State Prisons News

After a chaotic, marathon session in court Monday dealing with pre-trial matters, four inmates said they don't want to proceed without co-defendant Duane Peter.

A federal judge in Sacramento ordered state prison officials Tuesday to continue working to improve treatment for seriously mentally ill inmates on San Quentin's death row, but did not give inmates' attorneys sweeping changes in the care of their clients.

A federal judge has ruled that California is providing inadequate treatment to mentally ill inmates on death row, though he's leaving it up to the state to decide how to fix the problem.

Gov. Martin O'Malley announced late Tuesday that Maryland's director of public safety and corrections is leaving the state post he has held for seven years for a job in the private sector.

A judge Tuesday overturned the conviction of a man who spent 30 years in prison for a rape he says he falsely confessed to after being tortured by police.

Sarah Renee Knysz, nine months pregnant and weeping, spoke at great length at her sentencing Tuesday, Dec. 10, about the life of terror she said she lived as the wife of a controlling, abusive Eric John Knysz.

Rebecca "Becca" Rey Hart - charged in the June 2009 shooting death of her father, Gilbert Hart - is back in jail with bond revoked after Circuit Court Judge John Gasaway ruled Tuesday that she violated a substance abuse provision of her bond.

Detroit -- Robert Bashara is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday morning for a pretrial conference as his attorneys prepare to defend him on charges he hired a hit man to kill his wife, Jane.

A Houston man is headed to state prison after he was sentenced for repeatedly stealing cologne and body wash from local stores.

A man convicted of brutally killing two elderly women more than a quarter-century ago is set to be executed in Oklahoma.

Auto theft increased significantly in California and other property crimes also rose after the state began an initiative resulting in more inmates being released early, according to the first independent study of crime trends driven by the "realignment" program to reduce the state prison population.

A 29-year-old military veteran was received the maximum six to 15 years in Nevada state prison for leaving the scene of a car-motorcycle crash that killed a teenage Las Vegas police volunteer.

Guard towers loom over the administrative maximum security facility, the highest security area at the Federal Prison in Florence, Colorado in this Februar, 21, 2007 photo.

A Candler woman is facing charges after police say she had sexual relations with a state prison inmate while he was on work release at her company.

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. A local woman has been sentenced in connection to the stabbing death of her boyfriend this past summer.

Matthew T. Roaf, 21, received two concurrent suspended sentences of 5 to 10 years in State Prison in Strafford County Superior Court on Wednesday for charges of robbery and conspiracy in connection with the armed robbery of a Farmington home in January.

Xadrian R. McCraven has a criminal history that includes "at least" 24 arrests on charges including arson, illegal gun possession, attempted robbery, drug possession and aggravated assault, according to federal court records.

In honor of its currently running exhibition of the works of the American photographer John Divola , the Santa Barbara Museum of Art will host a concert by the award-winning American String Quartet at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the Mary Craig Auditorium at the museum, 1130 State St. The American String Quartet's program includes three works - two, praise ... (more)

Jerome Muturutsa's family thought he was coming home. On Nov. 12, a friend of the family drove to Bloomington, Minn., to pick up the Congolese refugee, who is a Swahili-language pastor in Sioux Falls and was a teacher in his homeland.

The death chamber is shown at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio.