Actor Jonathan Majors avoids jail time, sentenced to counseling for assaulting ex-girlfriend

NEW YORK — Actor Jonathan Majors has been ordered to complete a yearlong counseling program but avoided jail time Monday for assaulting his ex-girlfriend in a high-profile case that derailed the once-promising star’s career. The 34-year-old star of “Creed III” and other films had faced up to a year behind bars after he was convicted … Read more

Cases settled: 2 ex-officials of veterans home where 76 died in the pandemic avoid jail time

BOSTON — Two former officials of a veterans home in Massachusetts where at least 76 people died in one of the nation’s worst COVID-19 outbreaks in a long-term care facility settled their criminal case Tuesday without having to go to jail. Bennett Walsh, the former superintendent of the Veterans’ Home in Holyoke, and Dr. David … Read more

Brazil’s soccer head says rape convictions for Alves and Robinho end “nefarious chapter”

SAO PAULO — Brazil’s soccer federation president Ednaldo Rodrigues said Friday that the rape convictions of former footballers Dani Alves and Robinho end “one of the most nefarious chapters” in the country’s sports history. Rodrigues said in a statement that the executives at governing body CBF and its coaching staff feel sorry for “the victims … Read more

Judge mulls third contempt case against Arizona for failing to improve prison health care

PHOENIX — A judge presiding over a nearly 12-year-old lawsuit challenging the quality of health care in Arizona’s prisons is considering whether to launch a third contempt-of-court proceeding against the state for failing to improve prisoner care. Arizona’s system for providing medical and mental health care for the nearly 25,000 people incarcerated in its state-run … Read more

Hunger soars and aid dwindles as gangs in Haiti suffocate the country

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — A crowd of about 100 people tried to shove through a metal gate in Haiti’s capital as a guard with a baton pushed them back, threatening to hit them. Undeterred, children and adults alike, some of them carrying babies, kept elbowing each other trying to enter. “Let us in! We’re hungry!” they … Read more

Prisoners with developmental disabilities face unique challenges. One facility is offering solutions

ALBION, Pa. — ALBION, Pa. (AP) — “You are the Lighthouse in someone’s storm,” reads the message above a mural of a sailboat bobbing on ocean waves under a cloud-studded azure sky. It’s an unexpected slogan for a prison wall. On a nearby door painted deep blue, a bright yellow Minion character offers “Ways to … Read more

UN experts call on authorities in Belarus to pardon a cancer-stricken imprisoned opposition leader

TALLINN, Estonia — Experts from the U.N. Human Rights Commission appealed to Belarusian authorities on Monday to pardon an opposition politician diagnosed with a severe form of cancer while in prison. Ryhor Kastusiou, 66, the leader of the Belarusian Popular Front, or BPF, party, is serving a 10-year sentence on charges of “conspiracy to seize … Read more

Mississippi might allow incarcerated people to sue prisons over transgender inmates

JACKSON, Miss. — A bill before Mississippi lawmakers might allow incarcerated people to sue jails and prisons if they encounter inmates from the opposite sex, such as those who are transgender, in restrooms or changing areas. State lawmakers advanced the proposal out of a House committee Thursday. It would require inmate restrooms, changing rooms and … Read more

Rapper Kodak Black freed from jail after drug possession charge was dismissed

MIAMI — South Florida rapper Kodak Black was freed from jail Wednesday after a federal judge sentenced him to time served for a probation violation, though a drug trafficking case from 2022 remains ongoing. U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez in Miami handed down the sentence nearly two weeks after a drug possession charge was … Read more

Amid fentanyl crisis, Oregon lawmakers propose more funding for opioid addiction medication in jails

PORTLAND, Ore. — Kendra Sawyer spoke with her dad from the Deschutes County jail and told him she loved him. Six hours later, in the throes of opioid withdrawal, the 22-year-old took her own life. A year later, Sawyer’s father, Kent, is left wondering whether his daughter, troubled as she was, might still be alive … Read more