NEWS

By Joshua Vaughn and Brittany Hailer On November 9, 2023 Jeff Lagrotteria and Tina Talotta waited 30 minutes before doctors would allow them to enter the hospital room where their cousin Anthony Talotta was barely alive, breathing on a ventilator. “Because they had to prepare him for us to see him,” Lagrotteria said, referring to…

He was tasked with ending abuse at a federal penitentiary, but he says his own officers and the Bureau of Prisons stood in the way. By Christie Thompson, Beth Schwartzapfel, and Joseph Shapiro On November 15, 2023 The handwritten letter arrived days before Christmas 2022. “THIS IS AN EMERGENCY ISSUE!!!” it began. “PLEASE HELP.” Signed…

By Meg Anderson On November 13, 2023 After a few months working in his prison’s hot and crowded kitchen, Richard Lilgerose noticed he was having trouble sleeping. “I was always anxious about having to go to the kitchen and work under these conditions for hours upon hours and not knowing when I was going to…

Some places have done away with the system, while others are considering stricter guidelines. By Amanda Hernandez On November 13, 2023 States can’t figure out what to do about cash bail. The system — in which an arrested suspect pays cash to avoid sitting in jail until their court date and gets the money back…

By Jessica L. Adler On November 13, 2023 The family of Samuel Lawrence, one of 10 people to die in Georgia’s Fulton County Jail in 2023, is fighting for answers and accountability. “I got to think about him every day of my life and I don’t know when the pain stops,” Lawrence’s father, Frank Richardson, told…

Counties are allowed to hold people awaiting court-ordered psychiatric treatment in jails only if the facilities meet safety and health standards, but there’s no funding to help them comply and no penalties if they don’t. By Isabelle Taft On November 13, 2023 Fourteen years ago, Mississippi legislators passed a law requiring county jails to be…

By Laura A. Bischoff, Cameron Knight, and Amy L. Knapp On November 11, 2023 Ohio’s juvenile prisons and detention centers are supposed to be safe places, where the state’s most troubled children are sent for what might be a last chance to turn their lives around before adulthood. But instead of finding refuge from crime and mayhem,…

The prison will be turned into a new-age rehabilitation center, but over $1 billion in maintenance needs are being neglected. By Kevin D. Sawyer On November 9, 2023 On each of the five floors of the west block building at San Quentin State Prison is a maintenance sheet that lists year-round problems.  “Water leaking in…

The suits filed as part of the state’s extension of the statute of limitations under the Adult Victims Act allege a culture of abuse and cover-up at the Department of Correction. By Reuven Blau On November 9, 2023 Inette Baez has held the secret of what happened to her on Rikers Island for nearly 20…