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Lance Lowry, who recently retired after 20 years as a corrections officer, outside the Huntsville Unit in Texas.
News November 1, 2021
As Corrections Officers Quit in Droves, Prisons Get Even More Dangerous
Fewer guards lead to more lockdowns, rising tensions and scant access to healthcare.
By Keri Blakinger, Jamiles Lartey, Beth Schwartzapfel, Mike Sisak and Christie Thompson
As part of the settlement of Nuñez v. City of New York, a 2011 class-action lawsuit filed by Rikers Island detainees, federal monitors periodically report on use of force across the jail complex. This image from the Eleventh Report shows at least 12 officers in a recreational area responding to two detainees who refused to be handcuffed.
Life Inside October 5, 2021
Dispatch From Deadly Rikers Island: “It Looks Like a Slave Ship in There.”
Rikers Island has been notorious for violence and neglect for decades. But detainees, corrections officers and officials tell us the New York City jail complex has plunged into a new state of emergency.
By Beth Schwartzapfel
Major Gina Clark at State Correctional Institution Phoenix in Collegeville, Penn., in October.
Life Inside October 4, 2018
Shattering the Maximum Security Ceiling
“I want to do the work that the guys do.”
by Gina Clark as told to Manuel Villa
Life Inside February 2, 2017
Working With Prisoners Makes It Hard To Be a Mom
Discipline at work, leniency at home—with doubts.
By Cary Johnson, as told to Maurice Chammah
Matthew Petrillo said he was struck in the face with a door of a locker by a guard during the incident at the prison.
Feature November 15, 2016
Inmates Say They Paid a Bloody Price for a Guard's Injury
Prisoners describe a rampage by correctional officers in a New York prison.
By Tom Robbins
News April 11, 2016
The State That is Taking on the Prison Guards Union
For decades, New York state’s corrections officers union has held the power in disciplinary decisions.
By Michael Winerip, Michael Schwirtz and Tom Robbins
Southport Correctional Facility, in the Southern Tier of New York State, was cited in more lawsuits since 2010 than any state prison except for Attica Correctional Facility.
News December 20, 2015
Spotting the ‘Red Flags’ of Abusive Prison Guards
Under pressure, New York says it will better track correctional officers
By Tom Robbins
News October 20, 2015
New York City Jail Guards Are Fighting to Keep Their Records Secret
Amid abuse charges, union acts to ‘protect our officers.’
By Alysia Santo
Commentary October 5, 2015
How to Deal with Prison Brutality
It’s time to take these cases away from local prosecutors.
By Eliot Spitzer
Feature September 27, 2015
Why It’s So Hard to Fire an Abusive Prison Guard
Corrections officials say he injured an inmate and lied about it. He’s still a state employee. He’s more the rule than the exception.
By Tom Robbins
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