Last year, the Tennessee Department of Correction made it impossible for books-to-prisons nonprofits to mail books to prisoners in Tennessee.
TN Republicans want a new public prison, as its private prison asks for more state dollars
Tennessee’s Department of Correction is asking for nearly $7 million in public funds to go toward the state’s for-profit prisons.
How Tennessee quietly made it harder for prisoners to access books
Due to a 2024 policy change by the state, nonprofits that have sent free books to prisoners for over 50 years can’t serve Tennessee anymore.
Tennessee fines the largest private prison operator millions for understaffing
The state has withheld over $29 million from CoreCivic for violating Tennessee standards for prison operation.
US Justice Department investigating ‘endemic’ violence at Tennessee for-profit prison
Trousdale Turner Correctional Center has the highest homicide rate of any prison in the country and is one of the most understaffed, according to data compiled by the DOJ.
Thousands of women on probation or parole in Tennessee need to seek approval to leave the state for abortion care
About 4 out of 5 women on probation or parole live in a state where abortion is limited. More than 16,000 women are under supervision in Tennessee.
Inside one Tennessee prison, men with life sentences mentor first-timers on navigating life behind bars and after release
People serving life sentences often have a lot of sway over the culture of a prison — they remain, while others cycle in and out. At a prison about an hour southwest of Nashville, men with life sentences are trying to use that influence for good.
Tennessee prisons install high-tech scanners to try to deter contraband
Starting in 2023, high-tech screenings will be the new standard at Tennessee’s state prisons, as officials fight to control a wave of deadly drugs being snuck inside the gates.
Slavery is still allowed as a punishment for crime in Tennessee’s constitution. Amendment 3 seeks to change that.
Update: Amendment 3 was passed by Tennessee voters, so the language of the state’s constitution will be updated accordingly. Find all of WPLN’s live Election Day coverage here. The inspiration for Amendment 3 came about a decade ago, behind the bars and barbed wire of Riverbend Maximum Security Prison.
28 people have died of overdoses in Tennessee’s prisons this year. Lawsuits blame understaffing and easily available drugs.
More than two dozen people have died of overdoses behind bars in Tennessee this year. Twelve of those deaths happened in privately operated prisons, run by Brentwood-based CoreCivic.
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