Inside story: the US prison system A series that examines what life is like inside American prisons by hearing directly from inmates, their families, correction officers and others working in the US justice and correctional system
Thanks for nothing, Pope Francis Sadhbh Walshe Sadhbh Walshe: Francis casts himself as a reformer, but his views on women's roles in the church are as conservative as ever
Is miscarriage murder? States that put fetal rights ahead of a mother's say so Sadhbh Walshe Sadhbh Walshe: The effort to undo Roe v Wade threatens not just reproductive rights but the very definition of personhood for American women
How prisons became asylums, but worse: confinement without treatment Sadhbh Walshe Sadhbh Walshe: The case of Jan Green, placed in solitary when suffering from symptoms, is typical of how prisons warehouse the mentally ill
Governor Jerry Brown, California's prison crisis is not over Sadhbh Walshe Sadhbh Walshe: Reducing the state's dangerously overcrowded prisons to merely 150% capacity is no one else's idea of a problem solved
Discrimination against women in prison keeps them going back Sadhbh Walshe Sadhbh Walshe: In New Hampshire, the rate of recidivism is worse for women than for men – all because rehab services for them are worse
Breaking the hold of corporate welfare on America's incarceration industry Sadhbh Walshe Sadhbh Walshe: With stricken budgets, many states have been cutting prison populations. But vested interests are resisting prison closures
Arizona funnels business to CCA through its school-to-prison pipeline Sadhbh Walshe Sadhbh Walshe: Casa Grande invited a private prison firm to help make a high-school marijuana bust. Can you spot the conflict of interest?
The US Bureau of Prisons' lack of compassion costs it dear Sadhbh Walshe Sadhbh Walshe: The federal BOP houses more than 200,000 inmates. Last year, it granted 25 compassionate releases for the aged, sick or dying
Expensive and inhumane: the shameful state of US immigrant detention Sadhbh Walshe Sadhbh Walshe: Last year, it cost US taxpayers $1.7bn to house record numbers of mainly Latino immigrants in facilities Ice has failed to overhaul
Alabama's prison HIV segregation policy due for justice Sadhbh Walshe Sadhbh Walshe: A court may end Alabama corrections department's isolation of HIV-positive prisoners. But it leaves a legacy of prejudice
Will Obama's second term see an end to the failed 'war on drugs'? Sadhbh Walshe Sadhbh Walshe: Marijuana legalisation ballots signal how public opinion is turning against the prohibition policy that needlessly filled US prisons
Britain's double standard on extradition to US prison abuse Sadhbh Walshe Sadhbh Walshe: The UK home secretary condemned US detention when refusing to extradite Gary McKinnon – yet willingly deported five Muslims
Ugly echoes of Katrina as Bloomberg disregards prisoner safety from Sandy Sadhbh Walshe Sadhbh Walshe: New York's mayor is responsible for 12,000 prisoners on Rikers Island, but was remarkably blase about their risk during Sandy
Prison video visits threaten to put profit before public safety Sadhbh Walshe Sadhbh Walshe: Virtual visitation can help reduce rates of recidivism. But not if it's just a way for telecom companies to fleece prisoners' families
Proposition 36 promises an end to California's punitive three strikes law Sadhbh Walshe Sadhbh Walshe: Life-sentencing young offenders for petty crimes costs California taxpayers about $3m a time. Is that rational, let alone just?
Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca belatedly embraces jail reform Sadhbh Walshe Sadhbh Walshe: Given an FBI probe, class action lawsuit and highly critical report on systemic abuse, he had little choice. So now he's on the hook
Why justice is at risk in the Babar Ahmad extradition case Sadhbh Walshe Sadhbh Walshe: The 'war on terror' abuse of special administrative measures means that suspects held in the US are deprived of a fair trial
How lawmakers and lobbyists keep a lock on the private prison business Sadhbh Walshe Sadhbh Walshe: Private prison corporations say they don't lobby on custodial policy. They seem to find legislators with views aligned anyway
America's invisible incarcerated millions Sadhbh Walshe Sadhbh Walshe: It's hard to make good policy to keep people out of prison when US census data effectively 'disappear' those who are there
US 'supermax' prison is condemned internationally for its abusive regime Sadhbh Walshe Sadhbh Walshe: The Bureau of Prisons boss seems oblivious, as ADX Florence faces a class action lawsuit brought by mentally ill prisoners
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