Tag: prison

Georgia governor signs law banning funding for gender transitions in prison

Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation banning the use of taxpayer funds for gender “transition” procedures for prison inmates, declaring it a “common-sense step.”

Senate Bill 185 states that “no state funds or resources shall be used” for “(s)ex reassignment surgeries or any other surgical procedures that are performed for the purpose of altering primary or secondary sexual characteristics; (h)ormone replacement therapies; and (c)osmetic procedures or prosthetics intended to alter the appearance of primary or secondary sexual characteristics.”

Exceptions would be made for “medical conditions where such treatments are considered medically necessary” unrelated to gender dysphoria or sex reassignment; rare cases of “medically verifiable disorder of sex development, including individuals born with ambiguous genitalia or chromosomal abnormalities resulting in ambiguity regarding the individual’s biological sex”; “partial androgen insensitivity syndrome”; or weaning off hormone replacement therapies that were underway before incarceration.

“Taxpayer dollars should not be used for procedures like this, and this legislation codifies that common-sense step,” Kemp declared just before signing the bill at a public event, WMAZ reported.

“A budget is a reflection of our priorities, and by voting red, we are signaling that our priorities lean more toward paying for sex reassignment surgeries than budget dollars for teachers, pre-K students and for law enforcement, which is why in my mind SB 185 is a common-sense piece of legislation for our constituents,” Republican state Rep. Scott Hilton said last month in the floor debate over the bill, WABE added.

In recent years, there has been growing concern around the world over placing men who claim to be women in female prison populations that has proved to be a means of both securing lighter treatment during incarceration and gaining easy access to women to prey upon. Transgender status also has the potential to be exploited to avoid incarceration entirely in some cases, as seen in Wales when a man who identified as a woman received a suspended sentence keeping him out of prison despite physically assaulting two partners within days of each other on the grounds that he would be “vulnerable” behind bars.

Keep reading

Trump orders reopening of Alcatraz prison

President Trump said Sunday that he is ordering the reopening of the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, the historic prison offshore from San Francisco that closed more than 60 years ago.

“For too long, America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat Criminal Offenders, the dregs of society, who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering. When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

“That’s the way it’s supposed to be. No longer will we tolerate these Serial Offenders who spread filth, bloodshed, and mayhem on our streets. That is why, today, I am directing the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders,” he added.

The island, which sits less than 2 miles offshore, was first developed in the mid-19th century, with the original structures including a lighthouse.

Notable figures including Al Capone and George “Machine Gun” Kelly were once held at Alcatraz, which was a federal prison from 1934-63. The National Park Service, which now oversees its facilities, describes the prison as “the federal government’s response to post-Prohibition, post-Depression America.”

“Both the institution and the men confined within its walls reflect our society during this era,” the National Park Service adds on a web page about the prison, which was also known as The Rock and gave that name to a popular Michael Bay action film set on the island.

In his Sunday post, Trump said Alcatraz’s “reopening” is going to “serve as a symbol of Law, Order, and JUSTICE.”

“We will, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” he added.

The Bureau of Prisons notes on its website that “USP [United States Penitentiary] Alcatraz closed after 29 years of operation” due to soaring costs.

Keep reading

‘Cannibal’ killer warning signs exposed in new report with release plan already in motion

New prison documents show that Tyree Smith, who has been dubbed the “Connecticut Cannibal,” exhibited violent behavior behind bars and was a “serious threat to life” in prison before he was granted release, according to a news report.

Smith confessed to the 2011 killing of a homeless man, Angel Gonzalez, in Connecticut, and he admitted to eating the victim’s body parts in a cemetery.

In 2013, a three-judge panel found Smith not guilty by reason of insanity in the death of Gonzalez. However, he was committed to Connecticut Valley Hospital for 60 years.

Smith was granted a conditional release by the Nutmeg State’s Psychiatric Security Review Board in February 2025, which allows him to leave Connecticut Valley Hospital in Middletown. However, Smith will remain under supervision and will continue to receive mental health services, according to WTNH.

For months, Smith has been staying full-time at a community facility with strict conditions, treatment and around-the-clock supervision, CBS News reported after the release from the hospital was granted.

Smith’s doctor said the cannibal killer has been rehabilitated and is taking medications to help with psychosis and voices in his head, WTNH reported.

“To quote the director there, he is a joy. He is considered a support to the other people there,” forensic psychiatrist Caren Teitelbaum said. “Once he was stable, he was a really calming presence for other patients.”

“He has maintained clinical stability. Adhered to the medications and continued to engage in group and substance abuse treatment,” Teitelbaum added. “He also denied visual hallucinations and a desire to harm others or himself.”

However, new prison documents obtained by WTNH from the Connecticut Department of Correction suggest otherwise.

Keep reading

California Penal Reform And The Violent Criminals It Let Loose

Smiley Martin should have been behind bars. 

A career criminal with a long rap sheet involving firearms, he was given a 10 year sentence in 2018 for punching, dragging and severely beating his girlfriend with a belt. In prison, Martin was found guilty of beating another inmate and engaging in other criminal activity. Nevertheless, he was freed just four years later, thanks to a plea deal that categorized him as a “nonviolent offender” and a California ballot measure that sharply reduced sentences for “good behavior.”

Just two months after his release, Martin and several accomplices, including his brother, were arrested for carrying out the worst mass shooting in Sacramento’s history – leaving six dead and 12 others injured on April 3, 2022. Martin was charged with three counts of murder and illegal possession of a firearm, including a machine gun. He will not stand trial on those charges, since the 29-year-old died in jail of a drug overdose last September.

Martin’s life and death have brought attention to the criminal justice reform that helped put him back on the streets: Proposition 57. The ballot measure was sold to the public in 2016 as a way to relieve the state’s chronically overcrowded prisons by rewarding “nonviolent” offenders for good behavior by shortening their sentences. It was supposed to be a humanitarian answer to what social justice activists described as an epidemic of “mass incarceration.” It has instead put tens of thousands of violent offenders such as Martin back on the streets.

Many of them have been rearrested. The latest Recidivism Report from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shows that nearly two thirds (64.2%) of the 34,215 inmates granted early release between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020 had been rearrested as of April 2, 2025.

Breaking down the recidivism rate for prisoners within three years of their release, it reported that “22.1% of the release cohort (7,567 individuals) were convicted of a felony offense, and 17.0% (5,828 individuals) were convicted of a misdemeanor offense.” The Department of Corrections also reports almost half the inmates granted early release had not earned any credits for good behavior.

Prop 57 critics are not surprised. In the run-up to the 2016 ballot measure – which was approved with the support of 65% of voters – the measure’s opponents warned that violent criminals like Martin would likely benefit from the initiative.

But they were denounced as scaremongers. When Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert warned that Prop 57 would free perpetrators of domestic violence, then-Gov. Jerry Brown, who was the top proponent for the ballot measure, shot back; “That’s a complete red herring, and it’s very disingenuous of these highly politicized prosecutors to make that claim.” Brown assured voters that each inmate’s crime and behavior in prison would be considered before release was granted. 

While supporters of Prop 57 described it as a humane response to a court order, critics say its proponents misrepresented the bill to secure its passage. At a time when President Trump is putting progressive criminal justice organizations in his crosshairs, the troubled history of Prop 57 highlights the challenges of rehabilitating inmates while also reducing prison overcrowding without building more prisons.

Keep reading

OUTRAGEOUS! Radical Judge RELEASES Alleged Tesla Firebomber From Prison, Citing Suspect’s Multiple Supposed ‘Medical Needs’ Including Access to “Gender-Affirming Care”

An outrageous travesty of justice occurred in Missouri recently that could cause millions of Americans to lose faith in the criminal justice system.

As KSHB reported on Wednesday, a radical judge ordered a deranged leftist credibly accused in federal court of firebombing two Tesla Cybertrucks and charging stations in Kansas City to be released from prison back on April 24.

United States Magistrate Judge Jessica Hedges ruled that it was wrong to hold 19-year-old Owen McIntire behind bars before trial for his alleged crimes after agreeing with the defense’s desperate pleas for mercy.

FOX4 obtained court documents that revealed the defense’s reasons for releasing Owen McIntire from jail. Among the reasons listed are treatment for depression and ‘gender-affirming care.’

Yes, McIntire’s lawyers wanted him freed partly because the suspect wanted to continue his transition toward becoming a ‘female!’ And the judge ruled in their favor!

Keep reading

California Bill Highlights Epidemic Of Male Rapists Transferring To Women’s Prisons

On April 29, 2025, California lawmakers will decide whether to advance a bill introduced by Sen. Shannon Grove that would prohibit any trans-identifying male prisoners with histories of sex offenses from being housed in women’s prisons. This bill would take a significant bite out of Sen. Scott Wiener’s 2021 law SB132 (also known as the Transgender Respect, Agency, and Dignity Act), which currently allows the entrance of trans-identifying male prisoners into women’s prisons. The bill comes amid ongoing concerns about inmate safety.

Amie, then a prisoner at Central California Women’s Facility, still remembers the day Richard Masbruch was transferred to CCWF. Masbruch, who changed his name to Sherri Lashure, was a sadistic sexual predator who held an elderly mother and daughter at gunpoint and tortured the daughter with electric shocks before brutally raping and sodomizing her.

Amie’s hands trembled as word spread throughout the prison. “Sherri” also had infamously self-castrated himself while in a Texas prison. Despite the loss of his male genitals, he is alleged to have raped female prisoners with objects. His presence made the female population extremely fearful and anxious, as many of the prisoners were survivors of sexual violence.

Under the current California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation policy, there are no bright-line rules; the policy simply requires that every inmate request for a transfer must be considered. Any male inmate who self-identifies as female can request a transfer to women’s prison, regardless of his criminal history, his anatomy, or whether he has undergone any so-called “transition” procedures. According to the CDCR, as of April 2025, there are 45 trans-identifying males housed in the women’s prisons, 208 pending transfers, and 898 requesting to be transferred.

Clearly, CDCR anticipated that wanted or unwanted sexual encounters among the “transgender” males and the females would occur when it distributed condoms to women’s prisons. As early as 2023, the California Office of the Inspector General recognized that female prisoners were fearful of the male prisoners. The other forms of abuse perpetrated by the male transferees included “physical violence and demeaning behavior” toward female prisoners.

Nearly two-thirds of women interviewed reported fearing for their safety around some or all of the male transferees, with over one-quarter reporting negative experiences, including sexual assault. The OIG confirmed that some male transferees allegedly forcibly touched female prisoners or forced the females to touch them, which is undeniably sexual assault. Allegations of rape have also materialized. 

In a high-profile case, Tremaine Carroll, a 6-foot-tall male who purports to be a transgender woman, was transferred in 2021 to CCWF, where he impregnated one female prisoner. In 2024 Carroll was accused of raping a female inmate and charged with trying to dissuade a witness to testify. In the rape trial — in an unmitigated affront to the victim — Judge Katherine Rigby has ordered the prosecutor and the alleged victim to refer to Carroll using female pronouns. Carroll’s trial is ongoing.

Carroll has been returned to the male prison and is serving 25 years to life under California’s Three Strikes Law. Ironically prior to the rape charges, the American Civil Liberties Union held Carroll up as the model “safe” transgender prisoner and used him to intervene in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of SB132.

That lawsuit, which was filed by Women’s Liberation Front along with Harmeet Dhillon (who is now the assistant attorney general for civil rights), contends that housing male inmates with female inmates constitutes cruel and unusual punishment and discrimination. The six female prisoner-plaintiffs have experienced childhood violence and sexual abuse and now have violent males housed with them. Plaintiff Krystal Gonzalez was allegedly sexually assaulted by a male prisoner who was transferred to the women’s prison based upon his professed belief in his own femininity. When she reported the assault, it was she who was punished. One plaintiff was a victim of sex trafficking at age 13.

Keep reading

Trans baby killer filed $3.5M lawsuit against Trump for ‘transphobic’ views that led to alleged sexual assaults behind bars

A transgender woman convicted of killing her infant filed a handwritten lawsuit against President Trump, claiming his “transphobic hate speech” fueled repeated instances of sexual assault she endured at an all-male prison in Indiana.

Autumn Cordellionè, also known as Jonathan C. Richardson, alleged that the president’s “extremist rhetoric” emboldened her assailants to violently assault and rape her in January shortly after she was transferred from protective custody to Westville Correctional Facility to serve out her 55-year sentence.

She said Trump is “negligent due his alleged knowledge that others may act on his words,” the baby killer scribbled in the 13-page suit filed in the Southern District of Indiana on April 1.

Cordellionè is seeking $3.5 million in damages from the commander in chief.

“President Trump has vowed to defend biological women from gender ideology extremism and restore biological truth to the Federal government,” a White House spokesperson told The Post when asked to comment on the lawsuit.

Keep reading

Former Marijuana Prisoners Who Got Clemency From Trump Hold Event Outside White House To Request Relief For Those Still Behind Bars

Former marijuana prisoners who received clemency from President Donald Trump during his first term staged an event outside the White House on Thursday, expressing gratitude for the relief they were given and calling on the new administration to grant the same kind of help to others who are still behind bars for cannabis.

Flanked by cardboard cutouts of individuals pardoned or granted commutations by Trump, activists impacted by criminalization stood outside the White House with a message to “free all cannabis prisoners.”

The grassroots “Cannabis Prisoners Unity Day” called attention to the opportunity to build upon the executive-level relief. In addition to Trump’s clemency actions in his first term, former President Joe Biden also pardoned and commuted sentences for hundreds of people while he was in office. But numerous people remain behind bars over non-violent federal cannabis convictions.

“President Trump, we are your example of a victory,” Craig Cesal—who received a commutation for a life sentence he was handed down in 2002 for a marijuana distribution conviction—said during a panel discussion ahead of the White House meetup.

Keep reading

For 4/20, Ben & Jerry’s Teams Up With Marijuana Justice Group To Push Governors To Free Cannabis Prisoners

As consumers and businesses across the U.S. gear up for the 4/20 holiday on Sunday, ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s is drawing attention to the “tens of thousands of people who will spend their 4/20 in prison for the same cannabis-related activity.”

This year the company—which has regularly used 4/20 to highlight justice-related cannabis matters—has partnered with the advocacy group Last Prisoner Project (LPP) to urge state governors to grant relief to those behind bars for marijuana.

“This 4/20, the need for cannabis justice is at an all-time HIGH,” Ben & Jerry’s said about the new effort.

The groups are also encouraging supporters to take action, recommending they reach out to their state governors to call for clemency, sign petitions to free people incarcerated for cannabis crimes, spread the word using the #420ForFreedom on social media and attend a Washington, D.C. event—the Cannabis Unity Week of Action, held April 29 through May 1—aimed at promoting broader marijuana legalization.

The company says that as “cannabis businesses will rack up sales, public figures will use their platforms to highlight cannabis culture, and millions of Americans will take advantage of their freedom and consume with friends and family” on 4/20, it’s crucial that advocates continue pushing to right the wrongs of prohibition.

“When we say legalization without justice is half baked, we mean that legalization while people, disproportionately Black and Brown, are still sitting in prison for cannabis or reeling from the detrimental impacts of having a cannabis conviction on their records is simply not justice fully realized,” Palika Makam, Ben & Jerry’s U.S. activism manager, said in a statement.

Keep reading

After Self-Immolations at Red Onion Prison, Virginia Prisoners Allege Crackdown

Besides an overhead light, Sidney Bowman says he hasn’t had electricity in his cell at Virginia’s Red Onion State Prison for roughly three months. 

Last month, Bowman told a federal court that prison employees cut the electricity to his cell after he refused to sign what staff call a “Safety Agreement for Inmates.” The document offers incentives to prisoners—such as movies, group recreation, free commissary bags, and a fish fry—provided they don’t harm themselves. However, if they repeatedly hurt themselves, they may lose “access to television, recreation time, or other amenities.” The Appeal obtained a copy of the agreement through a public records request. 

Bowman’s statement is part of an ongoing class action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia that alleges that the state’s Step-Down program—which purports to help prisoners earn their way to a general population assignment—traps people in solitary confinement for months or years on end.

The legal team has asked the federal court to restore plaintiffs’ electricity and to prohibit staff from retaliating against people who refuse to sign the agreement or participate in the lawsuit. The Virginia Department of Corrections declined to answer The Appeal’s questions.

Last year, at least six people at Red Onion self-immolated in what incarcerated journalist Kevin ‘Rashid’ Johnson called “desperate attempts” to escape the prison’s inhumane conditions. But rather than offer them help, emails obtained by The Appeal show prison officials discussed how best to punish them. Then, in January, prison staff began distributing the Safety Agreement to people in Red Onion’s Step-Down program.

If someone refused to sign, staff cut the electricity to their cell’s outlet. The ACLU says this prevented prisoners from charging their tablets, watching television, or listening to the radio. Bowman told the court that he accesses religious programming through his television and tablet because he cannot leave his cell for services. He says his tablet is his primary tool to communicate with his family. 

Red Onion’s assistant warden confirmed in a court statement that there have been nine self-burnings—eight last year and one in January. The assistant warden said no one had burned themselves with a power outlet since the prison distributed the agreement on Jan. 20. 

“Security leadership and mental health leadership collaborated on potential solutions, and we ultimately decided that if an inmate agreed not to use the cell’s power outlet to bum himself, the power outlet in that inmate’s cell could remain active,” he said in his statement. “Inmates who refused to agree not to bum themselves would be placed in a cell where the power outlet had been deactivated.”

The warden said prisoners can use kiosks during recreation to charge their tablets and message family members. He said the prison has also set up TVs outside the cells to view religious services. 

In addition to threatening to punish people for acts of self-harm, the agreement also requires signers to affirm that they have “access to mental health and other local resources.” The plaintiffs say compelling them to agree with or espouse statements they believe are untrue or objectionable violates their First Amendment rights. 

Keep reading