Subject: Prisons

• Undercurrents

  October 8, 1998

• Jailbird Commits Unspeakable Act Upon Himself

  July 26, 2007

• Ronald "Mr. Biggs" Isley to Stay in Federal Prison

  February 12, 2008

• Dead Man Waiting

  February 11, 1999

• Paying the Race Card

  April 23, 1998

• King Con Speaks

  May 14, 1998

• Undercurrents

  July 2, 1998

• Definitely in My Back Yard

  August 20, 1998

• Rapper's Demise

  August 20, 1998

• I Think, Therefore I Scam

  September 3, 1998

• Eulogy For a Shark

  March 4, 1999

• The Redemption of Crime Boy

  June 17, 1999

• Letters

  July 1, 1999

• Undercurrents

  November 4, 1999

• Florida Inmates to Enjoy the Great Indoors

  100,000 is one of those magic numbers. It's the summit of a classic Eighties game show. It's a milestone that reminds you to get that car tuned up. And if you're a state whose prison population has just reached that number, it means you're running out of room in the Big House, which in Florida's case means it's time to throw extra inmates into tents.A camping we will go! A camping we... well... actually, there will be no campfires -- not unless something goes horribly, horribly wrong. Rather, th

  December 30, 2008

• Onstage Culeros

  June 14, 2007

• Boca Private Prison Operator Feelin' Heat from West Texas

  Not the riot in Pecos, but this is what one looks like. Perhaps the only thing harder to contain than a prison riot is the embarrassment that comes after a prison riot. But still. Boca Raton-based Geo Group has done a ham-handed job spinning the riot that broke out Saturday at a prison it owns in the West Texas town of Pecos. On Sunday it released a statement that the riot ended with a "positive outcome."Huh? What post-riot outcome could possibly be "positive"? Did everyone learn a valuable

  February 4, 2009

• Boca Firm's Spin Job is a Riot

  Remember when I told you that a riot at the Pecos, Texas prison run by a Boca Raton company, had ended with a "positive outcome"? I was wrong. That's what I get for relying on the guarantees of the Geo Group, which probably should have delayed claiming victory until after its prison had stopped belching smoke. Or tell me, Geo Group spinmeister, was that merely prison guards and inmates taking pulls off a peace pipe?While we're at it, a little trivia: What candidate for U.S. Senate candidate was

  February 6, 2009

• Wait... We Give Inmates Belts?

  We must, because according to a Miami Herald headline, the inmates are tightening them. Just ask D'Angelo from The Wire whether belts should be allowed in prison. Well...I guess we can't ask him now, can we? Then again, maybe the Herald's just being metaphorical. Florida is coping with the effects of a failed and expensive food-privatization venture of former Gov. Jeb Bush. In 2001, the state turned over most prison food operations to Aramark Corp., even after Ohio had scrapped a similar experim

  February 16, 2009

• From the Penthouse to the Big House: Madoff to Plead Guilty

  Palm Beach financier Bernard Madoff is expected to plead guilty and get a life sentence.Here's betting that Bernie's future fellow inmates are looking forward to performing a very literal rendition of what Madoff did figuratively to his investors.

  March 10, 2009

• Broward County bail bondsmen want to kill pretrial intervention, and the County Commission is willing to help

  December 18, 2008

• Prodigy

  May 29, 2008

• Muscles, Murder, and a Messiah, Part 2

  Gil Fernandez Jr. could be responsible for as many as nine murders. If he's truly repentant, his former prosecutor says, he needs to confess his sins.

  January 12, 2006

• Slick Trouble

  The government's determination to deport old-school rapper Slick Rick knows no bounds

  January 11, 2007

• From Gitmo With Love

  The elephant in Guantanamo's living room gets 4,200 calories a day and a Koran.

  June 8, 2006

• Muscles, Murder, and a Messiah

  January 5, 2006

• Various Artists

  The Very Best of Death Row (Tha Row)

  June 23, 2005

• The Unlikely Lambs

  Carandiru reveals the human side of Brazilian prisoners, then leads us to their slaughter

  June 3, 2004

• The Snitch

  Meet John Mamone -- devoted father, Mafia soldier, government witness

  March 25, 2004

• Crazy to Kill

  In October 2002, they finally led Aileen Wuornos to where she wanted to go: the death chamber

  January 22, 2004

• Death Road Revisited

  A patsy for the sheriff's department gets the blame

  October 9, 2003

• Habitat for Inhumanity

  The "asylums" depicted in The Magdalene Sisters undermine both the Catholic Church and the popular image of Ireland

  August 21, 2003

• Death Road

  A 62-year-old convict was killed while working outside the slammer. BSO ain't talking about it.

  May 8, 2003

• The Last Governor

  February 27, 2003

• A Family Affair

  Wackenhut Corp.'s days as a South Florida firm are over, but its legacy lives on

  May 23, 2002

• Dirty Work

  A tale of prison gardeners is this summer's sweetest feel-good comedy

  September 13, 2001

• A Sorry Excuse

  Ken Jenne's department helped convict the wrong man. Why won't he and Jeb Bush admit it?

  July 5, 2001

• A Single Hair

  After a severely flawed trial, Michael Rivera was convicted of killing a little girl. New DNA evidence may help him.

  June 28, 2001

• Crowded Cage

  Welcome to Broward's juvenile detention center, where inmates are wild, toilets are clogged, and employees are grousing

  September 21, 2000

• Love Behind Bars

  When Albert Tacher met Dina Mora, he knew it was love. The problem? She was a prisoner, and he was a Broward Sheriff's Office deputy.

  June 8, 2000

• The Unforgiven

  Bryant Troville served out his sentence for his sexually violent acts. His prospects for freedom? Not good.

  May 4, 2000

• Instant Karma

  The Green Mile

  December 9, 1999

• The Great Pretender

  Jimmy Sabatino scammed millions of dollars' worth of goods and services by claiming he was a Hollywood player. But the self-described Mafia kid played too rough when he threatened to kill President Clinton.

  September 16, 1999

• Lock, Stock, and 48 Smoking Barrels

  A year ago Wayne and Danny Dagenais stole guns from a family friend. In an effort to keep then-16-year-old Wayne out of jail, their parents tried to retrieve the weapons. But the plan didn't work.

  September 2, 1999

• Going Gold

  At his new crib in Miramar, rapper Trick Daddy is smokin'out with his homies. Shows he's keeping it real and... going gold.

  August 26, 1999

• Cell-Out: Jenne Breaks Silence

  Photo courtesy South Florida Sun-SentinelHeads up, Broward County: Your ex-sheriff ex-con gave an interview to former Sun-Sentinel columnist Buddy Nevins that was posted on Broward Beat over the weekend. It's a cream-puff interview, but whatever. Ken Jenne was convicted, served his time, and no one can doubt his regret is genuine. Besides, there's enough active corruption so that we don't have to dwell on the old stuff. Based on the comments thread, some readers object to what seems to them Jenn

  April 27, 2009

• To Fellow Inmates, Madoff's So Bad, He's Good

  Schadenfreude-starved followers of the Palm Beach pirate may be delighted to hear this, from an inmate at Madoff's prison in Butner, North Carolina, courtesy the New York Post:"Some of the guys were talking about smacking him around a little, just to get the notoriety of it."But don't get your hopes up, haters. Remember that a prison is full of villains, a demographic that forms its opinion of newcomers based on how they treated other villains. By this perverse standard, Madoff deserves the Nobe

  July 22, 2009

• Inmate Dies in Broward Jail

  No name, no age, no cause of death. All that Broward Sheriff's Office is reporting for the moment is that their deputies found an inmate dead in his cell at the main jail in Fort Lauderdale, around 7 p.m. The inmate had been in the cell alone. Here's the release. Stay tuned for more details, which will be available after BSO contacts the inmate's family.

  July 24, 2009

• Morning Juice: Still More Questions in Miramar Deaths; End of the Line for Broward Murderer on Death Row

  ​Here what's happening this morning in South Florida:CBS4 has video that includes a photo of the two victims of a shooting in Miramar -- Faith Bisasor and her son Damion Bishop -- as well as an interview with a family friend who says Bisasor never opened the door to strangers. The Sun-Sentinel adds new details about Bisasor's work as a nurse.At the Miami Herald, Curtis Morgan reports that Bill's gaining strength but still headed out to sea while Ana's to be a mere "annoyance," likely to bring

  August 19, 2009

• Law Abiding Citizen Peddles Cheap Revenge Thrills

  October 15, 2009