Voters passed a jail inspection measure in 2022. The new policy allows a member of the public to accompany a city commissioner on the twice-annual visits. Oregon state law requires county commissioners to inspect local jails once per year to provide publi ...
23 Aug 2023 - Jeremiah Hayden
Multnomah County had only released the cause of two jail deaths prior to the order amid surge of six deaths in three months Editor’s note: This story discusses self-harm. If you or people you know are at risk of self-harm, the National Suicide Prevention ...
18 Aug 2023 - Jeremiah Hayden and K. Rambo
Twice the number of prisoners in county jails have died in the last three months than in all of 2021 and 2022 A 36-year-old prisoner in Portland’s downtown Multnomah County Detention Center, or MCDC, died Aug. 1, according to the Multnomah County Sherif ...
3 Aug 2023 - Jeremiah Hayden
State agencies can’t agree on who’s responsible. Experts say this is a transparency problem. Federal laws require state prisons to track all in-custody deaths, but a Street Roots investigation shows these reports are often incomplete in Oregon. Street Roo ...
28 Dec 2022 - Piper McDaniel
A collection of essays bolsters Rogers’ reflective framework exploring Oregon's history of capital punishment Sept. 6, 1996, was one of those days that make tourists want to stay in Oregon forever. The air was warm as birth, the cerulean sky cloudles ...
8 Jun 2022 - Ellen Rogers
Anomalies in public data regarding COVID-19 protocols cause concern Like elsewhere in the state, COVID-19 isn’t over inside Oregon’s prisons. Amid a growing outbreak at Coffee Creek Intake Center and pending lawsuits regarding the Oregon Department of Cor ...
8 Jun 2022 - Melanie Henshaw
The historical impact of sexual violence in Native communities explains why some are not welcome in our spiritual spaces Editor's note: This story contains graphic descriptions of sexual violence. T he prisoner hierarchy is simple, good dudes at the ...
18 May 2022 - Ga lo Vann
After deadliest year in recent history in Oregon prisons, a legal nonprofit was granted class action status for an ongoing lawsuit about COVID-19 protocols. The ODOC says the suit justifies their lack of transparency. A total of 52 prisoners died in custo ...
18 May 2022 - Melanie Henshaw and Piper McDaniel
Oregon’s 36 district attorneys are some of the most powerful actors in the public safety system, and about half of them are running for reelection in the May 17 primary election. Whether or not your district attorney’s name is on your ballot, this is an ...
10 May 2022 - Shannon Wight
Enrique Bautista describes the highs and lows of celebrating Christmas while incarcerated Christmas was my favorite holiday growing up. It was natural for me, as a little kid who still believed in Santa Claus, to feel “the Christmas spirit.” The merriment ...
8 Dec 2021 - Enrique Bautista