prison reform

A male corrections officer at New Jersey’s long-troubled and only women’s prison has been charged with sexually assaulting an inmate and official misconduct, the state’s top law enforcement official said Wednesday.

Dr. Nneka Tapia was warden of the Cook County Jail in Chicago; now she is an advocate for prison reform. Tapia came to the criminal justice system with a unique background — a psychologist whose own father had been incarcerated. Today, she is using she perspective she gained on both sides of the system to push for change.

While most criminal justice overhauls require action from local officials or legislation, reforming the federal prison system is something President Joe Biden and his Justice Department control.

College education during incarceration helps people become less likely to re-offend upon leaving prison, and gives access to better job opportunities. By 2023, formerly incarcerated people will be able to access Pell Grants toward their education. Margaret Dizerega of the Vera Institute of Justice explains.

Philly Live’s Aunyea Lachelle gets a look at the virtual “Rendering Justice” exhibit now on display at the African American Museum in Philadelphia. The exhibit looks at the prison system through the eyes of those who have experienced it.

Since coronavirus entered the U.S., nearly 16,000 have fallen ill of COVID-19 and 134 have died. That number does not include people incarcerated in state prisons across the U.S. The Marshall Project’s criminal justice reporter Keri Blakinger explains why the general public should care about protecting people in prisons.

Roc Nation’s philanthropy arm, Team Roc, filed a lawsuit against the Mississippi Department of Corrections earlier this year on behalf of over 150 inmates in the state’s Parchman prison in response to conditions described as “barbaric.” Attorney Jessica Rice, who is working with Team Roc, explains why this case is important in Mississippi and details the long history of...

David Sheppard received clemency from Gov. Tom Wolf after serving more than half his life behind bars over a 1992 deadly pharmacy robbery where someone else killed the shop owner. After being released Tuesday morning, Sheppard told NBC10’s Miguel Martinez-Valle about his plans.

David Sheppard, whose prison sentence was commuted by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf after Sheppard spent 27 years behind bars for his role in a deadly robbery, will be released Tuesday. NBC10’s Miguel Martinez-Valle has the story.