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1. Mentally ill inmates need more help
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2. Top prison officials fired
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3. Reform comes to the supermax
Less than three months into his job, Maine's new corrections commissioner Joseph Ponte has begun to dramatically reform the Maine State Prison's long-troubled solitary-confinement "supermax" unit. more
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4. Corporate prison bill 'carried over'
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5. NAACP, others bristle after GOP Senator censors anti-private-prison testimony
What is it with some Republicans and racial issues, anyway? more
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6. Lock-up lessons
The new corrections commissioner wants Maine prisons to learn from the state’s juvenile-treatment model. more
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7. At a turning point
LePage's nominee to head Corrections has the skills to fix Maine's broken prison system. Will the governor and lawmakers give Joseph Ponte the tools? more
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8. 'No-touch torture' in New Jersey
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9. New Corrections commissioner nominated
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10. LePage interested in corporate prisons
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11. Penal future: Will LePage's zeal to cut the budget make prisoners and guards bleed? | November 10, 2010
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12. TB worry at Maine State Prison: 'No active cases' | November 11, 2010
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13. AG exonerates guards in Valdez prison death | November 11, 2010
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14. A prison obituary: the tragedy of Victor Valdez | July 30, 2010
July 30, 2010 | A sickly immigrant was taken to the supermax. Inmates said guards beat him and medical care was withheld. (The attorney general said he died of natural causes.) | By Lance Tapley more
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15. Death penalty possible for Watland | May 28, 2010
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16. Are doctors complicit in prison torture? | April 23, 2010
Some Maine doctors are now looking closely at the state’s supermax, saying that solitary confinement constitutes torture, and asking if the medical professionals and psychologists involved with the facility are complicit in torture | By Lance Tapley more
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17. A ‘moral victory’ against supermax torture | April 16, 2010
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18. Maine tortures women, too | March 12, 2010
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19. The cost of torture: Solitary Confinement Bill Hearing | February 26, 2010
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20. Screams from solitary: ‘By dehumanizing prisoners, we dehumanize ourselves’ | February 19, 2010
February 19, 2010 | The case against supermax solitary confinement was presented in advance of the legislative vote to restrict it. (The Legislature approved a study of solitary instead.) | By Lance Tapley more
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21. Anti-solitary campaign expands: Stopping Supermax Torture | February 5, 2010
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22. Corrections disobeys another federal court order | December 18, 2009
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23. A mysterious new inmate death | December 11, 2009
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24. Prison homicide: Suspect speaks; victim’s family begins $1-million-plus lawsuit | November 6, 2009
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25. Limiting Supermax solitary: Legislation Drafted | October 9, 2009
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26. Dangerous slurs: Gay rights in prison | October 2, 2009
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27. Less than equal | October 2, 2009
State officials, including prejudiced human-rights commissioners, block inmate complaints | By Lance Tapley more
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28. Prison ‘troublemaker’ confronts racism, medical abuse | September 11, 2009
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29. Another Supermax hunger strike | September 4, 2009
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30. Miraculous Appearances: Phoenix questions prompt action | August 14, 2009
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31. Secret, unaccountable, and co-opted: If the prison Board of Visitors had done its job, it might have helped prevent several recent tragedies | August 14, 2009
August 17, 2009 | The citizen Board of Visitors hadn't done its job of monitoring the state prison. (Missing reports were written, but otherwise little changed.) | By Lance Tapley more
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32. Budget cuts: Prison staffing crisis hits perilous level | August 7, 2009
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33. Federal investigation requested: More prison turmoil | July 24, 2009
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34. Prison in turmoil | June 19, 2009
June 19, 2009 | Sex-offender inmate Sheldon Weinstein's death was attributed to a beating by other inmates or to withheld medical care. (A state police investigation is still pending. The longtime warden was removed from his post and replaced by someone from out of state.) | By Lance Tapley more
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35. Lawmakers to probe prison | April 10, 2009
April 10, 2009 | The Legislature's Government Oversight Committee and the state auditor launched investigations of state prison mismanagement. (Critical reports resulted.) | By Lance Tapley more
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36. Arbitrary injustice: Sent to Supermax solitary confinement | April 10, 2009
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37. Baldacci rejects reform, embraces corporate prisons again | January 23, 2009
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38. Prisoners’ support services slashed | December 26, 2008
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39. Corrections changes: NAACP leader challenges Maine prison policies | December 12, 2008
NAACP 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 more
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40. Falling down: Mistreatment of Maine prison guards lands heavily on inmates | November 7, 2008
November 7, 2008 | Abused guards — overworked, underpaid, poorly managed, stressed — tended to abuse prisoners and didn't last long. (Little has changed.) | By Lance Tapley more
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41. The mentally ill, criminalized | September 12, 2008
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42. A threat, but not to security: Deane Brown battles on | September 5, 2008
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43. Time for a clean sweep?: A former guard calls for prison reform | July 25, 2008
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 more
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44. Torture for the hostage-taker? | July 11, 2008
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45. Imprisoned facts: Will the truth escape from a break in the prison wall? | May 30, 2008
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46. Judge orders injections for Maine prisoner | April 25, 2008
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47. Promoting human rights at home | April 4, 2008
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48. Corrections Department obstructs free press | March 16, 2007
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49. Torture in Maine's Prison | November 11, 2005
November 11, 2005 | In our initial story, prisoners described supermax conditions, especially solitary confinement of the mentally ill, that met United Nations definitions of torture. An online video showed guards beating an inmate in a "cell extraction." (Corrections instituted some reforms, but basic conditions remain.) | By Lance Tapley more
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50. Video of an "extraction" at the Maine State Prison | November 11, 2005
A WARNING TO POTENTIAL VIEWERS: These extremely explicit and graphic scenes are real. more
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51. Reforming the Supermax (Pt. 2) | November 18, 2005
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52. Stonewalling is normal: Reporting the prison system | December 15, 2005
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53. Pressure rising: Supermax torture revisited | March 24, 2006
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54. Arbitrary imprisonment | July 21, 2006
July 21, 2006 | A jury found supermax prisoner Michael James not guilty because of insanity in 10 assaults on guards, but the state disobeyed a judge's order to place him in a mental hospital. (It took his lawyers a year to have him placed there.) more
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55. Death in the Supermax | October 13, 2006
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56. Hunger strike at Maine's Supermax Prison | October 18, 2006
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57. Baldacci’s 'political prisoner': A life at risk | November 24, 2006
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58. Lockdown: What do prison officials have to hide? | December 15, 2006
December 15, 2006 | Deane Brown, our chief inmate informant, was sent to the Maryland supermax to prevent him from revealing more about prison conditions, and officials effectively banned us from the prisons by placing unacceptable restrictions on coverage. (Media organizations protested, but it took a year before we could interview inmates on acceptable terms.) | By Lance Tapley more
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59. Sluggish response to suicide: Supermax watch | January 5, 2007
January 5, 2007 | Eyewitnesses said a guard taunted mentally ill supermax inmate Ryan Rideout to kill himself, then let him hang a while when he found him. Rideout died. (The guard was fired.) | By Lance Tapley more
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60. Deane Brown defense team enlarging | January 12, 2007
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61. An insult to justice: Truth to power | February 2, 2007
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62. Cracks in the armor: Prison employee may be disciplined in suicide case | February 2, 2007
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63. Prison guards suit up | March 16, 2007
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64. Prison madness explained | March 30, 2007
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65. Punish the mentally ill! | April 13, 2007
Maine attorney general office pursues controversial legislation that would punish severely mentally ill prisoners before treating them | By Lance Tapley more
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66. Prisoners as commodities | April 27, 2007
April 27, 2007 | Governor Baldacci attempted to send prisoners to a Corrections Corporation of America lockup in Oklahoma. The company's lobbyist, we revealed, was a Baldacci fundraiser and confidant. (The Legislature blocked the transfer.) | By Lance Tapley more
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67. Prisoner gagged: First Amendment watch | May 4, 2007
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68. Inmate sues prison officials in federal court | May 18, 2007
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69. Moral panic | May 25, 2007
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70. Maine prison bosses violate court orders | June 29, 2007
June 29, 2007 | We discovered Corrections had ignored 1970s federal court orders requiring prisoner access to the press. (Access improved.) | By Lance Tapley more
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71. Press behind bars | June 29, 2007
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72. Waves of activism | June 29, 2007
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73. A Supermax "graduate" | July 13, 2007
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74. Prisoners’ guru to speak in Maine | July 20, 2007
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75. Mentally ill inmate gets care, despite state's objections | August 10, 2007
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76. Dangerous waits for psychiatric evaluations? | August 17, 2007
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77. We're all doing time | August 31, 2007
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78. Group seeks to hold Maine to UN standard | August 31, 2007
Portland-based prison activists knock on Munjoy Hill doors collecting signatures to oppose the “legalized abuse of prisoners” in Maine and throughout the country | By Jeff Inglis more
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79. Stabbed in the back | September 14, 2007
September 14, 2007 | By sending him to a violent out-of-state prison, Corrections endangered the life of a state prison inmate who had revealed an escape plot and prevented a bloodbath, (Corrections moved him to a safer prison.) | By Lance Tapley more
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80. Gifted felons | September 14, 2007
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81. Exiled Maine prisoners report abuse, danger | September 28, 2007
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82. An unprecedented crime: Mass torture in America. And how to stop it | November 16, 2007
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83. Three prison-reform events | January 18, 2008
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84. Wave of reform | February 8, 2008
There is now a chance to fix Maine’s broken corrections system, but only if the public speaks up | By Lance Tapley more
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85. Educating inmates | February 8, 2008
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86. State sued over inmate's death | March 7, 2008
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87. Maine Supermax inmates on hunger strike | May 6, 2009