Prison sentence | Reason Archives (original) (raw)
Russian Court Denies Appeal of U.S. Citizen Sentenced to 12 Years for Donating $51 to Pro-Ukraine Charity
Ksenia Karelina was prosecuted as part of a larger “treason” crackdown that is unprecedented even by Russia’s illiberal standards.
Billy Binion | 11.13.2024 10:45 AM
Ford Fischer: What's the Untold Story Behind 'Stop the Steal'?
Documentarian Ford Fischer discusses his experience covering the "Stop the Steal" movement, January 6, and what it all means for the future of journalism and democracy.
Zach Weissmueller and Liz Wolfe | 10.3.2024 1:15 PM
Brickbat: Room at the Inn
Charles Oliver | 9.4.2024 4:00 AM
America Criminalizes Too Much and Punishes Too Much
When those on parole or probation are included, one out of every 47 adults is under “some form of correctional supervision.”
Neil Gorsuch and Janie Nitze | 8.6.2024 7:00 AM
Wall Street Journal Reporter Evan Gershkovich Released From Russian Captivity
Gershkovich was released Thursday in an elaborate prisoner swap involving two dozen prisoners from at least six countries.
Emma Camp | 8.1.2024 1:56 PM
Texas Prisoners Are Being 'Cooked Alive' by High Temperatures, Investigation Says
Last year, one prison's temperatures stayed above 100 degrees for 11 days.
Emma Camp | 7.30.2024 5:19 PM
The DOOBIE Act Would Limit Government Discrimination Against People Who Have Smoked Weed
Under the law, the feds couldn't deny you a job or security clearance just because you've used marijuana in the past.
Billy Binion | 7.19.2024 12:16 PM
Rapper B.G. Ordered To Turn Over New Song Lyrics to the Feds
Supervised release shouldn't require former inmates to give up their First Amendment rights.
Emma Camp | 7.3.2024 5:26 PM
The Supreme Court Again Strengthens the Right to a Jury Trial in Criminal Sentencing
Paul Erlinger was sentenced to 15 years in prison based largely on a determination made by a judge—not a jury.
Billy Binion | 6.21.2024 5:12 PM
40 Percent of Police Officers Convicted of Child Sex Abuse Don't Get Prison Time, Investigation Finds
An analysis by The Washington Post found that nearly 1,800 police officers were arrested for child sex abuse-related crimes between 2005 and 2022.
Emma Camp | 6.12.2024 3:11 PM
Federal Supervised Release Is a Wasteful Mess. A Bipartisan Bill in Congress Is Trying To Fix That.
The Safer Supervision Act would create an off-ramp for those with good behavior to petition to have their supervised release sentences terminated early.
C.J. Ciaramella | 6.4.2024 11:34 AM
Daniel Perry's Pardon Makes a Mockery of Self-Defense
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott takes a tactic from the progressive prosecutors he says he opposes.
Billy Binion | 5.17.2024 4:59 PM
Murder Rates Are Plummeting. What Should We Make of It?
In data from over 200 cities, homicides are down a little over 19 percent when compared to a similar time frame in 2023.
Billy Binion | 5.6.2024 5:10 PM
Trump Promises To Give Police 'Immunity From Prosecution'
The pledge, while mostly legally illiterate, offers a reminder of the former president's outlook on government accountability.
Billy Binion | 5.3.2024 4:15 PM
This Elderly Man Was Arrested After Shooting a Burglar in Self-Defense—for Carrying the Gun Without a License
Vincent Yakaitis is unfortunately not the first such defendant. He will also not be the last.
Billy Binion | 5.1.2024 4:37 PM
She Only Served 10 Months Behind Bars. Florida Still Slapped Her With A $127,000 Bill.
Under Florida's "pay-to-stay" law, inmates are charged $50 for every day of their sentence—including time they never spent incarcerated.
Emma Camp | 4.24.2024 3:32 PM
Oklahoma Prisoners Say They Were Locked In Filthy, Tiny Shower Stalls for Days
At least one inmate claims that the shower stalls, which were just 3 feet by 3 feet, were covered in human feces.
Emma Camp | 4.19.2024 11:45 AM
Texas Takes Intellectually Disabled Inmate Off Death Row
Randall Mays, who has an IQ of 63, was resentenced to life without parole.
Emma Camp | 4.2.2024 4:43 PM
No, Imprisoning a School Shooter's Parents Isn't Justice
James Crumbley, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, may be an unsympathetic defendant. But this prosecution still made little sense.
Billy Binion | 3.15.2024 5:32 PM
Alabama Discovers There Is No 'Humane' Way To Execute Someone
Instead of searching for gentle execution methods, states should just stop killing prisoners.
Emma Camp | 3.14.2024 3:45 PM
A Paramedic Got 5 Years in Prison for Elijah McClain's Death. That's Not Justice.
It can certainly be true that Peter Cichuniec made an egregious professional misjudgment. And it can also be true that punishing him criminally makes little sense.
Billy Binion | 3.4.2024 4:30 PM
Brickbat: Time Gone By
Charles Oliver | 2.16.2024 4:00 AM
Writer's Suspended Death Sentence Is a Reminder of China's Awful Record on Human Rights
Yang Hengjun's punishment will be commuted to life in prison if he passes a probationary period. But the espionage accusations against him are highly spurious.
Varad Raigaonkar | 2.9.2024 3:05 PM
Brickbat: The Wrong Man
Charles Oliver | 2.5.2024 4:00 AM
Brickbat: Royal Trouble
Charles Oliver | 2.2.2024 4:00 AM
Alabama Killed an Inmate With an Experimental Execution Method. Ohio Could Be Next.
Following the nitrogen hypoxia execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith last week, Ohio lawmakers introduced a bill to bring the execution method to their state.
Emma Camp | 1.30.2024 3:40 PM
'The Most Horrible Thing I've Ever Seen': Alabama Executes Inmate With Experimental Method
Kenneth Eugene Smith was likely the first person in the world to be executed by nitrogen hypoxia.
Emma Camp | 1.26.2024 3:00 PM
This Death Row Inmate Says He's Innocent. The Supreme Court Has Agreed To Hear His Case.
After multiple investigations shed doubt on his conviction, the Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether Oklahoma death-row inmate Richard Glossip will get a new trial.
Emma Camp | 1.23.2024 4:53 PM
Alabama Set To Use Experimental Execution Method
In killing Kenneth Eugene Smith by nitrogen hypoxia, the state would be using him as a "test subject," Smith's lawyers argue.
Emma Camp | 1.11.2024 3:03 PM
Brickbat: The Wrong Man
Charles Oliver | 12.4.2023 4:00 AM
Alabama Set To Execute Man for a Crime He Committed While Legally a Minor
"Alabama law sets the age of majority at 19 years old, not 18 years. An 18-year-old is thus a minor," say Casey McWhorter's lawyers.
Emma Camp | 11.16.2023 4:15 PM
Illinois Youth Lockup Is 'No Place for Children,' According to ACLU Lawsuit
Children held in the Franklin County Juvenile Detention Center are routinely subjected to solitary confinement, inadequate meals, and filthy cells, according to legal documents.
Emma Camp | 11.13.2023 11:40 AM
Senate Resolution Would Send Federal Offenders Back to Prison 3 Years After Being Released to Home Confinement
The Bureau of Prisons released more than 12,000 people on home confinement during the pandemic. Three years later, Republicans want to overturn a Justice Department rule allowing those still serving sentences to stay home.
C.J. Ciaramella | 11.6.2023 11:49 AM
Overcrowding Causes 'Unsafe and Unsanitary' Conditions for Youth In Philadelphia Jail
According to legal documents, children have been forced to sleep on the floor of offices and gymnasiums, with limited access to bathrooms and showers.
Emma Camp | 10.31.2023 1:15 PM
Prosecutors Appeal Proud Boys' Prison Sentences Over January 6 Riot
Prosecutors asked for longer prison sentences at trial and now seem to be trying again.
Joe Lancaster | 10.17.2023 2:40 PM
No, Mike Pence, We Should Not Make It Easier To Execute Mass Shooters
Pence suggested executing mass shooters in "months, not years," but that would remove crucial procedural protections—and not just for those who are obviously guilty.
Emma Camp | 9.28.2023 4:50 PM
Federal Prison Guards Confessed to Rape and Got Away With It
"I knew they were scumbags," a former Bureau of Prisons officer tells Reason.
C.J. Ciaramella | 9.3.2023 6:00 AM
Could Louisiana's Governor Empty the State's Death Row?
Gov. John Bel Edwards has directed the state to review 56 death-row clemency applications after he made comments opposing capital punishment in April.
Emma Camp | 8.17.2023 1:27 PM
Idaho Keeps Scheduling This Inmate's Execution Even Though It Lacks the Means To Kill Him
A federal judge ruled in favor of an Idaho death-row inmate who says that the state is "psychologically torturing" him.
Emma Camp | 8.11.2023 3:39 PM
'I Owe Freedom My Life': Jimmy Lai Is Imprisoned for Criticizing the Chinese Government
Lai's media company covered the Communist government's abuses when other Hong Kong media wouldn't.
John Stossel | 7.5.2023 5:10 PM
Alabama Isn't Ready To Kill Inmates By Nitrogen Hypoxia. It Wants To Try Anyway.
James Barber is set to be killed next month, the first execution after a string of botched lethal injection executions in the state.
Emma Camp | 6.27.2023 4:51 PM
Louisiana Gov. Said He Opposed the Death Penalty. Then Almost Every Death Row Inmate Applied for Clemency.
Only two clemency applications from death row inmates in Louisiana have been granted in the past 50 years.
Emma Camp | 6.14.2023 3:58 PM
These Murders Don't Fit Into the Culture War
By glossing over routine crime victims in favor of stories with unorthodox circumstances, the press paints a distorted picture of a very real problem.
Billy Binion | 5.26.2023 2:41 PM
Alabama Botched His Execution. Now He Wants To Die Differently.
On Monday, the Supreme Court sided with an Alabama death-row inmate who, after surviving a botched lethal injection attempt last year, says he wants to die by gas chamber instead.
Emma Camp | 5.17.2023 3:05 PM
Alabama Schedules First Execution After Monthslong Moratorium and 'Sham' Investigation
After an array of botched and unsuccessful executions, the state's Department of Corrections says its ready to start executing inmates again.
Emma Camp | 5.12.2023 4:18 PM
The Supreme Court Has Halted Richard Glossip's Execution
The state's own attorney general has said Glossip deserves a new trial.
Emma Camp | 5.8.2023 1:07 PM
As Oklahoma's Attorney General Calls for Clemency, the State Keeps Planning To Execute Richard Glossip
Two damning investigations and a request from the state attorney general haven't been enough to stop the execution.
Emma Camp | 5.1.2023 3:52 PM
Brittney Griner's Russian Imprisonment Outraged the Country. So Should Vladimir Kara-Murza's.
The journalist and dissident, who was sentenced to 25 years in a penal colony for criticizing the Russian government, has not received the same attention.
Billy Binion | 4.21.2023 5:31 PM