Prisons and Prisoners
Viktor Bout Could Be Swapped for Brittney Griner. Who Is He?
Shortly after his conviction in 2011 on charges including conspiring to kill American citizens, the Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout relayed a defiant message through his lawyer, even though he faced the prospect of decades in prison. Mr. Bout, his lawyer said, “believes this is not the end.” More than a decade later, Mr. Bout, […]
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Looming Question for Putin Opponents: Can You Change Russia From Jail?
Shortly after Russia shocked the world by attacking Ukraine on Feb. 24, Ilya V. Yashin, a local Moscow councilman and prominent opposition figure, decided it was time to see a dentist. The Kremlin was in the process of criminalizing criticism of the war, and Mr. Yashin, a very vocal critic, had decided to stay in […]
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Prison Personnel Describe Horrific Conditions, and Cover-Up, at Atlanta Prison
WASHINGTON — Widespread drug abuse, substandard medical and mental health care, out-of-control violence and horrific sanitary conditions are rampant at a federal prison in Atlanta, a new congressional investigation into the federal Bureau of Prisons has found. The problems plaguing the medium-security prison, which holds around 1,400 people, are so notorious within the federal government […]
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Chesa Boudin Ousted in San Francisco District Attorney Recall
SAN FRANCISCO — Voters in San Francisco on Tuesday put an end to one of the country’s most pioneering experiments in criminal justice reform, ousting a district attorney who eliminated cash bail, vowed to hold police accountable and worked to reduce the number of people sent to prison. Chesa Boudin, the progressive district attorney, was […]
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Samora Pinderhughes Explored Incarceration in Song. The Result Is ‘Grief.’
OAKLAND, Calif. — Near the end of a sold-out show earlier this month, celebrating the release of his visionary second album, “Grief,” the vocalist, pianist, composer and activist Samora Pinderhughes asked the audience to sing with him. He was about to hit the coda to “Process” — a heart-baring anthem of solitude and self-forgiveness, which […]
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Alabama Officer Vicky White Dies and Escapee Is Caught, Officials Say
A national manhunt for a former corrections officer and the Alabama inmate she helped to escape last month ended Monday after a police pursuit resulted in a crash in Indiana, the authorities said. The former officer fatally shot herself, and the inmate surrendered, they said. The former officer, Vicky White, had been on the run […]
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Biden Uses Clemency Powers for the First Time
WASHINGTON — President Biden on Tuesday used his clemency powers for the first time to commute the sentences of 75 drug offenders and issue three pardons, including to the first Black Secret Service agent to work on a presidential detail, who had long maintained he had been wrongfully convicted. “I think I’m in a state […]
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Republicans and Democrats Begin to Sharply Diverge on Crime
Even some Democrats are sensing a shift in the political winds and adapting accordingly. The leading challenger to Gov. Kathy Hochul in New York’s Democratic primary race, Representative Tom Suozzi of Long Island, this week joined Republicans in Albany who have criticized the state’s 2020 bail reform law as too soft on dangerous criminals. “When […]
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50 Years Ago, James Brown Took an Unlikely Stage: Rikers Island
There was a stage at the front of the room and folding chairs set up for the audience. Caldwood watched Brown rehearse before the concert. “He acted like he was on Broadway or someplace,” Caldwood said, adding that when Brown would criticize something a band member did wrong, “They didn’t say nothing, they just did […]
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