Search Results for: prison overcrowding

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Wednesday urged the Brazilian government to investigate the killings of inmates at the Pedrinhas Penitentiary Complex after a video surfaced of three decapitated inmates during a...

President Barack Obama on Thursday commuted the sentences of eight inmates currently serving lengthly prison terms for crack cocaine offenses, citing the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 (FSA) . The FSA reduced significant disparities...

UN Special Rapporteur Juan Mendez on Thursday expressed concern over the conditions in Ghana prisons. After visiting several prisons around the country, reviewing studies, and speaking with prison employees and inmates, Mendez concluded...

California Governor Jerry Brown on Thursday signed into law a bill that prevents the early release of inmates and allows the state to comply with a federal court order. The order requires the department...

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture Juan Mendez on Friday urged the US government to ban the use of prolonged or indefinite solitary confinement. In several California prisons, hunger strikes began on July 8,...

The Italian Senate on Thursday approved a measure to ease some of the worst prison overcrowding in Europe by cutting pre-trial detentions and using alternative punishments for minor offenses. In January the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) [official...

The US Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay an injunction that will allow for the early release of nearly 10,000 California inmates by the end of the year. The six-justice majority offered no explanation...

Amnesty International (AI) on Tuesday called on California to end conditions for prisoners in solitary confinement and order an impartial investigation into the recent death of a prisoner. Billy Sell, 32, was found hanged in...

California Governor Jerry Brown and various state prison officials on Monday filed a notice of appeal to the US Supreme Court from an April order requiring the governor to reduce California's prison population....

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled Tuesday that overcrowding in Italy's prisons violates the basic rights of inmates. Seven inmates at two Italian prisons filed complaints against the Italian government in 2009,...