Justice Newzzz
Reports expose the death penalty debate while Alabama and Kansas continue to execute; Biden administration’s new prison policies; continued abuse and mistreatment in prisons and jails
concerns over quality: In Colorado’s private prisons, the turnover of staff is 100%. The state is throwing more money at staff salaries, but the $22 an hour starting salary is still $2 less than the starting wage for state employees and prisons are notoriously difficult work environments. Colorado Newsline (Jan. 26, 2022)
“within months”: Alabama will use nitrogen suffocation for the first time to execute a person sentenced to death. This method, replacing oxygen needed to breathe with nitrogen gas, was approved by the Alabama Legislature in 2018. Officials stated nitrogen executions could start at the earliest in late April. WHNT (Jan. 21, 2022)
a new prison boom: Under the Biden administration, unlike some may have hoped, mass incarceration rate have not declined.The president’s campaign promised to cut the federal prison population to half, yet it has increased by 70 percent since inauguration. SLATE (Jan. 25, 2022)
trans behind bars: Biden’s new policy requires federal prison staff to use lived names and pronouns for trans people. The Bureau of Prisons has reissued its Transgender Offender Manual to be more inclusive, hoping to combat prevalent abuse of incarcerated trans individuals. Government Executive (Jan. 27, 2022)
“tough on crime” again: The death penalty debate is back in the Illinois capitol. Republican candidates for governor during this election year endorse bringing back death penalty in Illinois. WCIA (Jan. 26, 2022)
inherently damaging: ‘Charlie Brown’ actor Peter Robbins suffered abuse and deterioration of his mental illness while incarcerated before he commited suicide.The actor spent five years in prison while suffering addiction and bipolar disorder, where he faced solitary confinement and beatings. His suicide last week suggests this traumatizing experience might have had irriducible impact. The Mercury News (Jan. 27, 2022)
surprising? or not?: Report done by University of Vermont’s Justice Research Initiative exposes disturbing climate in Vermont prisons. According to the study, the prison staff felt overworked and undervalued, while the incarcerated individuals felt mistreated and disdained. This suggests the ongoing mental distress and pressure caused by prison culture. WCAX (Jan. 27, 2022)
intersectional abolition: The authors of Abolition. Feminism. Now. discuss why policing and prisons can’t end gender violence. Some might ask, “but what about sex offenders?” when we talk of abolition. But we must understand that “the state, in the form of prisons and policing, is one of the deepest perpetrators of gender violence.” Boston Review (Jan. 24, 2022)
to vote or not to vote: Incarcerated people who cannot legally vote will not be counted as voters for the first time in Virginia. Counting incarcerated individuals as voters has been distorting the population data. But after McClellan’s bill was voted into law in 2020, Virginia joined 10 other states in ending the practice of “prison gerrymandering.” Charlottesville Tomorrow (Jan. 24, 2022)
death penalty upheld: No ‘inalienable’ right to life for the incarcerated in Kansas. Two death row individuals challenged the sentencing, arguing that the decision violates the state constitution. However, the state Supreme Court maintained its verdict, disagreeing that ‘ inalienable’ does not mean ‘absolute. ’Death Penalty Information Center (Jan. 26, 2022)
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