Prisons

Thirteen Former Corrections Officers Indicted for Racketeering and Drug Charges

Anyone who has watched TV knows that prisons are seriously screwed up places. They call them "correctional facilities," but very few believe much is being corrected inside the walls. And if you believe TV and movies, prison guards are often corrupt bullies who just want to kick prisoners asses and t ... More >>

ACLU, Human Rights Watch Report Condemns Solitary Confinement for Teens

In June 2009, Chris Vogel wrote our story "For Their Own Good," detailing the problems created when teens are left in solitary confinement in jail for up to 23 hours a day. We'd like to think we made an impact -- well, we had some effect in Harris County, which is what we concentrated on -- but as ... More >>

Prison Pays

Despite a history of abuse and bad conditions, private prison corporation GEO keeps getting contracts from the state.

Texas Has Fewer Inmates; What The Hell Are We Doing Wrong?

​The U.S. Department of Justice recently released a report about state prison populations, and Texas was one of six states with large decreases in the number of people incarcerated.  These numbers continue, the report says, "the trend of slower growth observed in the prison population since 2 ... More >>

Edinburg Police Foiled In Attempt To Give Pot To State Prison Inmates, Apparently

​They do things different down in the Valley. Like, if you're a police department, you donate some marijuana to inmates at the local state prison.Oh sure, Edinburg police are saying it was all a mistake, and no way did they intend to give 25 pounds of pot to inmates by cleverly concealing it in a ... More >>

ISO A Femme Fatale? Jail Babes Has The Hook-Up

​Can't find a match on Match.com? Can't get it in tune on eHarmony? Desperate for a young hottie, but not exactly a catch yourself and unable to fly to Russia for a mail order bride? We've got a dating sight for you: Jailbabes.Jailbabes is just like any other dating site, except all of the women ... More >>

TDCJ Guard Gets Two Years For Lying About Kicking Inmate In The Head

​A TDCJ guard who had been found guilty of filing a false "use of force" report was sentenced today to what no doubt will be two very uncomfortable years in a federal prison. (Or maybe guards take care of their own? We don't wanna know.)Eugene Morris, 41, had kicked an inmate in the head repeatedl ... More >>

For Their Own Good

Harris County juveniles certified as adults are jailed in isolation 23 hours a day — without being convicted of a crime.

Kindness and Courage on Death Row

Thomas Cahill tells Dominique Green’s story

Groups Protest The "Lock Up the Immigrants" Facility

Photo courtesy Houston Independent Media CenterJust before noon on Saturday some 50 protesters, including members of Houston's Students for a Democratic Society, gathered at the T. Don Hutto Family Detention Center outside Taylor, Texas, a holding facility for families of undocumented immigrants tha ... More >>

Living and Dying with Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor Over Sundance

How I turned some newspaper stories into a book which became a movie that caused those two guys to kiss

TDCJ Comes Up Against The Cell Phone Companies

A lot of people who read about the epidemic of cell phones in Texas prisons had a basic question -- if you can't discover and confiscate the things, why not just block them? Set it up to jam transmissions in the prison?It turns out TDCJ has thought about that, but it's easier said than done.The pris ... More >>

Prisoners In Beaumont Federal Pen Sue Over Work Conditions

Earlier this year, we brought you the story of the hundreds of inmates at the maximum-security federal penitentiary in Beaumont who sued the U.S. government claiming officials did not evacuate them during Hurricane Rita and thereby forced them to endure inhumane, medieval conditions. While that lega ... More >>

The Prison Experience Just Isn't The Same Without Cigarettes, Lawmaker Says

After sticking another inmate with a shiv in the showers, there’s nothing better than a tepid cup of apple wine and a smoke. Unfortunately, TDCJ banned all tobacco products in 1994, making it that much more difficult for a prisoner to relax after a hard day of rec-yard baseball or gang rape. ... More >>

This Guy Gets Cell Phone Service On Death Row

ACLU Wants Galveston Jail Evacuated Next Time

TDCJ Death Sparks A Lawsuit

Rock the Lockup: 2008 Prison Reform Film Festival

Tales from the big house get on the big screen

Flooded-Prison Lawsuit Moved Back to Texas

Former Death-Row Inmate Sent Back to Prison

Martin Draughon returns to the clink after becoming a test case for alleged flaws in GPS monitoring devices

Prison Cover-Up

Prison Breakdown

A Prison Cover-up During Hurricane Rita

For days after the storm, inmates in Beaumont lived without A/C, electricity or hot meals. Press releases kept saying everything inside was fine. Guards and prisoners agree — that was nothing but B.S.

Gang Lite?

A new kind of gang in Texas and Houston promises protection but no lifelong commitment

Mexican-American Culture

"Julie Green: The Last Supper"

Julie Green's "Last Supper" will take away your appetite

Caged Heat

Penal Violations

Texas prisons say they can’t allow condoms because they don’t allow sex. So they don’t need condoms. They just need $12 million a year to treat all the HIV-positive prisoners.

Suspended Sentence

After Innocence probes life following a wrongful conviction

The Fix Is In

UTMB is under fire in Dallas for its jail health care. So why is Houston ready to install it here?

No Pain, No Gain

Our solution for saving Texas's claim to capital punishment fame

The Unlikely Lambs

Carandiru reveals the human side of Brazilian prisoners, then leads us to their slaughter

Captive Market

Companies complain that they can't compete against convict labor

Writer's Block

Texas prisons start barring book authors from inmate interviews

Doing Time

With JC in the TDCJ

Prison Break?

Critics wonder if massive TDCJ cuts will be a prelude to privatization

Mail Sacked

The state says Texas prison inmates can't write to one another

On the Defense

Internal feuds and investigations cripple the agency representing accused convicts

A Guarded Past

Texas's impressive new prison museum engages in a little escapism of its own

Tattle Tales

The use of jailhouse snitches has been debated for ages, especially since they don't always tell the truth

The Devil You Say

Was Jeffery Prible the cold-blooded murderer of an entire family? Or the gullible target of an opportunistic jailhouse informant?

Lethal Legacy

Yates isn't dying to prove the equity of Harris County executions

Hanging Up

TDCJ finally halts monitoring of attorney-client phone calls -- sort of

Angola Bound

The Neville Brothers have toiled long and hard to win freedom from prisons of the body and mind.

Face To Face

The murder of their loved one haunted Amy and Linda White until a Texas prison mediation program brought them together with the killer. Now they've all got their answers -- and unique justice.

Drug Resistant

Harris County jailers are in no hurry to hand out meds to inmates with AIDS. Inmates claim this and other lockup practices endanger their lives.

Prose and Cons

Crusading convicts turned the docile Echo newspaper into a voice for prison reform. Fellow inmates cheered, but alarmed TDCJ officials preferred silence.

Lost Boys

Judy Walker saw one son die in prison and his twin sentenced to life for shooting a cop. The prison autopsy says Reginald died of natural causes. But his mother says it was retaliation for Robert's actions that got his brother killed.

Rejected

Thousands of inmates rely annually on a capricious parole board for their freedom. Most, like George Dismukes, return to their cells without ever knowing why they were denied.

Injecting Fun into Death Row

If your condemned convicts survive, you thrive in this game

Captive Emotions

Reagan Hamilton goes into Texas jails and tells inmates they better stay in touch with their kids. Her sadly powerful message has sparked some successes. Too bad they don't include her own father.