RIKERS ISLAND PRISONERS BEING OFFERED PPE AND $6 AN HOUR TO DIG MASS GRAVES

NEW YORK CITY is offering prisoners at Rikers Island jail $6 per hour — a fortune by prison labor standards — and personal protective equipment if they agree to help dig mass graves on Hart Island, according to sources with knowledge of the offer. Avery Cohen, a spokesperson for the office of Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed the general arrangement but said that it was not “Covid-specific,” noting that prisoners have been digging graves on Hart Island for years. The offer is on

Senators sold off their stocks ahead of coronavirus economic crash

WASHINGTON —Reports on Thursday revealed Sens. Richard Burr, N.C., and Kelly Loeffler, Ga., sold off significant amounts in stocks shortly before financial markets plunged because of the coronavirus pandemic. The senators are reported to have had knowledge about the spread of coronavirus ahead of their sales. ProPublica reported that Burr, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, dumped somewhere between $628,000 and $1.72 million of stocks, much of which came from the h

Samoan chief Joseph Auga Matamata found guilty of human trafficking and slavery charges

A Hastings-based Samoan chief has been found guilty of 10 charges in human trafficking and 13 charges in dealing with slaves. Joseph Auga Matamata, 65, was acquitted on one charge of trafficking. The jury of five men and six women took seven-and-a-half hours to reach the verdict. Matamata stood silent in the dock as the verdicts were readout. His offending is related to 13 Samoan nationals that he arranged to bring to New Zealand in small groups between 1994 and April last ye

Coronavirus prompts Board of Correction to release incarcerated individuals from NYC jails

“The city must drastically reduce the number of people in jail right now and limit new admissions to exceptional circumstances,” the board said in a statement Tuesday. “The city can follow the leads of Los Angeles County and Cuyahoga County [Ohio] which have already begun to release people to minimize a potential outbreak,” the statement continued. “The city must begin this process now. The city’s jails have particular challenges to preventing disease transmission on a normal

Coronavirus has jail lawyers worried about safety

During a meeting of prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, and court staff last week, a representative from the Seattle City Attorney’s Office warned that attorneys there were struggling with “moral issues” amid the ongoing spread of COVID-19. Chief among their concerns: coming to and going from the downtown jail. One of the courtrooms for Seattle Municipal Court is inside the jail, and prosecutors were becoming increasingly worried about their daily visits there and being c

Coronavirus kills NYC Correction Department official

A Department of Correction employee has died from the coronavirus — and the man’s grief-stricken brother said the family is reeling from the loss. “He just passed away Sunday morning so we’re in the midst of a lot of stress, a lot of grief,” Raymond Perez said of his brother, David Perez — an investigator at the Correction Department who died Sunday. “My brother was one of the best men on earth — very honorable,” the brother told the Daily News through tears. "He cared for hi

Prison whistleblower who exposed unsafe conditions in Arizona facility found dead

An Arizona correctional sergeant who blew the whistle on corruption and unsafe conditions inside a jail facility was found dead in an apparent suicide, officials confirmed to ABC News. Gabriela Contreras risked her position at the former Lewis Corrections Department in Buckeye last April when she leaked surveillance videos that revealed multiple jail units had cell doors that did not lock properly. Contreras initially turned over the videos and altered documentation regarding

Police in Alabama planted drugs and guns on over 1,000 innocent Black men

More than 1,000 Black men in Dothan, Alabama have been falsely accused and criminalized by a group of racist police intent on falsely imprisoning them. The 12 officers, identified as members of a terrorist hate group, routinely planted drugs and weapons on innocent Black men in order to arrest them and deny them due process while depriving them of freedom. According to the Henry County Report, the incidents occurred in Dothan, Alabama where at least a dozen White police offi

Violence persists in Alabama’s prisons

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Caught fabricating evidence, convicted Baltimore police officer remains on force 2½ years later

More than 2½ years ago, defense attorneys released Baltimore Police body-camera footage showing Officer Richard Pinheiro Jr. placing drugs in a vacant lot and then acting as if he’d just discovered them. A year later, Pinheiro was convicted of fabricating evidence and misconduct in office, a decision upheld last week by a state appeals court. Prosecutors have dropped cases that relied on Pinheiro’s police work and say they’d never call him again as a witness. Still, Pinheiro

W.N.B.A. Star Maya Moore Helped Overturn His Conviction

A Missouri man whose appeal of his 50-year sentence for burglary and assault has been backed by the W.N.B.A. star Maya Moore had his conviction overturned by a state judge on Monday. Before a packed courtroom in Jefferson City, Judge Daniel Green capped months of review by issuing a ruling that vacated the guilty verdict of the victim, Jonathan Irons, and ordered that he be released from the maximum-security prison where he has been behind bars for the last 23 years. Tears we