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Razor wire outside a California detention center.

Social Justice

California’s Out-of-Date Jails Face Inmate Deaths and Construction Delays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.

Jason Pohl & Ryan Gabrielson

A bunk bed and desks inside a cell are seen at the Caroline Detention Facility in Bowling Green, Virginia, on August 13th, 2018. A former regional jail, the facility has been contracted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement to house undocumented adult immigrant detainees for violations of immigration laws.

Social Justice

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.

Jason Pohl & Ryan Gabrielson

Social Justice

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.

Lisa Halverstadt

Social Justice

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.

Arvind Dilawar

A California inmate sits on his bunk bed in a repurposed gymnasium.

Economics

Our Bail System Costs the Country $15 Billion Per Year

Pre-trial detention hurts defendants and taxpayers.

Dwyer Gunn

In 1567, wealthy citizens who could afford to purchase tickets for England's first National Lottery were guaranteed indemnity from arrest for crimes (excepting murder, treason, piracy, and other felonies).

Since We Last Spoke: Fewer ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ Cards to Go Around

Updates to stories from the Pacific Standard archive.

Pacific Standard Staff

Prescription opioid sales in the U.S. spiked on the dark Web after it became harder for patients to obtain prescriptions for them.

Social Justice

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.

Kate Wheeling

An inmate holds onto a fence at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, Louisiana.

Social Justice

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.

Kate Wheeling