Prisons

Latest Articles

Prisoners’ support services slashed

Baldacci’s Warehouse
Governor John Baldacci announced on December 16 that he had taken significant steps toward warehousing prisoners instead of rehabilitating them.
By LANCE TAPLEY | December 23, 2008

Corrections changes

NAACP leader challenges Maine prison policies
Like a movie hero, the NAACP’s new, young national president, Benjamin Jealous, swept into the 900-inmate Maine State Prison in Warren on Monday, quelling protests among the prisoners and, at least temporarily, rescuing the organization’s prison chapter from being snuffed out by state corrections officials.
By LANCE TAPLEY | December 10, 2008

Advocates renew challenge to punitive probation practices

Violations
At the conclusion of its 2008 session, the General Assembly passed a bill that would have reformed state criminal justice procedure for probationers charged with new crimes.
By ARIEL WERNER | December 03, 2008

Freedom watch: Jailhouse bloc

The real reason law-and-order types love mandatory-minimum sentencing? It's money in their pockets.
With aromatic puffs of change, Bay State stoners rejoiced on Election Day.
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE AND KYLE SMEALLIE | December 09, 2008

On street level

As Katrina hit New Orleans, filmmakers went to work
It is impossible not to wonder how Louisiana might have fared after Hurricane Katrina, had Barack Obama been in office a term sooner. There are so many questions about what went wrong and how it could have been handled differently, which have gone unanswered for more than three years.
By SONYA TOMLINSON | November 19, 2008

Letters to the Portland Editor, November 14, 2008

Time to respect all people
Employees of our prisons and jails deserve better wages and in-depth training.
By LETTERS TO THE EDITOR | November 12, 2008

Falling down

Mistreatment of Maine prison guards lands heavily on inmates
Critics of the state Department of Corrections say the hostage-taking last June at the Maine State Prison dramatically illustrates that the concrete, high-tech lockup in Warren is showing cracks from stress on the prison guards.
By LANCE TAPLEY | November 05, 2008

Three years and counting

The Portland Phoenix' s prison scoops keep piling up
For the past three years, Portland Phoenix contributing writer Lance Tapley has been the only reporter in Maine to pay attention to the appalling conditions suffered by inmates in the Maine State Prison
By PORTLAND PHOENIX STAFF | November 05, 2008

Flashbacks(1)

From the archives of the Boston Phoenix
The Boston Phoenix has been covering the trends and events that shape our times since 1966. These selections, culled from our back files, were compiled by Chris Brook and Ian Sands.
By | October 27, 2008

The mentally ill, criminalized

Common nonsense
She is afraid he will continue to be kept in the Supermax, which will make him worse, she says.
By LANCE TAPLEY | September 11, 2008

A threat, but not to security

Deane Brown battles on
Maine prisoner Deane Brown, 44, is no longer in solitary confinement, though he remains far from Maine.
By LANCE TAPLEY | September 03, 2008

Letters to the Portland Editor, August 29, 2008

Collins backs torture
I am writing about torture around the world that I think is related to possible torture in Maine prisons.
By LETTERS TO THE PORTLAND EDITOR | August 27, 2008

Letters to the Portland editor, July 25, 2008

Time to end torture
The Black Bird Legal Collective would like to thank Lance Tapley for his continued exposure of Maine prison issues.
By LETTERS TO THE PORTLAND EDITOR | July 23, 2008

Time for a clean sweep?

A former guard calls for prison reform
In early 2007, Rhonda Dawson, a thoughtful, candid, 45-year-old African-American guard at the Maine State Prison in Warren, quit her job after four years because, she says, of racist taunting from her fellow correctional officers.
By LANCE TAPLEY | July 23, 2008

Torture for the hostage-taker?

Prison watch
Will Michael Chasse, the inmate who allegedly held two people hostage on June 30 at the Maine State Prison, now be tortured by Governor John Baldacci’s administration?
By LANCE TAPLEY | July 09, 2008

The 11th Annual Muzzle Awards

Silencing free speech
Freedom of expression may be guaranteed by the Constitution. But it’s an idea we have to fight for every day.
By DAN KENNEDY | July 05, 2008

Is anybody paying attention to McClatchy's powerful Guantánamo exposé?

An old-media triumph sheds new light on Bush’s terror policy
Even before its 2006 acquisition of Knight Ridder, California-based McClatchy had a reputation for putting out some of America’s best mid-level dailies.
By ADAM REILLY | June 25, 2008

A night in Guantánamo

Staying in a replica cell, with no waterboarding included
I’d volunteered to spend the night in the replica cell (which is modeled on the ones at Gitmo) because we’ve all heard stories about unlivable conditions at Gitmo but can’t come close to imagining what it must be like.
By JEFF INGLIS | June 18, 2008

Imprisoned facts

Will the truth escape from a break in the prison wall?
Although I had already written a lot about abuse in the prison, this May 21 interview with Dorney, a 28-year-old Portland man serving 20 years for assault, was what I had been waiting for.
By LANCE TAPLEY | May 28, 2008

Unspeakable

What lies ahead in the trial of two former CVS officials?
Just when you thought Hillary Clinton couldn’t be more vile or shameless, along comes her remark about Bobby Kennedy’s assassination on the campaign trail.
By PHILLIPE + JORGE | May 28, 2008

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