Lori Berenson has spent much of the last 20 years in prison in Peru following being convicted of aiding the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement in planning an assault on the Peruvian Congress. This week marked the end of her sentence and being able to leave Peru, so she now heads home to the U.S.
This month, in Shadrick v. Hopkins County, the federal Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a private, for-profit corporation providing medical services to prisoners may be liable for violating the federal constitutional rights of prisoners by failing to adequately train its medical staff.
Prison holds a particular set of horrors for the transgender community. Until recently, American prisons housed transgender inmates by genitalia, and gender-confirming treatments of any kind were unavailable to the vast majority of transgender inmates.
Last week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued sweeping reforms to jail phone-call rates. In many states, prior to the reforms, the cost of a 15-minute in-state call could cost upwards of $5.
Last week, a federal court in Pennsylvania struck down a state law aimed at restricting the free speech rights of prisoners. In Mumia Abu Jamal v. Kane, the court addressed a new state law in Pennsylvania called the “Revictimization Relief Act,” which attempted to stop accused or convicted criminals from publicly expressing viewpoints that might […]
