Prisons

Minnesota Lockdown: We're Number One!

Minnesota by the numbers: Our aging prison inmates

The eternal optimist braces himself, merrily, for prison

Public Image Limited

A new exhibition moves public art out of the town square and into a conceptual realm

Want a free necklace? Show your job-termination slip

Interesting things happen when the economy plummets. Wisconsin already has a running start.

Only in Wisconsin: Paraplegic gets 6 years for bank robbery

What's wrong with Wisconsin?

Minnesota becomes second state to offer treatment to veterans who commit crimes

Legislators say it makes more sense to rehabilitate

Errol Morris

Legislators say it makes more sense to rehabilitate

End Notes

Legislators say it makes more sense to rehabilitate

Inmate, Inmate, Who's Got the Inmate?

Under budgetary pressure, the state's prisons transfer costs—and prisoners—back to counties

Spotlight: Coyote on a Fence

'Coyote on a Fence': Live from death row

Land of 10,000 Felons

Meth use and harsher sentences are putting more Minnesotans in prison

Flirting With Death

How an unlikely date led to the writing of 'The Exonerated'

The Walls of Red Wing

The remarkable 114-year story of Minnesota's last juvenile detention home

Addicted To Drug Court

The Good News and the Bad News: Hennepin County’s drug court has cleared court dockets and steered a lot of people toward treatment. It’s also allowed the county to push thousands more casual offenders into the corrections system.

Safe Harbor?

The Salvation Army plans to house prison inmates in a work-release program at its Minneapolis shelter

Doing Time

Director Cheryl Dunye brings her research stint at the Shakopee women's prison to bear on Stranger Inside

Look, Sheryl: No Pictures!

A recommended reading list for people who live in big houses

Ill Communication

The state profits from phone calls to the big house. Inmates say their families are ending up in the poorhouse.

Prison Math

Thanks to census counts, inmates are bringing big money to small towns

Dropping the Dime

He fought for his right to make phone calls from prison, but now Ronaldo Ligons is about to be disconnected

Collect Call

Minnesota could find itself writing checks to hundreds of prisoners--thanks to a jailhouse lawyer with an eye for detail

Time Is Money

Inmates still stamp out license plates, but an emerging corporate ethic is pushing Minnesota's prison industries to branch out, cut fat, and pay peanuts

Life Sentences

Teaching Minnesota's student prisoners reveals the power of the pen

The Bars That Bind

Eight years for burglary. Eighteen for rape. Life for murder. Five women talk about doing time with their men behind bars.

Bad Blood

This summer, Corky Maurer learned that he picked up hepatitis C in prison. And that's not the worst news.

Medic Alert

Apparently imprisonment isn't sufficient punishment--witness the state's new money-saving deal for inmate health care

Art of Conviction

Inmate artists and prison instructors talk about life on the inside

I'm Just a Bill...

In the month left before sine die, Minnesota lawmakers must decide what to do about the stadium, the budget surplus, and that nagging turtle-trafficking issue.

Ronin Ro: Have Gun Will Travel

In the month left before sine die, Minnesota lawmakers must decide what to do about the stadium, the budget surplus, and that nagging turtle-trafficking issue.

Christmas in the Big House

Out of Stillwater's 1,300 or so inmates, 80 attended this year's holiday service, which Chaplain Steve Hokonson calls "pretty good": "You're talking Monday evening. Monday Night Football--there's a little bit of competition there."

Hard Time

Out of Stillwater's 1,300 or so inmates, 80 attended this year's holiday service, which Chaplain Steve Hokonson calls "pretty good": "You're talking Monday evening. Monday Night Football--there's a little bit of competition there."

Throw Away the Key--For Less!

Corrections Corporation of America is a darling of Wall Street and the country's largest private prison company. Now it wants to run Minnesota's newest prison.

Two's a Crowd

Corrections Corporation of America is a darling of Wall Street and the country's largest private prison company. Now it wants to run Minnesota's newest prison.

EAT FISH AND DIE!

Corrections Corporation of America is a darling of Wall Street and the country's largest private prison company. Now it wants to run Minnesota's newest prison.

Packing the Prisons

Corrections Corporation of America is a darling of Wall Street and the country's largest private prison company. Now it wants to run Minnesota's newest prison.

Cracking Down

Rising repression means escalating tensions at Oak Park Heights, the state's only maximum-security prison.

God and Man at Stillwater

Rising repression means escalating tensions at Oak Park Heights, the state's only maximum-security prison.

What About Bob?

Rising repression means escalating tensions at Oak Park Heights, the state's only maximum-security prison.

Warden Jones

Never mind the new state law outlawing smoking in prisons, Stillwater inmate Gale Rachuy has no plans to quit. "Within a week, watch. This is going to turn into a very dangerous place."

Wis. prisoner attempts escape, smuggles large bag of raisins

If you're going to be a free man once you jump that giant razor wire fence, what's the need to bring prison raisins along for the ride?

Video of Wis. prisoner subdued by grenade is released

A video the Wisconsin Department of Corrections wanted under wraps is now out in the open.

Pennsylvania convicts may be exported to Minnesota

The state of Pennsylvania's prison system is overflowing, and some of its convicts may be coming to Minnesota.

Absolved death row inmate arrested for beating son with baseball bat

Not quite ironic, but close.

Tom Petters moved to temporary cell in Oklahoma City

Headed for the federal pen​Tom Petters is headed for the Big House. The one-time high-flying millionaire sentenced to 50 years behind bars for orchestrating a $3.7 million Ponzi scheme is cooling his heels in the Federal Transfer Center at Will Rogers airport in Oklahoma City. Next stop is a f ... More >>

Tom Petters to bunk at Leavenworth

Photo via WikipediaThe United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth -- The Big House -- is Tom Petters' new address​Ponzi schemer Tom Petters is headed for The Big House: the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas. And unless his legal team can pull a rabbit out of its hat and win an app ... More >>

DMX: Will the Ruff Ryder rise again?

Hear exclusive new songs from the troubled rapper

Chrishaun McDonald says transgender status means unfair murder trial ahead

​Chrishaun McDonald, charged with stabbing David Schmitz to death earlier this month outside The Schooner Tavern in South Minneapolis, is claiming that her status as transgender jeopardizes her ability to receive a fair trial. McDonald is also claiming self defense.

10 Songs About the Slammer: This Day in Country Music History

​"I was drunk, the day my mama, got outta prison." You know the rest. But what you may not know is that this weekend, 48 years ago, country singer David Allan Coe began serving a four-year prison sentence at the Ohio State Penitentiary for car theft, possession of obscene materials, and poss ... More >>

Denny Hecker being transferred to mystery prison

The reason behind transferring Denny Hecker is still unknown. ​Once the owner of a 17,000 square-foot mansion, fallen auto mogul Denny Hecker is now just trying to find a stable prison cell to call home. Hecker, who pleaded guilty to multiple counts of fraud two years ago, was transferred o ... More >>