Technology expands possibilities for incarcerated people to build their resumes

Erica Orta felt nervous waiting for the Zoom screen to light up as she sat in front of a computer at the Ohio Reformatory for Women preparing to facilitate a meeting for the Vera Institute of Justice (Vera)’s Unlocking Potential team for the first time. But when the faces appeared, she smoothly led the team through the agenda.“It was surreal,” said ...

Fifteen people have died in county jails so far this year.

How are people dying?It typically takes months for Los Angeles County to publicly issue causes of death for people who have died in LA County jails. And even once autopsy reports are finalized, they don’t tell the whole story. When the coroner rules that a death is the result of “natural causes,” jail conditions can still be to blame. Researchers h ...

As temperatures rise, thousands of incarcerated people face dangerous—even deadly—heat in prisons that still lack air-conditioning.

A group of organizations has sued the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), arguing that confining people in sweltering conditions violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. This trial began in federal court in early April and has given some hope to incarcerated people and their advocates, who are asking the judge to fo ...