The Crime Report (https://thecrimereport.org/category/corrections/prisons/)
Prisons provide dentures only when “medically necessary” — and chewing is not considered a medical necessity. Toothless inmates are routinely denied dentures and instead offered blended food, often regular cafeteria meals simply pureed.
The state, the world’s leader in incarceration, operates prisons at 113 percent of capacity, even with three private prisons. “If the state doesn’t take a proactive attitude on this, the feds are going to come in and make it happen,” said Corrections Director Joe Allbaugh, who called the situation “shameful.”
The U.S. Bureau of Prisons spent more than $1.7 million to construct an entry building at the Danbury federal prison in Connecticut that was no longer necessary, the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General says. The watchdog unit said the spending was part of a $28 million contract to Sealaska Constructors LLC for construction at Danbury.
A report released by the Justice Department cites the Bureau of Prisons for not adequately addressing the needs of female inmates when it comes to trauma treatment, pregnancy programming, and hygiene; noting that oversight of policies, including those regarding strip searches, are conducted remotely– with no on-site visits to ensure compliance.
The odds that mentally troubled prisoners will be sent to solitary confinement for misconduct are 36 percent higher than for those without mental illness, according to a University of Massachusetts study of data from a 2004 national survey.
Reform group says Arizona, with the nation’s fourth highest imprisonment rate, can save money by imprisoning fewer people for nonviolent crimes.
A bipartisan group of female House members would prevent the use of restraints and solitary confinement of pregnant federal inmates. One ex-prisoner says she suffered a miscarriage while she was shackled.
The state instituted new book, mail, and visitation policies to combat a “growing drug crisis” and protect employees — as well as incarcerated persons — from synthetic substances that are entering prisons via “paper products.” The fallout for inmates may involve privacy issues and alienation from their legal representatives.
Wanda Barzee, 72, will be released next week after spending more than 15 years in prison for helping to kidnap Elizabeth Smart. Smart was “surprised” and “disappointed” by the decision.
Although inmates in just 16 states reportedly participated in the prison strike that began last month, their complaints deserve a better national hearing than they received, prison reformers tell The Crime Report.