Jun 09 Watch 4:06 Violent, New Orleans jail has young inmates attending high school inside By PBS News Hour At a jail with death rates four times the national average in New Orleans, teenagers and young men are trying a new program that enrolls them into full-day high school classes for diplomas, using the same curriculum and tests as… Continue watching
Nov 03 Watch 3:38 What it’s like to start over after spending your teen years in jail By PBS News Hour As teenageers, Vaughn Brown and Ivan Mayo were incarcerated at Rikers Island, where they confronted danger from fellow inmates, solitary confinement and their own thoughts. The two have vowed to never go back to jail. But being branded a felon… Continue watching
Apr 06 At this Florida jail, the inmates are also zookeepers By Corinne Segal Jeanne Selander had never worked in a jail before she came to save the zoo at the Stock Island Detention Center in Key West. Continue reading
Oct 27 7 percent of U.S. kids have had a parent in jail By Colleen Shalby More than 5 million U.S. children have had a parent in jail. That’s roughly seven percent of the nation’s kids 17 and under, or one in 14. Continue reading
Jun 08 Kalief Browder, teen who awaited trial for 3 years at Rikers, kills himself By Colleen Shalby Kalief Browder, who was arrested at 16 for allegedly stealing a backpack and who spent three years awaiting trial, committed suicide Saturday, two years after his release from Rikers Island. Continue reading
Apr 30 Watch 8:38 Criminal justice is so broken, Democrats and Republicans are working together to fix it By PBS News Hour The U.S. accounts for just 5 percent of the world’s population, but it houses more than 20 percent of its prisoners. Now groups on opposite sides of the political spectrum are working together to overhaul the country’s criminal justice system. Continue watching
Feb 16 Watch How poverty and mental illness are putting more people behind bars By PBS News Hour Continue watching
Jan 29 Watch 8:05 Why keeping young offenders out of jail could reduce crime By PBS News Hour Juvenile offenders kept under supervision close to home, rather than in secure, state-run facilities, are significantly less likely to be arrested again or commit more serious crimes, according to a new study. Judy Woodruff discusses the findings with Xavier McElrath-Bey… Continue watching
Aug 05 Report reveals ‘culture of violence’ against teens at Rikers Island By Andrew Troast A U.S. government report released Monday describes a “deep-seated culture of violence” against teenage inmates held at Rikers Island in New York. Continue reading
May 15 Watch Uninsured former inmates stand to gain health care under Medicaid expansion By PBS News Hour When American inmates are released from jail or prison, most leave without health insurance and little access to medical care. But under the federal health care law's expansion of Medicaid, that's beginning to change. Sarah Varney of Kaiser Health News… Continue watching