PM Stories COVID is ravaging American jails and prisons – and inmates are rightly rising up Akin Olla, The Guardian Vaccine Delays Keep COVID Deaths High in Alabama Prisons Eddie Burkhalter, Alabama Political Reporter Will COVID-19 vaccinations mean more prison overcrowding deaths? Rahsaan “New York” Thomas, High Country News Cement Head’s last fight: He was denied parole six times – until he was about to become a COVID-19 statistic Eric Boodman, Stat News Federal detainees want judge to order COVID-19 measures at...

PM Stories The Long Shadow of Virginia’s Death Penalty Liliana Segura, The Intercept Arizona’s attorney general wants to finish his term with a rush of executions Editorial Board, Los Angeles Times Revealed: Republican-led states secretly spending huge sums on execution drugs Ed Pilkington, The Guardian Punitive Excess Brennan Center for Justice Biden Poised to Break a Promise on Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Mike Ludwig, Truthout NYC Jail Officers Lash Out at Inmates With Few Consequences, Discipline Records Show George Joseph...

PM Stories COVID-19: Infections Among US Prisoners Have Been Triple Those of Other Americans New York Times 1 in 3 state prisoners tested positive for COVID-19, report says Luke Barr, ABC News State prisons struggle with COVID safety, vaccination reluctance Ethan Hunt, The Appalachian El Paso County’s Jail Justified $15M In Improvements On COVID. It Didn’t Prevent A Massive Outbreak Allison Sherry, Colorado Public Radio Two Utah cases highlight pandemic’s grip on the criminal justice system Annie Knox, Deseret News

PM Stories Incarcerated and Infected: How the Virus Tore Through the US Prison System New York Times Biden’s COVID vaccine plan still forgets incarcerated population Talia Lavin, MSNBC Just 7% of Wisconsin prisoners have received COVID-19 vaccine, despite outcry over inmates being prioritized Mary Spicuzza, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 55 prisoners who contracted COVID died. Activists say it was preventable. Katelyn Newberg, Las Vegas Review-Journal Justice delayed: COVID-19’s staggering criminal-case backlog Jim Rogers, Seattle Times Coronavirus shutdown of jury trials...

This is a curated selection of highlights from Crime Story Daily this week. On the criminal justice policy front: A piece from The Appeal outlines “14 steps Biden’s DOJ can take now to reform America’s criminal legal system,” from forensic science reform to abolishing the death penalty. A piece from Slate asks, “What can progressives learn from California eliminating cash bail?”. On March 25, the California Supreme Court issued a “blockbuster decision” invalidating the state’s cash bail system as unconstitutional. Cash bail has come under fire in the past decade, with courts invalidating cash...

PM Stories Prisons Are COVID Hotspots. But Vaccine Access Remains Patchy. Michael Schulson, Undark Magazine Advocates: Prisons need better vaccine education for inmates Dave Collins, ABC News Governors Should Prioritize the COVID-19 Vaccine for Everyone in Jail Lauren-Brooke Eisen and Ram Subramanian, Brennan Center for Justice Georgia, Mississippi Prisons Offer Inmates Cookies, Commissary Credit as COVID Vaccine Incentive Matthew Impelli, Newsweek ‘A turning point’: Thousands in Pa. prisons will be offered COVID-19 vaccine Joseph Darius Jaafari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette COVID...