Jail
California's Out-of-Date Jails Face Inmate Deaths and Construction Delays
New and improved facilities are a critical pillar of California's corrections transformation. But bureaucratic roadblocks, indifference from county sheriffs, and critical errors in planning by local officials have meant dozens of California jails remain broken and dangerous.
Why Are Homicide Rates Spiking in California's County Jails?
Since 2011 inmate-on-inmate homicides have risen 46 percent in county jails statewide compared with the seven years before.
San Diego's Effort to Reduce Prison Overcrowding Is Hitting Some Snags
Proposition 47 was meant to prevent minor drug offenders from being incarcerated and instead funneled into treatment. Thus far the plan has seen mixed results.
What Should Replace Cash Bail?
A California bill replaces cash bail with risk-assessment algorithms, which critics argue will perpetuate the pre-trial detention of minority and low-income defendants.
Our Bail System Costs the Country $15 Billion Per Year
Pre-trial detention hurts defendants and taxpayers.
Since We Last Spoke: Fewer 'Get Out of Jail Free' Cards to Go Around
Updates to stories from the Pacific Standard archive.
The Number of Mentally Ill Inmates in California Jails Is Rising
A new policy brief uses psychotropic medications as a proxy for mental illness, and finds that, despite criminal justice reforms in the state, the population of mentally ill inmates in jails is growing.
Over a Quarter of Americans Believe Their Local Justice System Is Unfair
A new poll from the MacArthur Foundation finds most Americans' sentiments about the justice system are at odds with the Trump administration's punitive policies.
Alaska Ends Cash Bail System
In Alaska, a point-based system will replace cash for determining who the state will release on bail.
America's Giant Rural Jail Problem
A new report finds that rural jails buck the trend of declining inmate populations.
'The Great Equalizer': Navigating Pre-Trial Detention
A new consultancy firm offers advice for first-time detainees, from someone who’s been there.
A Day in the Life of a Prisoner
Movies and television don't do an adequate job capturing the day-to-day loneliness and the feelings of exclusion and shame.
Will Parole Get a Second Chance in Virginia?
Twenty years after abolishing parole, one state is examining the impact (and the politics).
Solitary Confinement and the Teenage Brain
More than 20 years ago, the international community agreed that teenagers should only be jailed as a last resort—and never placed in solitary confinement.
When Addicts Get Out of Jail
New research suggests that maintaining methadone treatment in jails and prisons would save lives.
Partisan Politics Could Mean Jail Time for Innocent People
Research shows that Republican-leaning states are less likely to pass laws to protect against wrongful convictions.
Shackling Juveniles in the Courtroom
Pediatricians and psychologists say unnecessary restraints can traumatize kids and encourage worse behavior.
Protecting Juvenile Offenders From Adult Inmates, and From Themselves
The only federal law that regulates detention conditions for juveniles is due for an upgrade.
Excessive Force in Custody and the Rights of the Untried
While Baltimore erupts, the Supreme Court considers a timely case.
The Children of the Prison Boom
Some argue that taking parents who have committed a crime out of the family might be good for children, but the data is in. It’s not.
Sealing Criminal Records for the Possibility of Redemption
Cory Booker and Rand Paul’s REDEEM Act.
Are We Approaching the End of Solitary Confinement?
As a new class-action lawsuit out of California’s infamous Pelican Bay State Prison that may definitively determine the future of solitary in that state moves forward, more people are taking the position that the practice amounts to inhumane punishment.
To Catch an Arsonist: New Advances in the Art of Fire Science
Gradual advancements in the art and science of fire investigation continue.