Prison Program News

Colette Peters Chosen to Lead State Prisons
Colette Peters, director of the Oregon Youth Authority, has been chosen by Gov. John Kitzhaber to run the Oregon Department of Corrections. As corrections chief, Peters will run a fast-growing system that now houses 14,000 inmates in 13 prisons (Statesman Journal).
Colette Peters selected to lead Oregon DOC
The governor has appointed the director of the Oregon Youth Authority, Colette Peters, to be the new director of the Oregon Department of Corrections. (The Oregonian)
The fastest growing group of inmates in Oregon: Women.
In the past 10 years, the number of female inmates in Oregon's prison system increased by 28 percent. This trend will only accelerate -- Measure 57, which went into effect Jan. 1, lengthens sentences for repeat property and drug offenders. The more likely transgressors: women (Willamette Week).
Legal Scholar: Jim Crow Still Exists In America
On NPR's "Fresh Air," Michelle Alexander, author of "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness," details how President Reagan's war on drugs led to a mass incarceration of black males and the difficulties these felons face after serving their prison sentences.
Too Good to be True: Private Prisons in America
A new report from The Sentencing Project details the history of private prisons in America, documents the increase in their use, and examines their purported benefits.
Oregon prison food service official resigns; criminal charges considered
Prosecutors are considering criminal charges over misuse of public funds at Two Rivers Correctional Institution by a prison executive who has resigned. This is the second time in recent years the prison system has confronted corruption in its food services operation (The Oregonian).
U.S. Correctional Population Declined for Second Consecutive Year
The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) has good news moving into the new year - they recently reported that the number of offenders under adult correctional supervision in the U.S. declined 1.3 percent in 2010.
State Sued Over Prisoner's Death
Richard Gifford, a developmentally disabled prisoner, died in a segregation cell at the Oregon State Penitentiary after injecting an "undetermined drug or toxin." His mother is suing the state, claiming his death was the result of "deliberate indifference" by prison employees (Statesman Journal).
Interim Prisons Chief Named
Mitch Morrow, who has been with the Department of Corrections since 1983, took over as the interim director of Oregon's prison system on Jan. 1st (Statesman Journal).
Class In Prison
The Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program brings 15 students to a maximum-security prison to take a class with the same number of incarcerated students. Together, they try to gain a common respect for each other -- leading to some sobering moments (Oregon Public Broadcasting).