Bill Nemitz: What we have here, is a failure to communicate
Trying to make sense of the on-again, off-again real estate deal between the state and Maine State Prison Warden Patricia Barnhart? I refer you to The Captain, that snarling, steely-eyed prison-camp warden in the 1967 movie classic “Cool Hand Luke.”
Our View: Maine prison warden’s land buy void, but how did it occur?
Sometimes government officials get involved in “the appearance of a conflict of interest,” where a deal that would be normal for others without their level of influence raises suspicion in their case that something might not be on the up-and-up.
Investigation sought into state land sale
The public never had a chance to bid on a state-owned parcel in Thomaston that was purchased by a state official at a price below market value.
Police brutality civil case settled out of court for $725,000
BANGOR, Maine — Minutes before an alleged police brutality civil case out of Hancock County was set to begin in federal court, the parties involved settled the case for $725,000.
Two years later, inmate homicide investigation remains incomplete
WARREN, Maine — The Maine Attorney General’s Office is still investigating the death of a Maine State Prison inmate two years and two months ago.
County jail officer charged with assaulting inmate
Nicholas Stein, 41, is suspended without pay and faces criminal charges of assault following an altercation with a Cumberland County Jail inmate last month.
Police say prisoner may have died of natural causes
BELFAST, Maine — Although the Maine State Medical Examiner’s Office had not yet released the cause of death of a 65-year-old convicted murderer, a Maine State Police spokesman said late Monday afternoon that the man likely died of natural causes.
Former Hancock County Jail officer serving 60 days for $10,000 theft
ELLSWORTH, Maine — A former corrections officer has begun serving her sentence after being convicted of stealing more than $10,000 from Hancock County.
Tempers flare as private prison considered in Milo
MILO, Maine — Tempers flared Thursday at a forum on bringing a private prison to Maine, underlining the difficult choice this small Maine town faces if talk of bringing a for-profit prison here continues.
Prison inmate dies after severe beating
WARREN, Maine — An inmate at Maine State Prison died Tuesday night after suffering a severe beating in the prison last month.
Maine State Prison reduces solitary confinement
WARREN, Maine — The segregation unit at the Maine State Prison is getting to be an empty place.
Maine Voices: Maine should restore parole, home confinement to cut crowding, recidivism
One of the more pressing issues of the day is overcrowding in the state prisons, which are administrated by the Maine Department of Corrections. There is capacity currently required for hundreds of excess inmates statewide.
Immigrants For Sale
Immigrants are for sale in this country. Sold to private prison corporations who are locking them up for obscene profits!
Jail officers indicted after complaint by inmate
All four of the York County correctional officers have been placed on paid administrative leave.
Death of bin Laden: Doomsday or Renewal?
We are left to speculate as to the effect of the execution of Osama bin Laden on the American psyche. On a feeding frenzy since 9/11, the military industrial complex, the most self-conscious wing of corporate capitalism, will need the kind of resuscitation that only money can buy.
State House Notebook: Prison bill draws ire of coalition
Republican lawmakers from central Maine have proposed legislation that would allow the state to send Maine prisoners to correctional facilities in other states, drawing the ire of the Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition.
State House Notebook: Prison bill draws ire of coalition
Republican lawmakers from central Maine have proposed legislation that would allow the state to send Maine prisoners to correctional facilities in other states, drawing the ire of the Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition.
Maine Voices: Prison reform in America: Kicking the can farther down the road
When I began this journey over a year ago, advocating for reform of our prisons, I never dreamed that so arcane and bizarre a subject could become a source of amusement. Despite being a former legislator, I had forgotten the inherent lack of courage on the part of legislators, driving their propensity to tweak rather than replace or repair broken systems.
Autopsy finds pneumonia caused prisoner’s death
WARREN, Maine — Pneumonia killed a prisoner at the Bolduc Correctional Facility, according to an autopsy performed Tuesday.