Prison

Adree Edmo officially became the first incarcerated person to get court-ordered gender confirmation surgery in July 2020. She has since been released, but her Idaho case set a precedent for how cases of gender dysmorphia will be handled within prisons. Now, her team of lawyers will be granted nearly $2.6 million in attorneys fees for the years of litigation.

Indigenous people are over represented in jails and prisons and this virtual conference aims to brain storm how to fix that.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs announced reforms to its criminal justice system Monday, including more training on how to perform death investigations. That follows a Mountain West News Bureau and NPR investigation into more than a dozen deaths in tribal jails. There are also ongoing questions about the firm hired to review the deaths for BIA. Some Congressmen have been critical of the BIA’s choice because the firm was led by a former agency official.

The lawyers for Adree Edmo, the first incarcerated person to receive federally court-ordered gender confirmation surgery, are asking Idaho to pay back $2.82 million in attorneys fees.

Racial disparities are deeply pronounced in state prisons across the nation – and some Western states top the list.

A federal judge in Nevada has ruled that a law that further penalizes those who re-enter the U.S. after deportation is unconstitutional. Section 1326 says if you were denied entry to the U.S. or were deported at some point, that law makes entering the U.S. a felony. The Nevada judge says it violates the U.S. Constitution because of its racist, anti-Mexican origins. The U.S. Department of Justice is appealing this decision.

Willy Pepion had a cracked skull, and guards at the federal jail on the Blackfeet Reservation dismissed his pleas for help. He died in his cell. Three hours went by until anyone noticed.

"The corrections officers are basically holding these lives in their hands with their decisions."

The National Congress of American Indians has urged the federal government to place medical personnel in its tribal jails, arguing that the current situation "exacerbates the already challenging problem of health disparities for American Indians."

After months of repeated written questions and public records requests from NPR and the Mountain West News Bureau, Interior Department officials said they now plan to contract with an outside agency to examine the troubles plaguing tribal detention centers.