ACLU of Maine sues guards at Portland jail alleging beating of illegal immigrant
PORTLAND, Maine — The American Civil Liberties Union of Maine Foundation on Tuesday filed an excessive force lawsuit in U.S. District Court against two Cumberland County Jail guards on behalf of a man who has been deported.
VIDEO: Cumberland County guards allegedly beat inmate
The ACLU of Maine says two Cumberland County Jail guards repeatedly punched Wilmer Recinos in the chest and pepper-sprayed him in the face.
Our View: Maine’s strip search standard the right one
A New Jersey man was arrested in error for failure to pay a fine and was then subjected to a humiliating series of invasive searches that included being asked to lift his genitals and cough while squatting
Maine inmate likely died from the flu at infected prison, agency says
WARREN, Maine — A prison inmate in Warren likely died last year from the flu, a disease that most prisoners are not given vaccinations for, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Jail officials told to heed state strip-search limits
Maine's rule is more restrictive than the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling allowing the searches with minor offenses.
Maine Voices: Solitary confinement is not good for prison inmates — or anyone else
And God said, “It is not good for a man to be alone.” Genesis 2 teaches us that human beings are meant to live in community with others. Jewish, Christian and Muslim scriptures all affirm that human beings have inherent God-given dignity and that we all need each other physically, mentally and spiritually.
Trials set in deaths of two Maine prison inmates
ROCKLAND, Maine — Trial dates were determined Tuesday for separate cases involving the deaths of two Maine State Prison inmates.
The Abuse of Solitary Confinement
In the past three decades, solitary confinement has been embraced by the vast majority of states to control violence and impose discipline.
Company’s offer to buy, run state prisons meets with rejection
The rebuff by five of the 48 states that got the offer may signal prison privatization’s waning popularity.
Prisons Rethink Isolation, Saving Money, Lives and Sanity
PARCHMAN, Miss. — The heat was suffocating, and the inmates locked alone in cells in Unit 32, the state’s super-maximum-security prison, wiped away sweat as they lay on concrete slab beds.
74-year-old prisoner dies of undisclosed illness
WARREN, Maine — A 74-year-old inmate from the Maine State Prison who was hospitalized for an undisclosed illness on Feb. 28 has died, according to the Maine Department of Corrections.
Maine prison sees more minorities than the rest of the state
WARREN, Maine — Maine’s state prison is a bit more racially diverse than the rest of Maine, according to the Department of Corrections. The department released a database of prisoner information earlier this month, which among other facts details the ethnicity of each man in Maine State Prison.
Maine makes public new database of inmates and felons on probation
Thirty-six convicted murderers and 24 kidnappers live on probation in Maine communities, a new database created for the Maine Department of Corrections shows. The website allows people to search through the database of state’s 9,160 adult prisoners and probationers.
Maine lawmakers kill private-prison bill
State officials found no companies interested in building and running a facility for older inmates.
Report finds deficiencies in health care services for Maine inmates
AUGUSTA, Maine — Some prisoners at Maine’s correctional facilities are going without medication and are not getting timely treatment, according to a report presented to lawmakers Friday.
Prisoner’s death inspires new opera
BELFAST, Maine — When Maine State Prison inmate Victor Valdez died in custody in November 2009, it sparked an outcry among prisoner and human rights advocates.
Bangor jail inmate found hanging in cell dies at hospital
BANGOR, Maine — A Penobscot County Jail inmate who was found hanging in his cell on Friday after being sentenced to 4½ years in prison for drug trafficking has died in a Bangor hospital.