Marketplace | The turnover rate among corrections officers in Florida’s state prisons was 22 percent in 2015. But it’s hard to hire and retain officers when the conditions are tough and the pay is low.
Florida Struggles to Keep Officers in State Prisons
Marketplace | Corrections officers have been leaving Florida’s state prison in droves. Many are leaving to work in the county jail.
Florida’s Corrections Officer Shortage Hurts Inmates
Marketplace | The shortage of corrections officers can mean bored prisoners, delays in access to basic services, even death.
In a Church Basement an Attempt to Chip Away at a Clogged Courtroom Docket
NPR | There are more than 1.2 million outstanding warrants in New York City, most of them for minor crimes. The District Attorney is trying to address the backlog, but there’s still a long way to go.
Syria: The Threat of Indifference
The New York Review of Books | Syrian refugees have been fleeing since long before the current flood into Europe. This story is an update to a September 2013 piece about the regional implications of the Syrian crisis: Syria’s Refugees: the Catastrophe. It first appeared on the NYRDaily. In September, it will be published in …
No Lawyers: Prison Disciplinary Hearings
Life of the Law | That we have the right to an attorney is enshrined in our national imagination, like liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But there are, in fact, a lot of circumstances where there is no right to an attorney. Sometimes, in fact, attorneys are not allowed. In this first in a …
Mental Health Training for Corrections Officers
Marketplace | There are so many inmates with mental illness in the Cook County jail that cadets get specialized training in how to recognize and manage it.
Offering treatment, not punishment, to veterans
Marketplace | Thanks in part to PTSD and other mental health issues, veterans are disproportionately involved in the criminal justice system. Veterans courts offer a chance at treatment, instead of jail or prison time.
Keeping mental health patients stable and out of jail
Marketplace | It’s one thing to keep people with mental illness out of the hospital. It’s another thing entirely to keep them out of jail, too. A new program in Rochester, NY, is trying a new approach to an old strategy.
Behind the Business of Bail
WNYC | If you’ve ever been within a few blocks of a courthouse, you’ve probably seen the bail bond agents’ offices. This story explains what they really do, and why it matters.