prisons

A South Carolina inmate scheduled to be executed Friday is asking Gov. Henry McMaster to spare his life, something no governor in the state has done since the death penalty was restarted nearly 50 years ago.

A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit trying to overturn the South Carolina prison system's banning on-camera, in-person interviews with inmates or recording their phone calls for broadcast.

Aug. 14, 2024

South Carolina will join nonprofit Concordance's national effort to reduce the prison reentry rate after a $60 million donation by Wells Fargo that will help open the state's first "healing first" center.

A convicted killer is back behind bars in South Carolina four months after he was released as part of an unannounced deal that cut his 35-year prison sentence nearly in half.

The South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice says it will reform its beleaguered central prison for youths through a federal agreement. The settlement agreement announced Thursday follows a report from the U.S. Department of Justice that found state officials were violating the rights of incarcerated youths. State officials say they will now ensure facilities are properly staffed, offer rehabilitative programming and revise use-of-force policies, among other measures. Federal investigators say the agency has failed to protect youths from fights and forced them to spend days or weeks in isolation for small offenses. The Justice Department says agency employees have also harmed children by using excessive force such as choking, punching and kicking.

One of the survivors of a racist massacre at an African American church in South Carolina has started giving out scholarships from her foundation to students who want to provide health care to prisoners. Polly Daniels Sheppard set aside money from speaking engagements and other events to create the Polly Sheppard Foundation. Sheppard worked as a nurse for 14 years at the Charleston County jail and says she was bothered that there was always a lack of health workers with compassion for the people they might be helping behind bars. Sheppard was one of five people inside Emanuel AME church to survive in June 2015 when a racist killed nine members of the church.

South Carolina now has the lowest rate of released inmates returning to prison within three years in the country thanks to an in-depth and expanding program of job and life skills, the state prison director said.

Federal regulators are giving state prisons across the country more technological options to combat contraband cellphones, which prison officials — including South Carolina Corrections Director Bryan Stirling — have long said represent the greatest security threat behind bars.

Federal regulators are considering allowing state prisons across the country more technological options to combat contraband cellphones, which prison officials have long said represent the greatest security threat behind bars. South Carolina Corrections Director Bryan Stirling says this is a step in the right direction.