Ball & Chain

"Anything and everything concerning prisons, with an emphasis on prison law. Compilation of global news articles on prison issues with commentary."

Author: Joanna E. Saul is a law student at Georgetown University.

Blawg Related Categories: Criminal Justice • Sentencing/Post Conviction • Georgetown University • Law Student

Recent Posts from Ball & Chain

Community Sentencing More Favorable Than Short Prison Sentences on Reoffending Rates
An article on the positive statistical results of community corrections in comparison with short prison stays: Perhaps most significantly, the figures also show a substantial drop in reoffending by adults who are given non-custodial sentences,…
Georgia's Fast Track Facilities
Georgia has funded new facility designs - termed "Fast Track" - in order to deal with the prison population increase. From the Valdosta Daily: Designed to house 256 inmates, the Fast Tracks were funded by…
New Inmate Vocational Training Program: Murder
O, the drama...From the Wisconsin State Journal: A Wisconsin prison guard solicited an inmate to kill her former son-in-law, then framed him for prison rules violations when he refused to do it, the inmate claimed…
More Uses for Old Prisons: Museum
Iraq is going to reopen Abu Ghraib as a museum - not of US prison abuses, as one might suspect, but of crimes under Saddam Hussein. Hmmm, not sounding like a real crowd pleaser, if…
A Vote for Open Prisons
Article and comments in favor of the use of open prisons in Scotland - or at least in favor of not holding the prison service responsible for the crimes committed by prisoners released on furlough.…
Case Note: Turner v. Burnside
The Eleventh Circuit, in an amazing decision, holds that “a prison official's serious threats of substantial retaliation against an inmate for lodging in good faith a grievance make the administrative remedy ‘unavailable,’ and thus lift…
Las Vegas Considering New Prison Design
Check out this excerpt from the Las Vegas Sun: "The head of the state prison system said he’s willing to stake his career on the design for a proposed Southern Nevada prison that would be…
Inmates Versus Flood Recovery - Who Wins?
The Des Moines Register reports that Republican lawmakers are considering canceling plans for a $131M max security facility to fund flood recovery. "Reallocating funds in the time of crisis is an absolute necessity because we…
NM Inmates Escape
Eight NM inmates escaped from a county jail by cutting a hole in the roof with handmade tools near the skylight. Check out the story here. I love the blurbs at the bottom about past…
Aging Inmates Raising Prison Costs
Another article on the rising costs of providing geriatric inmate care. Any insurance salesman could tell you that older persons generally have greater healthcare costs than younger persons - but when it comes to inmates,…