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Once you learn to read, you will be forever free. --FREDERICK DOUGLASS, NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS I begin this work with the above epigraph from Douglass to [...]

I. INTRODUCTION. 491 II. GENDER DISPARITY IN PRISON PROGRAMS 492 A. CLAIMS UNDER THE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT S EQUAL PROTECTION CLAUSE 493 B. CLAIMS UNDER TITLE IX OF THE EDUCATION AMENDMENT [...]

Sara Benson, The Prison of Democracy: Race, Leavenworth, and the Culture of Law (University of California Press, 2019) At a time when national discourse surrounding mass incarceration is becoming increasingly [...]

Objectives: To describe the issues encountered during the implementation of an indoor smoking ban in prison and its effects on self-reported tobacco use, perceived exposure to second-hand smoke (SHS) and perceived health status of inmates in Quebec's provincial correctional facilities. Methods: Quantitative data were obtained from 113 inmates in three provincial correctional facilities in the province of Quebec, Canada. Qualitative data were obtained from 52 inmates and 27 staff members. Participants were recruited through a self-selection process. Particular efforts were made to enrol proportions of men, women, smokers and non-smokers similar to those generally found among correctional populations. Results: Despite the indoor smoking ban, 93% of inmates who declared themselves smokers reported using tobacco products inside the correctional facilities and 48% did not report any reduction in their tobacco use. Only 46% of smokers declared having been caught smoking inside the facility, and more than half of them (58%) reported no disciplinary consequences to their smoking. A majority of inmates incarcerated before the implementation of the ban (66%) did not perceive a reduction of their exposure to SHS following the indoor ban. Enforcement issues were encountered during the implementation of the indoor ban, notably because of the amendment made to the original regulation (total smoking ban) and tolerance from smokers in the staff towards indoor smoking. They were also related to perceptions that banning indoor smoking is complex and poses management problems. Conclusion: This study's findings emphasize the importance of considering organizational and environmental factors when planning the implementation of an indoor smoking ban in correctional facilities. Key words: Correctional facilities; indoor smoking ban; enforcement issues; second-hand smoke Objectifs : Decrire les problemes rencontres suite a l'implantation d'une reglementation interdisant de fumer a l'interieur des prisons, ainsi que les effets de cette reglementation sur l'usage du tabac, l'exposition percue a la fumee de tabac ambiante et l'etat de sante percu chez des detenus incarceres en etablissement de detention provincial au Quebec. Methode : Des donnees quantitatives ont ete recueillies aupres de 113 detenus dans trois etablissements de detention provinciaux situes dans la province de Quebec. Des donnees qualitatives ont ete obtenues aupres de 52 detenus et 27 membres du personnel. Les participants ont ete recrutes selon un processus d'autoselection, en visant a obtenir des proportions d'hommes, de femmes, de fumeurs et de non-fumeurs similaires a celles generalement retrouvees au sein des etablissements de detention. Resultats : En depit de l'interdiction de fumer, 93 % des detenus se declarant fumeurs ont affirme utiliser des produits du tabac a l'interieur des etablissements de detention, et 48 % ont dit ne pas avoir reduit leur consommation de tabac. Seulement 46 % des detenus fumeurs interroges ont declare avoir ete apprehendes par un agent correctionnel lorsqu'ils fumaient a l'interieur de l'etablissement. Parmi ces derniers, plus de la moitie (58 %) n'ont pas subi de consequences disciplinaires. Une majorite des detenus incarceres avant l'implantation de l'interdiction de fumer (66 %) n'ont pas percu de reduction de l'exposition a la fumee de tabac ambiante suite a l'entree en vigueur de la reglementation. Des problemes d'application ont ete rencontres au cours de la periode d'implantation de la reglementation, notamment en raison d'une modification a la reglementation initiale (laquelle prevoyait une interdiction totale de fumer en milieu correctionnel) et de la tolerance de membres du personnel fumeurs vis-a-vis l'usage du tabac a l'interieur des etablissements. Ces problemes etaient egalement relies a la perception que l'interdiction de l'usage du tabac a l'interieur des etablissements de detention est une procedure complexe qui engendre des problemes de gestion. Conclusion : Les resultats de cette etude soulignent l'importance de considerer les facteurs organisationnels et environnementaux dans la planification de l'implantation d'une reglementation interdisant l'usage du tabac a l'interieur des etablissements de detention. Mots cles : etablissements de detention; interdiction de fumer a l'interieur; problemes d'application; fumee de tabac ambiante, Smoking is an important health issue in correctional environments. Smoking prevalence is reported to be high in penitentiaries, yet the last study to measure tobacco use in Canadian correctional facilities [...]

The Collective Clemency Bill passed by the Italian Parliament in July 2006 represents a natural experiment to analyze the behavioral response of individuals to an exogenous manipulation of prison sentences. On the basis of a unique data set on the postrelease behavior of former inmates, we find that 1 month less time served in prison commuted into 1 month more in expected sentence for future crimes reduces the probability of recidivism by 0.16 percentage points. From this result we estimate an elasticity of average recidivism with respect to the expected punishment equal to -0.74 for a 7-month period.

The objective of this research is to document correctional institutions' policies regarding inmates' correspondence, visitation, and telephoning between 1971 and 2005. Data were gathered via mailed surveys in 1971, 1981, 1991, and 2005 from state correctional facilities for adults in maximum security institutions. The survey return rates were 93% (n = 64) in 1971, 96% (n = 66) in 1981, 81% (n = 91) in 1991, and 84% (n = 162) in 2005. The findings suggest that prison communication policies are becoming more restrictive on visitation and inmates are assuming more of the expenses for correspondence. At the same time, policies regarding telephone usage seem to have gotten more lenient, with the financial obligations falling solely on the inmates. These results are informative as many state legislatures are becoming increasingly attentive to strategies that might reinforce inmate relationships with family and friends to reduce recidivism rates, lessening the financial strain of incarceration on state budgets. Keywords: prison policies; prisoner visitation; communication policies; re-entry

The political economy of the U.S. prison telephone industry, with special emphasis on changes in the industry since the mid-1980s, is explored. It is concluded that sharp price increases, coupled with explosive growth in the national prison population, turned the prison telephone sector into a lucrative and largely invisible growth center for the U.S. telecommunication industries as a whole.

Proposals, which on implementation would lead to a considerable expansion of prison privatization, are considered by the Scottish parliament. Saving the cost of pounds sterling 700 million which is independently verified by the Scottish Prison Service and the Scottish Executive is used for the justification of these proposals.

The symptoms of distress and nicotine dependence as predictors of nicotine withdrawal symptoms were investigated among 188 incarcerated male smokers during a mandated smoking ban. An interaction was found such that distresses smokers had the highest level of nicotine withdrawal.

In this article, the authors reflect on the lessons of their Stanford Prison Experiment, some 25 years after conducting it. They review the quarter century of change in criminal justice and correctional policies that has transpired since the Stanford Prison Experiment and then develop a series of reform-oriented proposals drawn from this and related studies on the power of social situations and institutional settings that can be applied to the current crisis in American corrections.

It is possible that future inmate freelance journalists and the newspapers that publish them will be restrained by Bureau of Prison regulations aimed at preserving prison security.

The American Correctional Assn proposed in a resolution provisions that will require legislatures to make the necessary appropriations for laws that will extend the length of sentences for crimes. This resolution is called pay-as-you lock legislation and it is aimed at addressing problem of prison overcrowding, a problem in turn caused by the increase in the crime rate and by legislation extending the terms of mandated sentences.

This Note examines the constitutionality of Alaska's current policy of transferring Alaska state prisoners to privately run prisons in other states. The Note describes the developing interplay between federal law, [...]

Alcatraz, the maximum-security federal prison on the island of San Francisco, is described as an escape-proof prison where it was mandate to punish and not to rehabilitate. The rules and regulations followed in the jail are presented.

The New Jersey Department of Corrections has completely banned media interviews with inmates, the Star-Ledger reported June 14. Department spokesman Matthew Schuman told the Star-Ledger that acting corrections commissioner George [...]