prison-issues
Pa.’s criminal legal system increases overdose deaths and makes recovery impossible | Opinion
By Sean Fogler and Carla Sofronski In 2021, over 5,300 Pennsylvanians lost their lives to a preventable drug overdose. Pennsylvania policy makers and local government officials have led the charge in fueling this historic public health crisis. While there are many factors contributing to this horrific toll, Pennsylvania’s criminal legal system stands alone in its […]
How Pa.’s incarcerated are doing their part to fight gun violence from the inside out | Opinion
Tens of thousands of Americans with criminal records are fighting to restore dignity to their communities.
U.S. Senate panel probes federal prisons ‘riddled with mismanagement’
Staff shortages have impacted the federal Bureau of Prisons' operations, former Pa. Corrections Secretary John E. Wetzel, told lawmakers.
Prison staff shortages in Pa., elsewhere take toll on guards, incarcerated people | Analysis
In Pa., the corrections officers' union has called on lawmakers to take action to address a looming shortage.
Pa. lawmakers can, and should, create pathways to work for the formerly incarcerated | Opinion
By Mike Doner Flagger Force employs over 1,000 workers across Pennsylvania who bring diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, and experiences, including a significant number who are justice-involved. As a believer in fair chance employment and giving individuals who want to work the opportunity to do so, I support the bipartisan House Bill 1826, sponsored by Rep. Sheryl […]
Report: U.S. government failed to properly count deaths of people in prisons and jails
The Dept of Justice failed to enforce the Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2013, which requires states that receive federal funding to report prison and jail deaths to the agency.
Former ‘lifers’ call on lawmakers to end ‘death by incarceration’
'Second chances doesn't mean everybody comes home, it means everybody has a chance to come home if they do the right thing,' state Sen. Sharif Street said.
The imprisoned are living with mental illness. States are ill-equipped to help | Thursday Coffee
Many report problems, few receive treatment, according to a new report.
Pa. prison guards union sues to block Wolf’s vaccine policy
The union representing 11,000 Pennsylvania prison guards and other corrections staff has filed a lawsuit to block Gov. Tom Wolf’s vaccine policy. The policy, announced last month, required thousands of state employees working in congregate settings — such as state-run hospitals, homes for the disabled, and prisons — to get vaccinated or be tested for […]
Controversial Allegheny County Jail contractor has criminal history, served time in U.K.
The contractor, Joseph Garcia, also once warned of a race war against correctional officers
Life without parole has turned Pa.’s prisons into hospices for the hopeless | Opinion
People are aging and dying in prison, withering away to nothing with no chance of ever returning to the free world
Hunger strike ends at Pa. prison; organizers proclaim it a success
The hunger strike by more than 20 incarcerated men at State Correctional Institution-Phoenix in Montgomery County over prolonged solitary confinement is now over.