prison-issues

State prisons require visitors to call to schedule a visit, a pandemic-era hurdle some say has kept them from seeing incarcerated loved ones. (Getty Images)

A leftover pandemic restriction in N.J.’s prisons deprives some of ‘lifeline’ family visits

BY: - June 8, 2023

More than three years after the state closed New Jersey prisons to visitors as a pandemic precaution, they’ve opened them up again — but a lingering requirement to schedule visits has kept visiting rooms at many facilities largely empty.

As New Jersey’s prison population grays, calls grow for ‘geriatric parole’

BY: - May 23, 2023

1 in 5 people behind bars in the Garden State's state prisons are older than 50. The cost of their care is soaring.

PRISON CALLS ART

N.J. lawmakers propose eliminating the cost of calls for incarcerated people

BY: - February 27, 2023

Reformers have long called on policymakers to reduce the cost of communications in correctional facilities.

COMMENTARY

Pa.’s criminal legal system increases overdose deaths and makes recovery impossible | Opinion

BY: - January 9, 2023

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 […]

COMMENTARY

How Pa.’s incarcerated are doing their part to fight gun violence from the inside out | Opinion

BY: - November 26, 2022

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’

BY: - September 30, 2022

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

BY: - September 27, 2022

In Pa., the corrections officers' union has called on lawmakers to take action to address a looming shortage.

COMMENTARY

Pa. lawmakers can, and should, create pathways to work for the formerly incarcerated | Opinion

BY: - September 26, 2022

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

BY: - September 21, 2022

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’

BY: - September 20, 2022

'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.

COMMENTARY

The imprisoned are living with mental illness. States are ill-equipped to help | Thursday Coffee

BY: - June 23, 2022

Many report problems, few receive treatment, according to a new report.

Pa. prison guards union sues to block Wolf’s vaccine policy

BY: - September 13, 2021

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 […]