block wall, North said.

Family blames heroin in Fayette inmate’s jail hanging

A Fayette County man who died after he was found hanging in his jail cell had planned to return to school to pursue dreams of becoming a mechanic, but he couldn’t shake a heroin addiction that his mother and sister said fueled his downward spiral.

Cade William Stevens, 25, of 257 Lucky Lane, Dawson, was found at 10:06 a.m. Saturday hanging by bedsheets from cell bars at the Fayette County Prison. He was pronounced dead within the hour at Uniontown Hospital.

State police said Stevens apparently hanged himself between 9:40 a.m. and 10:06 a.m.

Two unidentified corrections officers were suspended yesterday with pay pending completion of an investigation, said Warden Larry Medlock.

The Fayette County Prison Board yesterday indicated it might take additional disciplinary action when it meets later this month. They can’t act until after Medlock and a human resources representative meet with the two guards. The meetings are required as per terms of the county’s contract with the guards’ union, United Mine Workers Local 9113.

Report: Prison Worker Sex Abuse Up Sharply

Accusations of sexual abuse at the hands of federal prison workers doubled in the past eight years, according to a new government report released Thursday.

Justice Department inspector general Glenn Fine found that claims made against Bureau of Prisons staff members increased dramatically from 2001 to 2008. Claims of sexual misconduct more than doubled, rising 130 percent in the same period.

According to the findings, female prison workers had a disproportionately higher percentage of accusations against them, yet those women who were convicted were less likely to serve time behind bars.

Pasco sheriff’s office sued over jail inmate’s death

NEW PORT RICHEY – The family of a New Port Richey man has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, saying he died because of the poor medical and psychological care he received during a jail stay.

Thomas James Fredenburg died Sept. 10, 2007, at Tampa General Hospital following a two-week stay at the Land O’ Lakes Jail. He was 28. An autopsy found that Fredenburg died of blunt trauma to the head.

Fredenburg was booked into the jail on an aggravated battery charge Aug. 24, 2007. According to the 23-page complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Tampa, he told jail medical staff that he had a drug problem and had been taking Soma, Valium and oxycodone. The next day, he reported experiencing opiate withdrawal.

Jail Officer Dies After Fight With Inmate

BARTOW | A Polk County Jail detention sergeant died Tuesday from complications after surgery to repair injuries suffered in an altercation with an “out-of-control” inmate, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Sgt. Ronnie Brown, 48, underwent surgery for broken vertebrae Monday, eight days after the fight at the South County Jail, and he died Tuesday morning at Winter Haven Hospital, Sheriff Grady Judd said.

Brown is the first Polk detention officer to die in the line of duty, sheriff’s officials said.

Prison warden takes on role as film critic at ACI

CRANSTON — Chick flick or Clint Eastwood? Disney or Quentin Tarantino? It’s an aggravating exercise for couples or families with children: The video store debate over what to rent.

But for James Weeden, a warden at the Adult Correctional Institutions, the stakes are higher. Parents dread tantrums. He worries about riots.

Weeden and his staff pick the programming for an unusual audience, the 400 or more inmates in the ACI’s maximum security unit. They have particular characteristics and tastes that have to be considered.

Cash-strapped states revise laws to get inmates out

 

Mandatory sentencing laws are relaxed, parole is accelerated, and time off for good behavior is increased as states scramble to save money.

Reporting from Denver – After decades of pursuing lock-’em-up policies, states are scrambling to reduce their prison populations in the face of tight budgets, making fundamental changes to their criminal justice systems as they try to save money.

Some states are revising mandatory-sentencing laws that locked up nonviolent offenders; others are recalculating the way prison time is counted.

California, with the nation’s second-largest prison system, is considering perhaps the most dramatic proposal — releasing 40,000 inmates to save money and comply with a court ruling that found the state’s prisons overcrowded.

Hilliard woman arrested for smuggling drugs into Nassau County Jail

A 49-year-old Hilliard woman was arrested Sept. 2 on charges of introducing contraband into a correctional facility and trafficking in a controlled substance after dozens of prescription pills were found hidden inside her as she was being booked into the Nassau County Jail on other charges, police said.

Marsha Ellen Joslin was at the jail in Yulee when an informant told narcotics detectives that she had “a large quantity of prescription medication concealed on her person,” according to a sheriff’s office news release.  A nurse conducted a thorough search and found a condom filled with prescription tablets in her vaginal cavity, police said.

Joslin’s bond was set at $10,004.

source: http://www.jacksonville.com/community/my_nassau_sun/2009-09-04/story/hilliard_woman_arrested_for_smuggling_drugs_into_nassau_cou

New $10 million jail to open in Roane County

KINGSTON (WATE) — Hundreds of people are flocking to Roane County’s new multi-million dollar jail for a three-day open house.

While the county faced many obstacles in funding such a big project, officials made it happen.

“We have four cells in here for holding people,” says Roane County Chief Deputy Tim Phillips.

Phillips gave 6 News a tour of the new, state-of-the-art jail on Friday.

While the nearly two year project set the county back $10 million, Phillips said it was a necessary investment.

“The capacity is right at 175 people,” he s

Armour-piercing bullets ordered for WA prisons

The WA government is set to buy 30,000 armour-piercing bullets to be used by an elite emergency response group for WA’s prisons.

A document obtained by WAtoday.com.au confirms the Department of Corrective Service’s emergency support group has requested the bullets for training purposes.

The bullets are for the so-called ballistic escort weapon, a compact gun that has a better firing range than a handgun and can be easily concealed in public areas.

The emergency support group is based at Hakea Prison and provides emergency and security support to all prisons and juvenile facilities in WA.

Controversial … the armour-piercing bullet.

The department currently uses the Fiocchi 4.6x30mm full metal jacket 46EXA bullet in its ballistic escort guns.

The bullet is designed to minimise weight and recoil while increasing penetration of body armour.

It has however been criticised by experts for performing poorly at the point of impact.

According to some reports, slow motion videos show the bullet swerves off course when it impacts soft human tissue.

This is because the mass centre of the bullet sits behind the geometrical centre, causing the back to come forward at impact and tumble through tissue – creating much more damage.

The Department of Corrective Services estimates that 30,000 rounds will be required per year, but it will demand suppliers be capable of making 10,000 rounds available at short notice.

The departmental document said the government was prepared to consider alternative bullet types.

source; http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/armourpiercing-bullets-ordered-for-wa-prisons-20090904-fazx.html

Prisoner numbers to hit new high

Prisoners in New Zealand are about to reach new highs — the number of people in prison is set to be the highest ever.

Corrections Minister Judith Collins said the previous peak was 8457 prisoners in September 2007.

Yesterday there were 8434 people in prisons or police stations.

“Within the next couple of weeks it’s likely that we will have more people behind bars than at any other time in New Zealand’s history.”

Strong prison population growth began in 2003 and was forecast to rise to around 10,700 by 2016.

There was pressure on the corrections system to find enough beds before it runs out in February, Ms Collins said.

Turning modular or container cells into prisons and double bunking were being used to help manage the “serious capacity crisis” in the short term.

Extending existing prisons and building new prisons were longer term options, Ms Collins said.

source; http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/5724027

Prison operator responsible for inmate’s death, coroner finds

A Victorian coroner has found that private prison operator GSL contributed to the death of an inmate who died of an asthma attack after pressing a prison intercom button that did not work.

Ian Westcott, 50, a remand prisoner at Port Phillip Prison, was found dead in his cell on November 26, 2005.

On a desk in his cell, police found a note in his handwriting.

“Asthma attack. Buzzed for help. No response,” he had written.

Coroner Audrey Jamieson today said there was a direct correlation between the intercom failure and Mr Westcott’s death, which she said was preventable.

Prison guards discover possible escape tunnel

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – South Carolina prison officials have discovered a hole dug by inmates at a maximum security prison that might have been part of an escape plan.

Spokesman Josh Gelinas said Wednesday authorities were tipped off by an inmate about the hole that had been dug through the concrete floor of a building at Lieber Correctional Institution at Ridgeville in an inmate work area.

Authorities are still investigating, but Gelinas says they don’t think the hole extends outside the wall of the building or beyond any security fences.

Gelinas says an inmate authorities think was digging the hole has been placed in solitary confinement.

Inmates on South Carolina’s death row are housed at Lieber but not in the same area where the hole was discovered.

source: http://www.wistv.com/global/story.asp?s=10663816

2 guards allege gender bias in prison promotions

A male city correctional officer who averaged 35 sick days a year got promoted.

So did one who had been arrested for assault, drunk driving, drug offenses and burglary.

So when Renee Johnson and Jill Toomer, city correctional officers with a combined 39 years of prison experience, got passed over for promotion in 2002, they got angry.

Both filed complaints against the Philadelphia Prisons System with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, alleging racial and gender discrimination. They pleaded their cases yesterday before a hearing examiner at the commission’s Center City office.

A decision could take months.

Prisoners attack female officers

Three female prison officers have been attacked by inmates in Maghaberry prison in County Antrim.

It happened during visiting time on Friday after staff spotted a visitor trying to smuggle a watch to a prisoner.

One of the prison officers suffered broken ribs, another a broken wrist and a third was left with a bruised face.

Finlay Spratt, chairman of the Prison Officers Association, said the attack was despicable.

“Those people should face the full vigour of the law,” he said.

“Their job is to stop contraband coming into the prisons and when they do it these visitors and prisoners don’t like being caught and that is what has happened here.”

source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8112179.stm

DOC: Perryville Officer Committed Suicide

PHOENIX — A Department of Corrections officer committed suicide at the Arizona State Prison Complex-Perryville on Thursday night, according to a DOC spokesman.

 

Public information officer Bill Lameroux said the officer was on duty patrolling the facility’s perimeter when he apparently shot himself.

 

The DOC is not releasing the officer’s name because his next of kin have not been notified, Lameroux said

On May 20, a female inmate at Perryville died of exposure after she’d been left outside in a holding cell for several hours.

source: http://www.kpho.com/news/19800615/detail.html

Guards are the worst prison-rapists

The National Prison Rape Elimination Commission final report is grim reading, especially the finding that prisoners report more rape committed by guards than by other prisoners.
More than 7.3 million Americans are confined in U.S. correctional facilities or supervised in the community, at a cost of more than $68 billion annually. Given our country’s enormous investment in corrections, we should ensure that these environments are as safe and productive as they can be. Sexual abuse undermines those goals. It makes correctional environments more dangerous for staff as well as prisoners, consumes scarce resources, and undermines rehabilitation. It also carries the potential to devastate the lives of victims. The many interrelated consequences of sexual abuse for individuals and society are difficult to pinpoint and nearly impossible to quantify, but they are powerfully captured in individual accounts of abuse and its impact.