UN Drugs and Crime Office spotlights prison overcrowding epidemic
At the 13th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice on Thursday, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) announced that prison overcrowding has reached "epidemic proportions" worldwide. "Prison overcrowding can...
UN expert: Georgia's treatment of prisoners improved, but more must be done
The UN Special Rapporteur on torture Juan Méndez on Thursday outlined the substantial progress Georgia has made in eliminating torture and poor conditions in their prisons. But Mr. Méndez stressed that further changes still must...
Egypt court orders retrial for policemen connected to 37 deaths
Egypt's Court of Cassation on Thursday ordered a retrial for four policemen facing accusations of involuntary manslaughter relating to the deaths of 37 prisoners in a van outside the Abu Zaabal prison...
JURIST Guest Columnist Christina Piecora, St. John's University School of Law, Class of 2015, is the author of the first article in a twelve-part series from the staffers of the Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development. Piecora discusses possible...
France lawmakers adopt measure to reduce prison overcrowding
The French Senate adopted a law Thursday calling for increased use of probation and other measures to reduce prison overcrowding. France's prison system has become increasingly overcrowded in past years, and it...
The US Department of Justice on Tuesday announced support for a proposal that could reduce the sentences of nonviolent drug offenders in federal prisons. Attorney General Eric Holder requested that the proposed law...
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the ACLU of Texas released a report Tuesday exposing the results of a multi-year investigation into conditions at five Criminal Alien Requirement (CAR) prisons in Texas....
Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on Malawi to put an end to the practice of child and forced marriage in a report released on Thursday. The report was compiled based on interviews with 80 girls...
Italy Constitutional Court strikes down tough marijuana sentencing laws
Italy's Constitutional Court on Wednesday struck down a drug law that tripled sentences for selling, cultivating or possessing marijuana. The constitutional court declared the law illegitimate without further elaboration. The cannabis law was...
Federal judges grant California extension to reduce prison overcrowding
A panel of three federal judges in California on Monday granted the state an extension until February 28, 2016, to reduce overcrowding in its massive prison system. The California prison system currently houses about 120,000...
