'This Is Not an Emergency'
How Florida prison officials let a man's prostate cancer progress until he was paralyzed and terminally ill.
8th Amendment
Idaho Keeps Scheduling This Inmate's Execution Even Though It Lacks the Means To Kill Him
A federal judge ruled in favor of an Idaho death-row inmate who says that the state is "psychologically torturing" him.
Newly Released Government Records Reveal Horrible Neglect of Terminally Ill Woman in Federal Prison
The records confirm medical neglect in a federal women's prison that Reason first reported on in 2020.
Ron DeSantis Signs Florida Law Setting Lowest Threshold for Death Penalty Sentences in the Country
Florida will now only require an 8–4 majority for a jury to recommend a death sentence. Alabama is the only other state that allows split juries to recommend death sentences.
Reason Files FOIA Lawsuit Against Bureau of Prisons for Inmate Death Records
Reason reported in 2020 on allegations of fatal medical neglect inside two federal women's prisons. The Bureau of Prisons heavily redacted reports that would show if women died of inadequate care.
Texas Death Row Prisoners Sue Over Automatic Solitary Confinement
The state's "arbitrary requirement to house all male death row prisoners in permanent solitary confinement does not promote safety and security, is inconsistent with correctional best practices, and serves no penological purpose," the lawsuit claims.
Supreme Court Declines Case Challenging Excessive IRS Penalties
Should an elderly grandmother be forced to hand over millions of dollars to the government for failing to file a particular form?
Federal Inmates Suffering From Unconstitutional Medical Neglect Could Get Relief Under Rule Change
The U.S. Sentencing Commission might make medical neglect a qualifying condition for compassionate release.
Is Texas About To Use Expired Drugs To Execute Death Row Inmates?
Defendants say this practice violates the state’s own laws. The attorney general is pushing onward anyway.
Senate Investigation Finds Federal Prisons Fail to Prevent or Investigate Rapes
Long delays and management failures "allowed serious, repeated sexual abuse in at least four facilities to go undetected."
Mandatory Life Sentences for Juvenile Homicide Offenders are Unconstitutional, Rules Tennessee Supreme Court
The court says a 51-year "life" sentence for a 2015 murder violated the Eighth Amendment.
After Supreme Court Ruling, States Grapple With How To Define an Excessive Fine
The Supreme Court's 2018 ruling in Timbs v. Indiana revived the Excessive Fines Clause. Now state courts have to come up with tests to determine what's excessive.
Judge Holds Federal Bureau of Prisons in Contempt for Allowing Man To Waste Away From Untreated Cancer
A federal judge wrote that the Bureau of Prisons should be "deeply ashamed" of medical delays that resulted in a man dying from treatable cancer.
Senate Investigation Finds Justice Department Undercounted Prison and Jail Deaths Last Year by Nearly 1,000
The report says the inaccuracies "deprived Congress and the American public of information about who is dying in custody and why."
This Grandmother Didn't Submit the Proper Banking Form. Now the IRS Wants $2.1 Million From Her.
She’s asking the Supreme Court to consider whether this seizure is an excessive fine under the Eighth Amendment.
Nearly 50,000 People Were Held in Solitary Confinement in the U.S. Last Year, Study Finds
More than 900 had been held in isolation for more than a decade.
Federal Judge Holds Illinois Prison System in Contempt for Inadequate Medical Care
A court monitor's report found evidence of neglect and abuse of dementia patients, including signing "do not resuscitate" orders that they could not understand.
Federal Judge Rules Gruesome Medical Neglect in Arizona Prisons Violates Eighth Amendment
"No legitimate humane system would operate in this manner," the judge concluded.
She Says Her Son Died After Smoking Insecticide While He Was Supposed To Be on Suicide Watch. Now She's Suing.
The lawsuit says there have been multiple deaths from neglect and poor suicide prevention policies at the Louisiana prison where Javon Kennerson died.
Video of 'Fight Night' at Rikers Jail Leads Judge to Find Cruel and Unusual Punishment
A New York state judge found video of guards ceding control of Rikers to gang leaders more than enough evidence to order the release of a pretrial inmate.
Report Finds Gruesome Medical Malpractice and Death in Arizona Prisons
"A system that allows this level of sustained incompetence and cruelty... is morally bankrupt," a doctor wrote after investigating medical neglect in Arizona prisons.
After Years of Complaints, the D.C. Jail Has Been Deemed Too Wretched for Some Inmates
A 2016 Reason story detailed the D.C. Jail's long history of failure. Now the federal government is finally paying attention.
Oklahoma Botches Another Execution
John Marion Grant convulsed and vomited as he was put to death.
A New Lawsuit Says Wilmington Is Running an Unconstitutional Towing and Impound Racket
Residents say their cars were improperly ticketed, then impounded and scrapped after they couldn't pay off their debts soon enough.
Washington's Top Court Cracks Down on Excessive City Fines
A homeless man’s truck was impounded in Seattle and he couldn’t afford the costs to get it back. That’s unconstitutional, justices rule.
He Died After Cops Shackled Him and Held Him Facedown. A Court Said That Was Constitutional. SCOTUS Isn't So Sure.
The officers might receive qualified immunity, however.
When Is a Civil Forfeiture Based on Drug Offenses Excessive? Always.
The question of proportionality assumes that punishment is appropriate for peaceful conduct that violates no one's rights.
States Can Provide Their Own Civil Remedies for Police Abuse
They need not wait for the Supreme Court or Congress to restrict or abolish qualified immunity.
Federal Court Confirms That Shackling an Inmate During Exercise Is Cruel and Unusual Punishment
The warden at the center of the case was originally given qualified immunity.
Judge's Stay Halting First Federal Execution of a Woman in 70 Years Has Been Vacated
Lisa Montgomery faces possible execution this evening.
Justice Department Finds Rampant Sexual Assaults and Constitutional Violations in Country's Largest Women's Prison
The report confirms what news investigations and advocates have said for years: Lowell prison lets guards abuse women without consequence.
Justice Department Sues Alabama Over Its Violent Prison System
The suit follows a scathing 2019 report detailing unchecked violence and sexual assault against incarcerated people.
In April, She Was Jailed on a Probation Violation. By June, She Was Dead.
Holly Barlow-Austin suffered horrifying medical neglect at a Texarkana detention facility, according to video evidence in a new lawsuit.
Florida Will Pay Out $4.6 Million to Female Inmate Paralyzed After Guard Beating
Cheryl Weimar's case put a gruesome spotlight on Florida's troubled prison system.
The Onerous Burdens of Sex Offender Registration Are Not Punishment, the 10th Circuit Rules. They Just Feel That Way.
According to the appeals court, the relevant question is what legislators were trying to accomplish.
The Cops Took This Guy's $15,000 Jeep Because His Girlfriend Allegedly Used It for a $25 Marijuana Sale
Kevin McBride argues that Arizona's civil forfeiture law is unconstitutional.
Justice Department Tangles with Judges Over First Federal Execution in 17 Years
A court delay on Friday was lifted over the weekend, only to be reinstated Monday for different reasons.
These Women Received a Death Sentence for Being Sick In Prison
A Reason investigation has identified three deaths from alleged medical neglect at FCI Aliceville, a federal women's prison. Current and former inmates say it's routine, but the Bureau of Prisons won't talk about it.
Indiana Returns Land Rover Seized 7 Years Ago in Landmark Asset Forfeiture Case
Indiana is still fighting to keep Tyson Timbs' SUV seven years after it first seized the car, but for now, it's back in Timbs' driveway.
Lawsuit Targets Nashville Courts for Treating Bail Money Like Down Payments for Fines, Fees
ACLU argues the practice violates the Eighth Amendment.
Justice Department Investigates Appalling Conditions at Mississippi Prisons
Videos and photos smuggled out by Mississippi inmates have shown gruesome violence and wretched living conditions.
Groups Call for Justice Department To Investigate Mississippi Prisons after Violence Leaves Five Inmates Dead
In Mississippi's severely understaffed prisons, gangs run the show.
This Florida Prison Guard Allegedly Paralyzed an Inmate. Now He's Been Arrested for Child Molestation
Inmates say Keith Turner abused them for a decade. Now children have stepped forward with complaints of molestation.
Indiana Supreme Court Applies Eighth Amendment to Curb "Oppressive" Asset Forfeitures
The ruling is a continuation of the same case in which the federal Supreme Court ruled that the Excessive Fines Clause of the Eighth Amendment is "incorporated" against state governments and applies to asset forfeitures.
S.C. Judge Rules the Obvious: It's Unconstitutional for Police to Seize and Keep People's Property Without Proving They Committed Crimes
Law enforcement and prosecutors have seized millions from people they’ve arrested. That might be coming to an end.
Lawsuit: Florida Inmate Thrown In Solitary for Biting Guard While Having Seizure
Dean Higgins claims he was put in a cell that regularly flooded with raw sewage for seven months after he bit a guard while having an involuntary seizure.
Government Bullies Want to Seize This Man's Home Because of Overgrown Grass
If governments can oppress, they usually will.
Stossel: Mow Your Lawn or Lose Your House!
Florida man may lose home because he didn’t cut his grass.