The Best of Reason: Commander in Chains: 7 Scenarios If Trump Is Jailed and Wins the Election
There is nothing in the Constitution that prevents an inmate from winning the presidency.
Federal Prisons
Commander in Chains: 7 Scenarios If Trump Is Jailed and Wins the Election
There is nothing in the Constitution that prevents an inmate from winning the presidency.
Biden Threatens To Block GOP Plan To Send 3,000 People Back to Federal Prison
The White House cited the extraordinarily low recidivism rates among those released and the savings to taxpayers in its veto threat.
Colleen Eren: Why Donald Trump Signed the FIRST STEP Act
The author of Reform Nation explains how celebrity, philanthropy, and activism produced the most significant prison reform in decades.
Senate Resolution Would Send Federal Offenders Back to Prison 3 Years After Being Released to Home Confinement
The Bureau of Prisons released more than 12,000 people on home confinement during the pandemic. Three years later, Republicans want to overturn a Justice Department rule allowing those still serving sentences to stay home.
Prosecutors Appeal Proud Boys' Prison Sentences Over January 6 Riot
Prosecutors asked for longer prison sentences at trial and now seem to be trying again.
Federal Prison Censors Reason Issue About How Federal Prison Employed Serial Rapists
The issue was rejected because it "jeopardizes the good order and security of the institution."
Weed Is Legal in Illinois. Police Searched His Car Anyway.
An officer conducted the search of Prentiss Jackson's vehicle after claiming he could smell "a little bit of weed." It ultimately resulted in a lengthy prison term.
A Cop Jailed Her for 2 Years on Fake Charges. Will She Ever Get Justice?
St. Paul police officer Heather Weyker has thus far managed to get immunity for upending Hamdi Mohamud's life.
Federal Prison Guards Confessed to Rape and Got Away With It
"I knew they were scumbags," a former Bureau of Prisons officer tells Reason.
Newly Released Government Records Reveal Horrible Neglect of Terminally Ill Woman in Federal Prison
The records confirm medical neglect in a federal women's prison that Reason first reported on in 2020.
Prison Deaths Spiked by Almost 50 Percent During Early Months of COVID-19 Pandemic
Plus: ACLU urges Congress not to bank TikTok, a backdoor way to subsidize childcare, and more...
Reason Files FOIA Lawsuit Against Bureau of Prisons for Inmate Death Records
Reason reported in 2020 on allegations of fatal medical neglect inside two federal women's prisons. The Bureau of Prisons heavily redacted reports that would show if women died of inadequate care.
New Data Show Prison Staff Are Rarely Held Accountable for Sexual Misconduct
Prison staff were fired in less than half of substantiated incidents of sexual misconduct between 2016 and 2018, and only faced legal consequences in 6 percent of cases.
Federal Inmates Suffering From Unconstitutional Medical Neglect Could Get Relief Under Rule Change
The U.S. Sentencing Commission might make medical neglect a qualifying condition for compassionate release.
Senate Investigation Finds Federal Prisons Fail to Prevent or Investigate Rapes
Long delays and management failures "allowed serious, repeated sexual abuse in at least four facilities to go undetected."
Pardon People, Not Turkeys
Biden should exercise his pardon power to help some of the people whose lives his criminal justice policies destroyed.
Dungeons & Dragons Is Apparently Banned in Federal Prisons
State prisons around the country ban the roleplaying game, too, because of bizarre concerns about gang behavior and security threats.
Justice Department Inspector General Launches Investigation Into Inmate Death Following Judge's Contempt Order
Reason first reported last week on the scathing contempt order, which said the Bureau of Prisons should be "deeply ashamed" of its conduct.
Judge Holds Federal Bureau of Prisons in Contempt for Allowing Man To Waste Away From Untreated Cancer
A federal judge wrote that the Bureau of Prisons should be "deeply ashamed" of medical delays that resulted in a man dying from treatable cancer.
Biden Is Still Seeking Potential Life Sentences for Distributing Weed, Even As He Pardons for Possession
Pardoning possession offenders is nice. Taking his boot off the necks of cannabis sellers would be even better.
A Jury Acquitted Them of Various Charges. They Served Prison Time for Them Anyway.
The Supreme Court may soon consider if acquitted conduct sentencing is illegal.
Bill Introduced To Bring Independent Oversight to Federal Prison System
The Federal Prison Oversight Act would create an independent ombudsman to investigate complaints about the Bureau of Prisons, something prison advocacy groups have long called for.
11,000 Federal Inmates Were Sent Home During the Pandemic. Only 17 Were Arrested for New Crimes.
Criminal justice groups say the numbers vindicate their push to keep those people from being sent back to prison.
Federal Government Under Fire Over Conditions at Atlanta Federal Prison
Senators allege Bureau of Prisons officials turned a blind eye to rapidly deteriorating conditions at the U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta.
Biden's New Bureau of Prisons Director Won't be Able To Run Away From the Agency's Corruption
The federal prison system is plagued by corruption and civil rights abuses.
The New Violence Against Women Act Aims To Protect Women From State Violence
The bill addresses treatment of women in federal prisons and sexual assault of people in police custody.
Biden Administration Reverses Course, Will Let Prisoners Sent Home Due to Pandemic Stay There
Christmas comes a few days early for 2,800 inmates who had told they’d eventually have to return to their cells to serve out their terms.
Thousands Beg President Joe Biden for Mercy as He Pardons a Couple of Turkeys
The annual photo op takes on cruel undertones as drug offenders continue to suffer under harsh federal prison sentences.
Thousands of Federal Prisoners Aren't Getting Mandated Time Credits Because Prison Officials Won't Negotiate
COVID-19 has led to foot dragging in implementing some FIRST STEP Act reforms.
Don't Punish the QAnon Shaman—or Anyone—for Demanding a Jury Trial
Coercive plea deals trample on defendants' Sixth Amendment rights.
This Woman Served 11 Years in Prison on a Marijuana Charge. She's Been Sent Back Over a Clerical Error.
Raquel Esquivel, convicted of a nonviolent drug offense in 2009, was put on home confinement during COVID-19.
An Inmate Allegedly 'Leaking Blood All Over' Was Denied Medical Treatment for Hours. The Prison Guard Gets Qualified Immunity
The legal doctrine continues to render juries irrelevant.
Rikers Island Offers a Glimpse of America's Hellhole Prisons
Formal sentences cover for informal penalties including crowding, poor sanitation, beatings, and rape.
The Pandemic Showed Home Detention Works
In the right circumstances, home detention is cheaper and more effective than prison.
He Didn't Answer the Phone One Night While on House Arrest. He's Been Sent Back to Prison for Four Years.
Such punitive measures do not make society any safer.
Judge Frees 76-Year-Old Woman Sent Back to Federal Prison After Missing a Phone Call from Officials
Controversy highlights punishing responses to mundane mistakes during post-release monitoring of felons.
Pressure Grows on Biden To Rescind Memo That Would Send Thousands Released on Home Confinement Back to Federal Prison
More than 4,000 people released on home confinement could be sent back to federal prison after the pandemic. Senators and advocacy groups say it's cruel and unnecessary.
Biden Orders Justice Department To Phase Out Use of Private Prisons
Biden reportedly will also reinstate restriction on transfers of surplus military gear to police.
Not Even COVID-19 Infections Among Prison Staff Can Convince the Feds To Halt Executions
Five who tested positive recently will participate in this week’s planned executions of Brandon Bernard and Alfred Bourgeois.
An Inmate Firefighter Might Be Deported After California Handed Him Over to ICE
Bounchan Keola was injured while fighting the deadly Zogg Fire. California rewarded him with a possible deportation.
Federal Prosecutors Argue COVID-19 Is Just 'One More Way to Perish in Prison'
Atilano Dominguez was serving a life sentence for marijuana offenses, and federal prosecutors tried to ensure he died behind bars.
A New Bill Would Stop the Feds From Tossing Drug Defendants in Prison Before They're Convicted
A proposed bipartisan change in pretrial detention rules could free thousands annually.
These Women Received a Death Sentence for Being Sick In Prison
A Reason investigation has identified three deaths from alleged medical neglect at FCI Aliceville, a federal women's prison. Current and former inmates say it's routine, but the Bureau of Prisons won't talk about it.
Justice Department Asks Supreme Court To Block Judge's Order To Release Inmates at Ohio Federal Prison
A federal judge ordered officials at Elkton to stop "thumbing their nose" at their own authority to release inmates at risk of coronavirus.
Judge Rules in Favor of Federal Inmates in Coronavirus Suit, Orders Speedier Releases
A Connecticut federal prison's failures to grant early release to eligible inmates "amount to deliberate indifference" under the Eighth Amendment, the judge says.