Behind Bars Data News Today

Highlights from the Associated Press, Politico, ABC News and others.

“Am I going to continue banging my head against the wall here for something I don’t think is going to change?” asked the leader of a civilian law enforcement review

The Commercial Appeal analyzed all deaths in the Shelby County Jail since 2016. More than half of the deaths were caused by heart issues or suicide.

Thousands of people are released from prisons and jails every year with conditions such as cancer, heart disease, and infectious diseases.

Research suggests prison accelerates the aging process and may be a factor in falling U.S. life expectancy.

Highlights from the Los Angeles Times, Variety, LAist and others.

After spending 38 years in the Alabama prison system, one of the most violent and crowded in the nation, Larry Jordan felt lucky to live long enough to regain his freedom.

Life expectancy fell in the United States in 2021 for the second year in a row, a trend linked to COVID-19 and the opioid epidemic. But experts also say the trend underscores the lasting health consequences of mass incarceration. Research from the early 2000s suggests the death rate for people leaving prison was 3.5 times higher than the general population in the first few years after their release.

Highlights from MSNBC, Nature, CNN and others.

As U.S. life expectancy falls, experts say incarceration has serious health impacts. The U.S. has one of the highest rates of people in prison or jail in the developed world.