If you are looking for a long depressing read today, look no further than Human Rights Watch's new report on bail and the pretrail treatment of low income nonfelony defendants in the city (i.e. people caught smoking dope in public or jumping turnstiles). The problem, as HRW sees it, is that almost a quarter of jail admissions in 2008 were pretrail detainees charged with misdemeanors who hadn't made bail. They remained incarcerated for an average of 15.7 days. And these are not insignificant numbers—they calculate at a cost of $161 per inmate per day "the city could have saved at least $42 million if it had not incarcerated the 16,649 nonfelony defendants arrested in 2008 who were unable to make bail of $1,000 or less." And let's face it, if you are strapped for cash, even a $500 bail can be as unachievable as at quarter-million dollar one. more ›

A state judge ruled that New York's juvenile corrections system regularly breaks the law by shackling young detainees any time they leave a detention center—even if the children don't pose a physical threat. According to the Times, the ruling should bring an end to a policy that mandated the use of shackles whenever detainees leave state facilities, despite other laws on the books permitting shackles only as a last resort for "youth who are out of control and dangerous, and then only for half an hour." A 15-year-old plaintiff said he was kept in feet and handcuffs connected to a belly chain for roughly 15 hours on a single day. Lawyer Nancy Rosenbloom said the case revealed "a culture of abusive practices that is not rehabilitative." She added: "We had evidence of kids not being able to drink their milk on the way to court because of the chains." more ›

Finally, Foxy Brown is talking about the eight months of time she served, and completed last April, after assaulting two nail salon employees in 2006 and then violating parole. Of course, her chattiness might have been prompted by the NY Post cover story on the star treatment she received at Rikers. The paper spoke to Brown, who insisted, "It was incarceration, not vacation." But it wasn't all riches to rags behind bars: She admitted, "I only wore the designer clothing I was allowed to have." Not only were her prison clothes accessorized with Fendi scarves, but the paper reiterates that correction officials fawned over her and became her entourage! "Chaplains hung out in her cell, delivered her meals and makeup, and gave her unlimited TV and phone access." Brown insists she was treated equally, however, and refers to it as "the worst period in my life." Surely she has plenty of pity party material for her autobiography. more ›