visit stocken prison

Cookies on GOV.UK

We use some essential cookies to make this website work.

We’d like to set additional cookies to understand how you use GOV.UK, remember your settings and improve government services.

We also use cookies set by other sites to help us deliver content from their services.

You have accepted additional cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time.

You have rejected additional cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time.

• Crime, justice and law
• Prisons and probation

Stocken Prison

Stocken Prison is a men’s prison near Oakham in Rutland, East Midlands.

Help us to improve this page. Give us your feedback in this 2-minute survey .

Book and plan your visit to Stocken

To visit someone in Stocken Prison you must:

• be on that person’s visitor list
• book your visit at least 48 hours in advance
• have the required ID with you when you go

Spaces fill up so visitors are encouraged to book as far in advance as possible.

At least one visitor must be 18 or older at every visit.

Contact Stocken if you have any questions about visiting.

Help with the cost of your visit

If you get certain benefits or have an NHS health certificate, you might be able to get help with the costs of your visit , including:

• travel to Stocken
• somewhere to stay overnight

How to book family and friends visits

You can book your visit online or by telephone.

Telephone booking line: 01780 795 156 The booking line is open: Monday to Friday, 9am to 11am. Find out about call charges

Visiting times:

• Tuesday - 1:45pm to 3:45pm
• Thursday - 9am to 11am and 1:45pm to 3:45pm
• Saturday - 9am to 11am and 1:45pm to 3:45pm
• Sunday - 9am to 11am and 1:45pm to 3:45pm               

You must be booked in by 9:45am for morning visits and 2:30pm for afternoon visits, or you may be refused entry into the visits hall.

Visits will last one hour and will fall within these times. Your time with your loved one will not start until you’re in the visits hall.

How to book legal and professional visits

To book a visit please email [email protected]

• Monday: 8:30am to 11:30am and 2pm to 4pm (video visits and in person visits)
• Tuesday: 2pm to 4pm (only video visits)
• Thursday: 9am to 11am and 2pm to 4pm (only video visits)

Getting to Stocken Prison

Find Stocken on a map

The closest railway stations are Stamford, Grantham and Oakham. You will need to take a taxi from the station to the prison.

To plan your journey by public transport use:

• National Rail Enquiries
• Traveline for local bus times

There is car parking available at the prison including space for Blue Badge holders.

Entering Stocken Prison

All visitors, aged 16 or older must prove their identity before entering the prison. Read the list of acceptable forms of ID when visiting a prison .

All visitors will need to be given a rub-down search, including children. You will walk through, or be scanned by, a metal detector. You may also be sniffed by security dogs. You may be searched again after using the toilets.

Stocken has a strict dress code policy, which means visitors should wear smart clothes, shorts are allowed just above the knee, (no vests, no low-cut tops, no short shorts, no short dresses, no hoodies, no see-through clothing, no ripped clothing, visitors to wear only 1 pair of trousers/jeans/jogging bottoms, no offensive slogans and no headwear, other than that worn for religious reasons).

HMP Stocken has a no coat policy for the visits hall area, visitors are required to use limited coat hooks at your own risk in the visitors search area when entering the prison. HMP Stocken will not accept responsibility for any items left in this area. Coats can only be collected when exiting the establishment once the visit has completed.

Refreshments are available during your visits including hot and cold food and drinks. However please note that a maximum of £50 is allowed per group, a mixture of coins and notes is recommended.

Due to restrictions on items that can enter the prison, you will have to leave all of the things you have with you in a car/locker (you will need a £5 refundable deposit for lockers).

You will be told the rules by an officer at the start of your visit. If you break the rules, your visit could be cancelled and you could be banned from visiting again.

Visiting facilities

The visits room and visitors centre have disabled access and facilities.

Keep in touch with someone at Stocken

There are several ways you can keep in touch with a prisoner during their time at Stocken.

Secure video calls

To have a secure video call with someone in this prison you need to:

• Download the Prison Video app
• Create an account
• Register all visitors
• Add the prisoner to your contact list.

How to book a secure video call

Secure video calls at this prison can be requested by prisoners only.

You will receive a notification if a prisoner has requested a video call with you.

Read more about how it works

Phone calls

None of the phones that prisoners have access to accept incoming calls so they will always have to call you. They have to buy phone credits to do this.

They can phone anyone named on their list of friends and family. This list is checked by security when they first arrive so it may take a few days before they are able to call.

All prisoners on normal location have phones in their cells which they can use at any time.

You can also exchange voicemails using the Prison Voicemail service .

Officers may listen to phone calls as a way of preventing crime and helping keep people safe.

You can send emails to someone in Stocken using the Email a Prisoner service .

You might also be able to attach photos and receive replies from the prisoner, depending on the rules at Stocken.

You can write at any time.

Include the person’s name and prisoner number or date of birth on the envelope. Also add your name and address on the back of the envelope.

All post, apart from legal letters, will be checked by officers and screened for drugs.

Send money and gifts

You can use the free and fast online service to send money to someone in prison .

You can no longer send money by bank transfer, cheque, postal order or send cash by post.

If you cannot use the online service, you may be able to apply for an exemption - for example if you:

• are unable to use a computer, a smart phone or the internet
• do not have a debit card

This will allow you to send money by post.

Gifts and parcels

Family and friends of prisoners are permitted to send books directly to their loved ones, or can order books from approved retailers, which can source and send the books on to prisoners.   For the full list of approved retailers, you can read the HMPPS Incentives Policy, Annex F .

Make sure to include the person’s name and prisoner number on the parcel. They will be opened and checked by officers.

It’s not possible to send any other items or property. You can send prisoners money instead which they can use to buy items through a catalogue system.

Life at Stocken

Stocken is committed to providing a safe and educational environment where prisoners can learn new skills to help them on release. It provides purposeful activity to all prisoners, including programmes, education and employment.

There is a proactive community council and dedicated equalities team offering support to prisoners.

Security and safeguarding

Every prisoner at Stocken has a right to feel safe. The staff are responsible for their safeguarding and welfare at all times.

For further information about what to do when you are worried or concerned about someone in prison visit the Prisoners’ Families helpline website .

Support networks are available to prisoners including a listeners scheme and recovery network.

Arrival and first night

When a prisoner first arrives at Stocken, they will be able to contact a family member by phone. This could be quite late in the evening, depending on the time they arrive.

They will get to speak to someone who will check how they’re feeling and ask about any immediate health and wellbeing needs.

They also have access to a small shop in reception, where they can buy essential items to see them through to the first canteen order day.

Each prisoner that arrives at Stocken gets an induction that lasts about a week. They will meet professionals who will help them with:

• health and wellbeing, including mental and sexual health
• any substance misuse issues, including drugs and alcohol
• personal development in custody and on release, including skills, education and training
• other support (sometimes called ‘interventions’), such as managing difficult emotions

Everyone also finds out about the rules, fire safety, and how things like calls and visits work.

Accommodation

Around 1,050 prisoners live at Stocken across the following units:

• F wing: for new prisoners going through induction
• I wing: for prisoners who need support with substance use
• N wing: for prisoners on the highest privilege level, with in-cell phones and additional facilities
• H, K, L and M units: standard units housing between 120 and 200 prisoners each

All units have facilities such as showers and in cell telephones.

Education and work

Prisoners at Stocken can take part in full-time or part-time college courses or employment in workshops.

There are vocational training courses available including:

• bicycle maintenance
• bricklaying

There is a gym where prisoners can also complete courses leading to qualifications.

Workshops include:

• retail and warehousing with DHL

Stocken offers accredited offending behaviour courses along with other psychological services.

There are drug treatment programmes, drug courses and a drug-free wing.

Organisations Stocken works with

Lincolnshire Action Trust helps prisoners and their families maintain healthy relationships.

‘Inclusion’ works with prisoners to help them remain drug and alcohol free both in custody and beyond.

The Royal British Legion and neighbouring barracks help ensure veterans are supported during their time in custody.

Rutland County Council supports Stocken’s bicycle repair workshop by providing bikes from local recycling centres which are then refurbished and donated back to the community.

Family days

We offer 12 family visits days per year, these are available by application through our Lincolnshire Action Trust families team.

Family days are available to everyone, but priority will be given to people who have been at Stocken more than 8 weeks.

Up to 3 adults can visit with the children.

Priority will be given to those who have not had a family visit before.

Support for family and friends

Find out about advice and helplines for family and friends .

To contact the Families and Significant Others Lead email [email protected] .

Support at Stocken

Lincolnshire Action Trust (LAT) provides a children and families service in the visits hall and visitors centre. LAT will see all new visitors for an induction to assess your needs.

They provide family support and activities and games for children.

Concerns, problems and complaints

In an emergency.

Call 01780 795 100 if you think a prisoner is at immediate risk of harm. Ask for the Orderly Officer and explain that your concern is an emergency.

Problems and complaints

If you have any other problem contact Stocken .

Inspection reports

HM Prison and Probation Service publishes action plans for Stocken in response to independent inspections.

Contact Stocken Prison

Governor: Russ Truman

Telephone: 01780 795 100 Monday to Friday, 7am to 8pm Saturday and Sunday, 7am to 5pm Fax: 01780 410 767 Find out about call charges

Follow Stocken on Twitter/X

HMP Stocken Stocken Hall Road Stretton Nr Oakham Rutland LE15 7RD

Updated safer custody information

Updated visiting guidance based on 1 April COVID rule changes

Added link to new safer custody information under Security and safeguarding.

Updated visiting information: Reduced visit schedule and testing for visitors aged 12 and over.

Updated visiting information: Testing for visitors aged 12 and over.

Updated physical contact guidance

New visiting times and booking information added.

Prison moved into National Stage 3 framework and is now preparing to open visits for family, friends and significant others. We will update this page with specific visiting information as soon as possible.

Updated friends and family visiting information in line with national lockdown.

Updated visiting information in line with new local restriction tiers.

Updated visiting information in line with new national restrictions in England.

Updated: HMP Stocken visiting times and visiting procedure changes in line with coronavirus restrictions.

Updated information to include confirmation of secure video calls being available at this prison.

Added survey link

Covid19 update

First published.

Related content

Is this page useful.

• Yes this page is useful
• No this page is not useful

Help us improve GOV.UK

Don’t include personal or financial information like your National Insurance number or credit card details.

To help us improve GOV.UK, we’d like to know more about your visit today. We’ll send you a link to a feedback form. It will take only 2 minutes to fill in. Don’t worry we won’t send you spam or share your email address with anyone.

No products in the basket.

Inside Stocken Prison: A Comprehensive Overview

Welcome to our comprehensive overview of Stocken Prison, a Category C men’s prison located in Rutland, Leicestershire, England. Operated by Her Majesty’s Prison Service, Stocken Prison is responsible for the successful rehabilitation and humane treatment of its inhabitants.

HISTORY OF STOCKEN PRISON

Stocken Prison was opened in 1985 as a purpose-built young offenders institute. Its original intent was to house prisoners serving life sentences. However, by 1988, the prison facilities expanded, evolving its function over the years to accommodate adult inmates following the extending of its roof enhancement in 1990.

PRISON FACILITIES

Stocken Prison unfolds over a considerable area, comprising multiple residential wings named alphabetically from A to J. Each wing is equipped with integral sanitation, in-cell electricity, central heating and adequate ventilation systems. Moreover, prisoners have access to showers, in addition to secured properties storage.

• A to D Wings: Traditional prison cells layout
• E Wing: A mixed provision offering both single and double cells
• F Wing: A drug recovery wing promoting rehabilitation through specialized programs
• G Wing: Houses vulnerable prisoners such as sex offenders
• H Wing: A therapeutic wing focusing on mental health
• I and J Wings: Newer additions, these wings offer modern, single-occupancy cells

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

Stocken Prison advocates the significance of education for inmates. It partners with local colleges, offering various vocational courses encompassing bricklaying, plumbing and painting. For those preferring academics, Stocken Prison provides opportunities for studying maths, English and information technology.

VISITS AND COMMUNICATION

Stocken Prison facilitates its inmates’ involvement with the external world through letters, telephone calls and visits. Visits, in particular, are encouraged, with a well-equipped visitors’ centre and family-friendly visiting times. Rest assured, all interactions are governed by UK prison regulations.

Stocken Prison ensures that inmates’ healthcare needs are adequately met. A robust healthcare provision includes general practitioners, mental health specialists, dentists and optometrists. As per UK laws, all inmates are accorded the same level of medical care accessible to the general public. The healthcare workforce comprises both permanent staff and outside contractors.

REHABILITATION PROGRAMS

Stocken Prison provides a spectrum of rehabilitation programs aiming to reduce reoffending rates. These include courses to address violent tendencies, substance abuse and courses aimed at fostering beneficial thinking skills.

PRISON LIFE

Life at Stocken Prison offers an opportunity for inmates to reflect, rehabilitate and rejuvenate. Aside from security measures replicating UK law standards; prisoners can work, engage in purposeful activity and have access to essential amenities, ensuring their basic human rights are upheld.

FUTURE PLANS

Stocken Prison is currently working on implementing ecologically friendly processes via the Greener Prison’s initiative. This initiative aims at making the prison environment more sustainable while keeping in line with UK environmental laws and regulations.

At Stocken Prison, we aim to provide an environment that promotes change and personal growth. Restorative justice is at the heart of what we do, helping inmates reform and hopefully lead a crime-free life upon release.

What is the cheapest way to call from Prison?

Is it cheaper to call a landline from prison.

Stocken Prison

Tel: 01780 795100 – Stocken Hall Road, Stretton, Rutland LE15 7RD

Built in 1985 as a young offender institution, HMP Stocken opened as a category C closed training prison. It has since expanded with new accommodation being added in 1990, 1997, 1998, 2003, 2008, 2011 which has significantly expanded our roll. In addition, new workshops were built as part of the prisoner accommodation expansion to ensure that Stocken is able to offer purposeful activity to all of the prisoners in our care.

Tel: 01780 795100

Operational capacity: 842 October 2011

Stocken Hall Road, Stretton, Rutland LE15 7RD

Prison Phone have been saving inmates at HMP Stocken money on their calls from the prison to any UK mobile phone since 2013.

We do this by allocating a dedicated and secure local number to your mobile phone, this means when the inmate at Stocken prison calls the new local number we have provided they will be charged at just the local landline rate (around 10p per minute) rather than the standard mobile rate (which is around 40p per minute).

This in turn helps to stretch the inmates PINS phone credit further and reduces the amount you need to send in for them to top up!

Send me Stocken prison details via FREE SMS

Mobile number:

Here’s some facts about Stocken Prison

HMP Stocken is a category C men’s prison in the parish of Stocken, Rutland. Opened in 1985, the prison has capacity to hold 842 male inmates.

All cells have integral sanitation. F wing consists 99 beds in a cellular accommodation (with three double cells). H wing has 130 beds and 10 double cells, for prisoners on induction. I wing consists of 78 beds and 14 double cells, for prisoners undergoing drug recovery. K wing has 130 beds in cellular style accommodation with 10 double cells, including space for the integrated drug treatment system (IDTS). L wing is a 202-bed cellular accommodation with 18 double cells. M wing is a 204 bed cellular accommodation with 20 double cells.

40 prisoners were involved in a scheme in July 2017 called MyBike , which involves restoring bicycles left at the community recycling center. The restored vehicles are then given to people in need of one for free to give people free transportation to and from school, training or work.

To view the latest HMIP inspection report, click here .

Visiting hours are 13:45 – 15:45 on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, and 09:15 – 11:15 on Saturdays and Sundays.

It’s one of the few prisons in the UK to have a ‘flat-pack’ wing, which was put together in modules in 2007.

Johnny Vaughan, the TV and radio presenter, was incarcerated at HMP Stocken.

In the past, the prison has been praised considerably for its ‘mutually respectful relationships between staff and prisoners’.

Prison Phone offers phone tariffs that reduce the costs of calls from this prison by up to 75%! This enables prisoners to get the support and love that they are missing from home, while reducing costs for the inmate. Find out more below.

Recent blogs.

Dartmoor Prison to stay open

Nikki 2021-12-22T15:20:04+00:00 December 29th, 2021 | Categories: feature , Justice System , Law and Order , Law Enforcement , Midweek feature , News discussion , News Roundup , politics , Uncategorized | Tags: category a prison , category b prison , category c prison , dartmoor prison , hmp dartmoor , prison news , prison reform , uk prison service , uk prison system |

A new lease to keep HMP Dartmoor open "beyond [...]

Gartree Prison Expansion Plans Moving Closer

Nikki 2021-12-22T14:43:06+00:00 December 23rd, 2021 | Categories: feature , Guide to all things Prison related , Midweek feature , prison phone , Prison reform scheme 2016 , Specific Prison posts , Uncategorized | Tags: category b prison , council , family support for inmates , Gartree Prison , HMP Gartree , ministry of justice , moj , new prison , prison reform , uk prison service , uk prison system |

The new Prison Programme has now moved one huge [...]

HMP Hull has its own TV show

Nikki 2021-12-06T21:57:16+00:00 December 9th, 2021 | Categories: England and Wales Prisons , feature , Justice System , Law and Order , Midweek feature , prison phone , Specific Prison posts , Uncategorized | Tags: category b prison , education in prison , HMP , hmp hull , hull prison , inmates , prison categories , tv show |

HMP Hull has started their very own TV show, [...]

• The weekly online and monthly printed national newspaper for prisoners and detainees

Search articles and comments

Hmp stocken.

• Inside Time Reports
• 13th December 2014
• East Midlands , Male Cat. C , Prison Visit

Prison information

Address:  Stocken Hall Road Stretton Nr. Oakham Rutland LE15 7RD

Switchboard: 01780 795100 Managed by: HMPPS Region: North Midlands Prison Group Category: Male Cat. C Link to:  https://www.gov.uk/guidance/stocken-prison

Description

Adult male category C

Stocken Prison is a men’s prison near Oakham in Rutland, East Midlands.

Visit Booking: On-line

Use this online service to book a social visit to a prisoner in England or Wales you need the:

• prisoner number
• prisoner’s date of birth
• dates of birth for all visitors coming with you

The prisoner must add you to their visitor list before you can book a visit.

You’ll get an email confirming your visit. It takes 1 to 3 days.

ID: Every visit Children’s Visits:  Annual programme of family days

Acceptable forms of ID

Search reports

IMB Reports

Prison Inspectorates Reports

Probation Service Reports

Prisons and Probations Ombudsman

Search the InsideTime library

Related posts

Prisoners sentenced for rioting, hmp hindley to expand by 500 places, sixty billion pound question, prison expansion sites identified, prisons: the good, the bad and the ugly, gartree set for expansion, two jails holding 3,430 men planned for essex, summer 2021 bromley briefing, inside chess, something missing or outdated.

If you have any information that you would like to be included or see anything that needs updating, contact Gary Bultitude at  [email protected]

Share this on:

You might also enjoy...

• Category C - NEW
• Male Cat. C
• 24th January 2017

HMYOI WARREN HILL

• 4th January 2015

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Conditions of acceptance of website comments

• Skip to main content
• Access keys help

• Legal casework
• Publications

Prisons · Rutland

Overcrowding.

Certified Normal Accommodation (CNA): 964

Population: 1055

Stocken is a category C training prison near Oakham in Rutland. A succession of building projects have seen the prison’s capacity double since its opening in 1985.

Read Stocken’s latest inspection report here.

About this information

Certified Normal Accommodation (CNA) is the prison service’s own measure of how many prisoners can be held in decent and safe accommodation. Any occupancy above CNA means that the prison in question is overcrowded.

Prisons in England and Wales fall into four separate security categories. Some prisons can operate under more than one category.

Category A : Category A prisons are high security prisons, holding those individuals considered the most threatening to the public should they escape. Category A prisons should not be overcrowded, given the high levels of security required.

Category B: Category B prisons, or local prisons, are the largest category of prison. They tend to hold un-sentenced prisoners, prisoners on remand awaiting trial, short-sentenced prisoners or those newly sentenced and awaiting transfer to another prison category. Category B prisons tend to be the most overcrowded, with a constantly churning population.

Category C: Category C prisons are sometimes called ‘training prisons’. They are meant to offer education and training to prisoners and the vast majority of prisoners on longer sentences will spend time in Category C accommodation. Historically not overcrowded, we now see more and more Category C prisons running overcrowded regimes.

Category D: Category D prisons offer open conditions and house those who can be reasonably trusted not to try to escape. Prisoners in Category D prisons will be given Release On Temporary Licence (ROTL) to work in the community or go on home leave, usually returning to the prison in the early evening. The majority of Category D prisoners will be towards the end of their sentence, and their period in open conditions is preparing them for their eventual release. Category D prisons tend not to be overcrowded.

Tagged with

• inspection reports
• overcrowding
• prison watch

Join the Howard League

We are the world's oldest prison charity, bringing people together to advocate for change.

Support our work

We safeguard our independence and do not accept any funding from government.

Prison Fellowship

Prison Visit

Sharing about your experience is a wonderful way to extend the blessing of your visit to your family and friends who have not visited prison..

While we must be careful not to share details (like full names and charges of incarcerated people), it is perfectly fine to share your personal experiences and impressions. Your visit may encourage others to “remember those in prison” as well. What stories, lessons, or observations do you want to share and with whom? If you’re willing to share about your visit with Prison Fellowship for the benefit of others more broadly, please submit your story below.

JOIN OUR ONLINE COMMUNITY

Recommended links.

• Ways to Donate
• Inspirational Stories
• Angel Tree Program
• Prison Fellowship Academy
• Justice Reform
• For Families & Friends of Prisoners
• For Churches & Angel Tree Volunteers
• Warden Exchange

JOIN RESTORATION PARTNERS AND WITNESS GOD RESTORE LIVES

Restoration Partners give monthly to bring life-changing prison ministry programs to incarcerated men and women across the country.

Jails around Wisconsin forgo in-person visits for video calls. How is this affecting those incarcerated?

HOBART – From her dining room table on an evening in February, Stacie Bryant logged onto her tablet to see her son for the first time in nearly four weeks.

Tyler Bryant, 23, is currently serving 90 days at Oconto County Jail for violating his probation.

Holding Tyler's 15-month-old son, Milo, Stacie Bryant gave her son a smile and asked how he was doing. Tyler filled her in on his schedule, recent happenings and when he would get clippers to shave his facial hair.

"I missed seeing him," Stacie Bryant said after the video call. "He was coming over here almost every day."

Virtual visitation, for many families of people in jail, is a helpful tool for its flexibility and accessibility. But as it is becoming commonplace, more and more jails in Wisconsin are making video visits the only option, entirely eliminating traditional in-person visits.

The Post-Crescent contacted every jail in the state to gather information about their visitation policies. An analysis of the data found 46 out of the state's 72 jails — about 64% — have no option for people to do visits with friends and family in person, instead only offering contact through a video screen. And more jail administrators plan to follow this trend, with many stating that the pandemic expedited their decision to go all-virtual.

While video visitation has its benefits, formerly incarcerated people, experts and people who have visited friends and family in jail say the inability to be within physical proximity of loved ones takes a toll on mental health.

The American Bar Association's standards state that video visitation should not be a replacement for in-person visits with people confined for more than 30 days — around the average length of stay in a county jail.

But depending on court proceedings, people can be held in jail for years. In Brown County Jail, the longest stay of a recent prisoner was close to seven years — from May 2016 to February 2023, according to Brown County Jail Administrator Heidi Michel.

And unlike in prisons, most people in jail are there for a crime for which they have not been convicted.

Jennifer Verderami, a housing advocate with ESTHER , an interfaith social justice organization that is the Fox Valley affiliate of WISDOM , said it's more challenging to assess the emotions of a person through a video screen than when sitting across from them — even through a glass partition.

Her first experience with video visits was when the pandemic struck while she was incarcerated at Robert E. Ellsworth Correctional Center, a minimum-security women's prison in Racine County.

“There's a different quality even when there's a partition separating you, knowing there's only inches between you and your loved one," she said.

Video visits lack physical support, formerly incarcerated people say

Visitation is extremely important for the mental health of people who are incarcerated, particularly those serving lengthy sentences. According to the DOC's website , "research shows maintaining strong family ties can have a positive impact on an offender's success in completing treatment and other programs during incarceration, as well as their chances for success after they are released."

In-person contact visitation, where incarcerated people are allowed to talk to, play games with and hug their loved ones is offered in most of Wisconsin's prisons. But in county jails, where state statutes include fewer guidelines for how visitation should take place, non-contact visits are the norm, either behind a glass partition or by video.

Still, people who have been on both ends say there is a difference between a visit through a glass divider and a visit through a computer screen.

"You can sense the proximity. On a video screen, that does not exist," said Roy Rogers, who was incarcerated for 28 years until his parole in 2021.

Since his release, Rogers has become an advocate for jail and prison reform, working as a pre-entry liaison for The Community and serving on the board of directors for the Wisconsin Justice Initiative .

"With the divider behind a window thing, at least you can see the full human expression — you know, the nuances of emotion that you cannot catch through a video visit," he said.

Wanda Bertram, a communication strategist at the Prison Policy Initiative , a national nonprofit criminal justice think tank, said it's also harder for loved ones to assess the health and well-being of a prisoner through a video screen, as opposed to sitting a few feet away.

"Families have found that this really diminishes the quality of connection that they're able to get," she said.

A spokesperson for the company that owns Securus Technologies , the video visitation system used at Brown County Jail and a dozen other Wisconsin jails, said the video service "acts as a supplement for in person-visits" but is not intended to replace them.

Despite this, most jails in Wisconsin that have eliminated in-person visiting options have no plans to bring that option back, various county jail administrators said.

Meanwhile, some jails around the country have entirely eliminated the infrastructure needed for in-person jail visits after adding video visits. In Brown County, for example, Michel said the jail switched to all-virtual visits because there were no in-person visitation booths included in a jail renovation project.

Video visits can be expensive and low quality

Wisconsin jails offer video visits free to people who use the jail's on-site video kiosks. But those who choose to visit through a remote device are charged a fee.

Prices differ based on what company the jail contracts with. For example, remote visits with jails that use Securus range from $5.95 to $12.95 for a 20-minute remote visit, according to the spokesperson for Aventiv, the parent company of Securus. In Brown County Jail, visits are on the lowest end of that price range. Other telecommunications companies charge by the minute. In Outagamie County Jail, which uses ViaPath Technologies , a remote video visit costs 25 cents a minute.

Tyler Bryant served time at both Brown County Jail and Oconto County Jail. The Bryants said the two jails' visitation services were a night-and-day difference.

The first time Tyler's girlfriend used Brown County Jail's free on-site video kiosks to visit Tyler, she had issues logging on and could not find anyone around to help her.

When she came back to try again another day, she was able to get the video to work, but the quality on both ends was poor, Tyler Bryant said.

"That sucks. You can't even see the background — like, it's all pixelated," he said. "They completely blur everything out, unless you're two inches away, and then you can see like half of the face."

That was with Securus. Video visits at Oconto County Jail, which uses the company CIDNET , were much clearer, Stacie Bryant said.

Securus and CIDNET are the two most widely utilized video visitation systems in Wisconsin's jails. A handful of others systems are also common, including ViaPath, the system in place at Outagamie County Jail.

Autumn Cross, a Combined Locks resident who visited a friend in Outagamie County Jail about once a week for three months before he went to prison, said the remote video calls she did often had blurry video, delayed audio and unreliable connection.

"Video visits always have a lot of the connection issues where you can't hear them, or they can't hear you," Cross said. "It's not always guaranteed that you're going to have your video visit, because you can get disconnected and then sometimes you're not able to call back."

For Verderami, who served nearly five years in prison before her release last year, video visitation was free, due to the pandemic. But the visits were emotionally challenging, particularly those with her teenage son or her grandchildren.

"It actually got to the point where I didn't want to even do the video visits anymore because it made me so sad," she said.

Verderami said if video visits were not free and her only access to video visits was by paying, she would not have had any visits during that time.

Proponents say virtual jail visitation offers flexibility and savings for families

Many jails that only offer virtual visitation point to its benefits, like the flexibility to visit from home and increased opportunities for visits.

Outagamie County Jail switched to virtual visitation in 2020 and never went back. Jail Administrator Dave Kiesner said the jail had already been planning to transition to video visits only, but the pandemic expedited that process.

People in jail "have much more ability to see and talk to people now with this new system than they've had before," Kiesner said. "When we had in-house visits, it was just twice a week. ... It was like on a Tuesday at 10 o'clock and maybe a Saturday at 4 o'clock, and that was only time you could come visit. Now you can set up for whatever works for you at home."

Many county jails in the state also say video visits reduce the risk of contraband getting into the jail. However, it's not clear if there is data to back this up. Kiesner said Outagamie County Jail does not track contraband incidents specifically tied to visitation.

Michel, the administrator at Brown County Jail, said video visitation is beneficial for people who live too far to regularly visit with loved ones. By paying $7.50 for a 20-minute visit from home, they can save money on gas and time.

But for about a quarter of Wisconsin's jails, it doesn't need to be one or the other.

Lt. Brad McCoy of the Waushara County Sheriff's Office said that when Waushara County Jail added a video visit option in 2023, it did not eliminate its in-person option. McCoy said he does not think a video call has the same impact on a prisoner's mental health as actually seeing a loved one in-person — even behind a glass partition.

"I still see benefits in having in-person visits," he said.

And 16 other Wisconsin jails, including Madison's Dane County Jail, offer both types of visitation.

"We still like to do the in-person, because it’s in-person. It’s different than looking through a camera at someone," said Lt. Gary Vandivier of the Dane County Sheriff's Office.

Jails sometimes have incentives to eliminate in-person visiting options

The Prison Policy Initiative has published multiple studies about telecommunications-related issues in jails and prisons across the country. Betram said their research found that jails have financial motivations to eliminate in-person visitation.

For one, video visitation requires fewer staff members to supervise, a major benefit for jails with a shortage of staff.

Additionally, Bertram said that in many contracts between video providers and jails, the county receives either a lump sum payment or a percentage of the total revenue from video calls.

Both Brown County Jail and Outagamie County Jail receive a commission from telecommunications services. However, Michel said that in Brown County, none of the profit made off of video visitation goes to the county; it goes into an "inmate welfare account," which is used to fund items and programs for people in jail, like new mattresses or the county's canteen ministry program.

"This is not a product that jails and prisons have necessarily gone hunting for. It's something that the companies, which tend to already have relationships with jails and prisons by providing phone calls or other services like that, will advertise pretty aggressively," Bertram said.

Bertram said some of these contracts have in the past stipulated that county jails must eliminate or restrict the in-person visiting option. She said she has seen those stipulations less often in recent years. Neither Brown County Jail's nor Outagamie County Jail's most recent contracts give requirements for jails on in-person visits.

According to a 2015 report from the Prison Policy Initiative , Securus was the only company of those studied that explicitly required jails to stop offering an in-person visitation option. But the spokesperson for Aventiv, the parent company of Securus, told the Post-Crescent that Securus "never impose(s) any prohibition on in-person visits."

No other telecommunications companies in Wisconsin jails — including ViaPath, CIDNET, ICSolutions , Reliance Telephone or Turnkey Corrections — responded to questions about their contracts' visitation guidelines.

The transition to video visits as the norm is a fairly recent shift in Wisconsin; most county jails began implementing the new technology just in the last few years. Four in the state, however — including Milwaukee County Jail — stopped video visit services as early as 2003 and 2004.

Rogers said he believes the transition to video visitation in jails is another step of what he sees as decreasing outside contact in Wisconsin's jails and prisons in recent years.

As another example, he pointed to the Department of Correction's switch in 2021 to providing people in prison with photocopies of mail rather than the original papers — a move intended to decrease drugs sneaking into prisons.

"The smell and the scent of the envelope to come from moms or a girlfriend, they'll never be able to smell that anymore, you know? Just to see, your kid drew this picture, and you know, it's smelling like jelly, or those Jolly Ranchers that he likes, you know, and some of that got on the envelope or the letter. You'll never be able to experience that again in Wisconsin (prisons)," he said.

For people in jails and prisons, Rogers said, any connection to their support system is essential for rehabilitation and a future reintegration into society. He said he worries about a total shift to video visits in jails.

"When you're in a county jail, for the most part, if you turn out to not be found innocent of what you've been held for, the last memory you will have of touching and holding your loved one will be that moment before you were arrested," he said. "And, like, even though you're sitting in that county jail and you're innocent until you're proven guilty, you've already been deprived of your human relationship, and you have not been convicted of a crime."

Green Bay Press-Gazette reporter Danielle DuClos contributed to this report.

Kelli Arseneau can be reached at 920-213-3721 or  [email protected] . Follow her on X at  @ArseneauKelli .

Advertisement

Supported by

Parents of Michigan School Shooter Sentenced to 10 to 15 Years in Prison

Jennifer and James Crumbley, whose son killed four people, each faced up to 15 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter convictions.

• Share full article

By Jacey Fortin and Anna Betts

Jennifer and James Crumbley, who were convicted of involuntary manslaughter for failing to prevent their teenage son from killing four fellow students in the deadliest school shooting in Michigan’s history, were each sentenced on Tuesday to 10 to 15 years in prison.

Their separate jury trials ended in guilty verdicts in February and March , making them the first parents in the country to be convicted over the deaths caused by their child in a mass shooting.

Involuntary manslaughter charges carry a penalty in Michigan of up to 15 years in prison, and prosecutors asked in sentencing memos filed to the court last week that the Crumbleys each serve at least 10 years. Both have been in jail for more than two years while awaiting trial and will receive credit for time served.

“Parents are not expected to be psychic,” Judge Cheryl Matthews of the Oakland County Circuit Court in Pontiac, Mich., said before issuing the sentence. “But these convictions are not about poor parenting. These convictions confirm repeated acts or lack of acts that could have halted an oncoming runaway train — repeatedly ignoring things that would make a reasonable person feel the hair on the back of her neck stand up.”

Before the hearing, prosecutors said that Ms. Crumbley, 46, was asking to be sentenced to house arrest on her defense lawyer’s property, rather than serving prison time. And Mr. Crumbley, 47, said that he had been wrongly convicted and his sentence should amount to the time he had already served in prison, adding that he felt “absolutely horrible” about what had happened.

On Tuesday, each of them spoke in the hearing before the judge pronounced sentence.

“I stand today not to ask for your forgiveness, as I know it may be beyond reach, but to express my sincerest apologies for the pain that has been caused,” Ms. Crumbley said in court, addressing the relatives of students who were killed.

Mr. Crumbley also apologized. “I cannot express how much I wish that I had known what was going on with him or what was going to happen, because I absolutely would have done a lot of things differently,” he said.

Relatives of some of the victims also spoke during the hearing, describing the overwhelming effects the shooting had on their lives.

“The ripple effects of both James’s and Jennifer’s failures to act have devastated us all,” said Jill Soave, the mother of Justin Shilling, 17, who was killed in the shooting at Oxford High School on Nov. 30, 2021. “This tragedy was completely preventable. If only they had done something, your honor, anything, to shift the course events on Nov. 30, then our four angels would be here today.”

Steve St. Juliana, whose daughter, Hana, 14, was killed, said that the Crumbleys continued to fail to take responsibility for what had happened.

“They chose to stay quiet,” he said. “They chose to ignore the warning signs. And now, as we’ve heard through all of the objections, they continue to choose to blame everyone but themselves.”

The Crumbleys’ son, Ethan, was 15 when he carried out the shooting that killed Justin and Hana, as well as Madisyn Baldwin, 17, and Tate Myre, 16. Seven others were injured. Ethan Crumbley pleaded guilty to 24 charges, including first-degree murder, and was sentenced last year to life in prison without parole . He is still eligible to appeal that decision. His parents may appeal, too.

In the trials of both parents, prosecutors focused in part on their failure to remove their son from school after he made a violent drawing on the morning of the shooting. It included a written plea for help.

They also emphasized Ethan’s access to a handgun that Mr. Crumbley had purchased. And they said that Ms. Crumbley had missed signs that her son was struggling with his mental health, adding that she took him to a gun range just days before the shooting.

Defense lawyers for both parents said they could not have foreseen the unspeakable violence their son would commit.

Ms. Crumbley grew up in Clarkston, a Detroit suburb about 20 minutes from Oxford, her lawyer said during a hearing after the couple’s arrest in 2021 . Before her arrest, she had worked as a marketing director, her lawyer said.

Mr. Crumbley’s job history included work at a handful of small software and technology companies.

The couple once lived in Florida but returned to Michigan several years ago, their lawyers said. They bought their home near downtown Oxford in 2015.

The trials of Jennifer and James Crumbley became a lightning rod for issues of parental responsibility at a time of high-profile gun violence by minors. In recent months, parents in other states have pleaded guilty to charges of reckless conduct or neglect after their children injured or killed others with guns.

But the manslaughter charges against the Crumbleys were unique, and legal experts said their trials could serve as a playbook for other prosecutors who seek to hold parents accountable in the future.

Ekow Yankah, a professor at the University of Michigan Law School, said the effect of the ruling on Tuesday might be felt beyond the state.

“This is going to be precedent, most obviously in Michigan and its home jurisdiction, but prosecutors all over the country will see this as a new and viable form of liability,” Mr. Yankah said. “I think we should not underestimate the precedential power of this case, even as we recognize that the facts were quite extraordinary.”

For Matthew Schneider, a former United States attorney in Michigan, what makes this case so different from many others is that most criminal sentences are related to the actions of a defendant, rather than being “about inactions, and how the inactions of a person result in a criminal sentence.”

The sentencing is “very much about making an example of the defendants,” Mr. Schneider said. “This is a shot across the bow to all parents, to all people who have firearms in their house, to keep them locked up, if they could be in the hands of the wrong people.”

Jacey Fortin covers a wide range of subjects for the National desk of The Times, including extreme weather, court cases and state politics all across the country. More about Jacey Fortin

Anna Betts reports on national events, including politics, education, and natural or man-made disasters, among other things. More about Anna Betts

• CDCR Facebook (opens new window)
• CDCR Twitter (opens new window)
• YouTube (opens new window)
• Instagram (opens new window)

Week in Review

Week in Review: April 19, 2024

In this Week in Review for April 19, 2024, Division of Adult Parole Operations Ukiah holds Parolee and Community Team meeting, High Desert State Prison and Centinela State Prison celebrate Integrated Substance Use Disorder Treatment graduates, and California State Prison, Corcoran, hosts Health & Wellness Fair.

PVSP Correctional Officer adopts program pup

Pleasant Valley State Prison (PVSP) Correctional Officer Chase Stringer recently adopted “Nacho” from the Second Chance K-9 dog program at PVSP.

PVSP currently works hand in hand with Gimme Love shelter in Coalinga and Wiley’s Wish Animal Rescue .

Officer Stringer plays a huge role in the program at PVSP. 

CDCR Unlocked

CDCR Field Training Sergeants and the Job Shadowing Program Pt.1

This episode features new position for CDCR: a Field Training Sergeant (FTS) and the Job Shadowing Program (JSP). On this episode, three staff members from California Health Care Facility (CHCF): Sergeant William “Billy” Bartow who is the field training sergeant and runs the program at CHCF; Officer Strickland, who helps teach and mentor new staff on how to do the job; and Officer Chacon, who participated in the program and is nearing his one-year mark after graduating the Correctional Basic Academy. This episode discusses how this job shadowing program is changing how new officers learn their institutions and the learning process within the JSP.

Visit RSS.com to listen to the podcast.

Recruitment

HDSP Recruiters attend Lassen Career Opportunities workshop

Recruiters from High Desert State Prison attended the second annual Lassen Career Opportunities workshop located at Lassen High School.

This event focused on soon to be graduating seniors from Lassen High School as well as surrounding area High Schools. Recruiters provided information to interested students for custody and non-custody positions within CDCR.

Many students were surprised to know, upon being 18 years of age and graduating from High School they could obtain a job with the state.

Upward Mobility

Jason Schultz has been assigned as acting Warden at California State Prison Solano. Thomas Tyler has been assigned as Chief Deputy Warden at California Health Care Facility.

Division of Adult Parole Operations

DAPO Ukiah holds PACT meeting

Division of Adult Parole Operations (DAPO) Ukiah Parole Unit Parolee and Community Team (PACT) held a meeting on April 10. Newly released Parolees along with Community Resource members from Ukiah attended. Resource representatives in attendance included:

• Child Support Services
• Department of Rehabilitation
• Career Point
• GEO Reentry
• MCAVHN House
• and A Space Alano Club with Alcoholics Anonymous/Narcotics Anonymous.

The PACT meetings assist parolees in providing the necessary resources to achieve a successful reintegration into our communities.

Resource representatives provide a brief presentation at the beginning of the meeting. These include an overview of their program and what they offer to meet the needs of people on parole supervision.

Rehabilitation

79 honored at Centinela CBI Graduation

Centinela State Prison and the Division of Rehabilitative Programs partnered with Phoenix House California to congratulate 79 Cognitive Behavioral Interventions (CBI) graduates. The Integrated Substance Use Disorder Treatment (ISUDT) participants completed CBI-Outpatient or CBI-Life Skills in the last six months.

Several guest speakers offered words of encouragement, recognizing the graduates’ hard work and dedication. An OMCP mentor (intern) shared personal stories of transformation and highlighted how ISUDT’s teachings have positively impacted their daily lives and relationships.

HDSP celebrates ISUDT graduates

High Desert State Prison celebrated 32 Cognitive Behavioral Interventions graduates of the ISUDT program. Several guest speakers presented speeches explaining how they were in denial about their disease, but now for the first time they look forward to sober living. Warden Rob St. Andre provided words of encouragement to all graduates.

In Our Institutions

Corcoran health & wellness fair.

California State Prison, Corcoran, hosted a Health & Wellness Fair on April 11.

CTF hosts spelling bee

Correctional Training Facility hosted a spelling bee competition in the gymnasium for the incarcerated population. Approximately 47 members of the population participated in this event. Education staff and a Correctional Sergeant assisted in the event, acting as judges.

In the Media

At san quentin, training puppies to be service dogs an act of learning, redemption.

The sky is gray over California’s most notorious prison. Rain threatens. In the West Block Yard of San Quentin, a dozen inmates focus on their dogs.

Chase Benoit and Travis Fendley are working with Wendel, a black Labrador.

Benoit, who has put in seven years at “The Q,” part of his 16 years to life sentence, walks forward about 25 paces, turns and calls out: “Wendel, here, here.”

Visit The Press Democrat to read the full story.

Inmates at Soledad Correctional Training Facility graduate with job certification certificates

On Tuesday afternoon, KION got a rare look at a program that is changing the lives of inmates at Soledad Correctional Training Facility.

The California Prison Industry Authority (CALPIA) held a ceremony for nearly 100 inmates who earned recognized job certifications or apprenticeships.

“I am never coming back to this place,” Timothy Jackson who graduated from the program said. “It’s, significantly important because, you know, like, I think the perspective of our rehabilitation sometimes is just misunderstood.”

Visit Kion 46 to read the full story.

Top Inside CDCR Stories

CDCR launches Condemned Inmate Transfer Program

Week in Review: April 5, 2024

CCWF incarcerated firefighter warns of DUI dangers

Pelican Bay hosts first promotion ceremony

Week in Review: April 12, 2024

For media inquiries, e-mail the Office of Public & Employee Communications.

Read more Week in Review stories on Inside CDCR.

Follow CDCR on  YouTube ,  Facebook ,  X (formerly Twitter) . Listen to the CDCR Unlocked podcast .

Week in Review archive

In this Week in Review for April 19, 2024, Division of Adult Parole Operations, Ukiah holds Parolee and Community Team meeting, High Desert State Prison and Centinela State Prison celebrate Integrated Substance Use Disorder Treatment graduates, and California State Prison, Corcoran hosts Health & Wellness Fair.

In this Week in Review for April 12, 2024, Crest Sacramento screens “The 50” film, CDCR observes Autism Acceptance Month, and Pelican Bay State Prison sell Guitars of Hope.

In this Week in Review for April 5, 2024, HDSP attends Lassen County job fair, WSP Alarm Response drill, and OMCP art show at Solano.

Week in Review: March 29, 2024

In this Week in Review for March 29, 2024, SCC Northern Camp donates to local community, FCRP LA participants share success, and City of Chino’s 2024 Salute to Public Safety Awards.

Week in Review: March 22, 2024

In this Week in Review for March 22, 2024, we see how DAPO is Making a Difference, a CCJBH intern finished a big project; and CALPIA sees 52 earn job certifications.

Week in Review: March 15, 2024

In this Week in Review for March 15, 2024, Female Community Reentry Program (FCRP), Stockton participant graduates college, CCJBH Full Council Meeting, and 230 correctional officers join CDCR.

HMP Stocken, Basic Details

Built in 1985 as a young offender institution, HMP Stocken opened as a category C closed training prison. It has since expanded with new accommodation being added in 1990, 1997, 1998, 2003, 2008, 2011 which has significantly expanded its roll. New workshops have been built as part of the prisoner accommodation expansion to ensure that Stocken is able to offer purposeful activity to all of the prisoners in its care. The prison is run by HMPS and the #1 governor is Russ Truman, in post since September 2022 The prison is part of the East Midlands Group.

Since its opening in 1985, with an operational capacity of 320, the prison has had several expansions, with new house blocks opening in 1990, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2007 ,2008, 2011 and 2019 which have increased its capacity to 1071. New workshops, including painting and decorating, bricks, Travis Perkins and a laundry, were built as part of the prisoner accommodation expansion.

In June 2015 there was a riot at Stocken, and part of the fabric of the prison was severely damaged. Riot at HMP Stocken 14/6/15 .

The accommodation is set out as:

• B, D and E wings: each comprised 66-bed single cellular accommodation with integral sanitation;
• G wing: 40-bed modular room accommodation for prisoners on the enhanced regime, with integral sanitation;
• H wing: 130-bed cellular accommodation with integral sanitation (five cells were doubles) for prisoners serving indeterminate sentences;
• I wing: 80-bed cellular accommodation with integral sanitation (eight rooms were doubles);
• J wing: 39-bed modular room accommodation; there was no integral sanitation but prisoners have 24-hour access to central bathroom facilities;
• K wing: 130-bed cellular accommodation with integral sanitation (five cells were doubles) including space for the integrated drug treatment system (IDTS);
• L wing: 180-bed cellular accommodation with integral sanitation (20 cells were doubles) for prisoners on induction and on the enhanced regime;
• M wing: 180-bed cellular accommodation with integral sanitation (20 cells were doubles).

The number of prisoner held can be as high as 1071

Return to Stocken

Share this:

Judge locks up 'Three Percenter' militia members in Jan. 6 obstruction case

WASHINGTON — Four California men who were associated with the "Three Percenter" militia group and convicted in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol attack were taken into custody Friday after a judge ordered them to serve sentences ranging from 21 to 33 months in federal prison, far below what the government had requested.

Erik Scott Warner, Felipe Antonio Martinez, Derek Kinnison and Ronald Mele were all  found guilty  of felony obstruction of an official proceeding and other charges after a trial last year. One of their co-defendants, former California police chief Alan Hostetter, was sentenced to more than 11 years in federal prison in December. The trials featured testimony from co-defendant  Russell Taylor , who pleaded guilty as part of a plea deal with the government.

The felony charge they were convicted of — obstruction of an official proceeding — is currently before the Supreme Court , where some of the justices seemed skeptical of the way the government had used the charge. A decision in that case is expected in the coming months. If the Supreme Court guts the charge, two of the defendants could end up only serving 12 months in prison on their misdemeanor convictions.

The men communicated over a "The California Patriots — DC Brigade" Telegram chat and brought weapons on their trip to Washington to participate in Jan. 6, according to evidence shown at trial. They kept a shotgun in their car, and Kinnison and Mele claimed they stored five handguns in their hotel room "despite understanding that it was illegal," the government said. “We’re packing light just a scatter gun and a pistol a piece," Martinez joked, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors had sought lengthy sentences for the foursome between 6.5 and eight years in federal prison, but Judge Royce Lamberth landed on much lower sentences within the guidelines range.

Warner received 27 months after telling Lamberth that he "got caught up" in the mob and was sorry for his conduct. "I shouldn't have been there," he said, apologizing to his family for putting them "through hell."

Martinez received 21 months in prison after he said he was "very sorry" and apologized for his conduct, telling Lamberth that he would "never see me back here."

Kinnison was sentenced to 33 months in prison. He spoke about his love of God, family and country and said he admired the "Judeo-Christian principles that the country was founded upon." He said that he did repent for his sins and ask forgiveness for his sins and that he was praying for Lamberth and the prosecutors on the case.

Mele was also sentenced to 33 months. Prosecutors said he "awarded" his co-conspirators a "Capitol Action Badge" a few weeks after Jan. 6, which prosecutors described as a "crudely modified version of a real military reward." He said Jan. 6 "gave this country a black eye" that was still tender. Mele said he had pulled himself away from politics and that the experience of going through trial and seeing videos of some of the horrific violence at the Capitol had "opened my eyes." He said that he didn't condone what happened, calling it "asinine."

The government had sought eight years in prison for all the defendants except for Martinez, who they said should serve six and a half years.

The stakes, Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Mariano argued, could not be much higher, and the defendants here were in a “rare class” of Jan. 6 defendants who “worked together and had a plan” and were convicted in a criminal conspiracy. They came to Washington with “everything a soldier going into battle needs,” he noted.

"We are 262 days away from Jan. 6, 2025," Mariano said Friday, arguing that the sentence imposed "needs to consider January 6, 2025, 2029, 2033, and so on."

More than 1,387 people have been charged in connection with the Capitol attack, with more than 984 defendants having been convicted. Of the more than 859 defendants who have been sentenced, more than 520 have been sentenced to periods of incarceration of a few days behind bars to  22 years in federal prison .

The overwhelming majority of Jan. 6 defendants in custody either admitted to their criminal conduct or were found guilty at trial; only about 15 defendants in pretrial custody .

CORRECTION  (April 20, 2024, 4:01 p.m.) A previous version of this story misstated the number of men associated with the “Three Percenter” militia group who were taken into custody. It was four, not three.

Ryan J. Reilly is a justice reporter for NBC News.

• Election 2024
• Entertainment
• Newsletters
• Photography
• Personal Finance
• AP Investigations
• AP Buyline Personal Finance
• AP Buyline Shopping
• Press Releases
• Israel-Hamas War
• Russia-Ukraine War
• Global elections
• Asia Pacific
• Latin America
• Middle East
• Election Results
• Delegate Tracker
• AP & Elections
• Auto Racing
• 2024 Paris Olympic Games
• Movie reviews
• Book reviews
• Personal finance
• Financial Markets
• Business Highlights
• Financial wellness
• Artificial Intelligence
• Social Media

Librarians fear new penalties, even prison, as activists challenge books

Tom Bober, librarian and President of the Missouri Association of School Librarians, poses for a photo Wednesday, March 20, 2024, in Clayton, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

• Copy Link copied

When an illustrated edition of Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” was released in 2019, educators in Clayton, Missouri needed little debate before deciding to keep copies in high school libraries. The book is widely regarded as a classic work of dystopian literature about the oppression of women, and a graphic novel would help it reach teens who struggle with words alone.

But after Missouri legislators passed a law in 2022 subjecting librarians to fines and possible imprisonment for allowing sexually explicit materials on bookshelves, the suburban St. Louis district reconsidered the new Atwood edition, and withdrew it.

“There’s a depiction of a rape scene, a handmaid being forced into a sexual act,” says Tom Bober, Clayton district’s library coordinator and president of the Missouri Association of School Librarians. “It’s literally one panel of the graphic novel, but we felt it was in violation of the law in Missouri.”

Across the country, book challenges and bans have soared to the highest levels in decades. Public and school-based libraries have been inundated with complaints from community members and conservative organizations such as as Moms for Liberty. Increasingly, lawmakers are considering new punishments — crippling lawsuits, hefty fines, and even imprisonment — for distributing books some regard as inappropriate.

The trend comes as officials seek to define terms such as “obscene” and “harmful.” Many of the conflicts involve materials featuring racial and/or LGBTQ+ themes, such as Toni Morrison’s novel, “The Bluest Eye,” and Maia Kobabe’s memoir, “Gender Queer.” And while no librarian or educator has been jailed, the threat alone has led to more self-censorship.

Already this year, lawmakers in more than 15 states have introduced bills to impose harsh penalties on libraries or librarians.

Utah enacted legislation in March that empowers the state’s Attorney General to enforce a new system of challenging and removing “sensitive” books from school settings. The law also creates a panel to monitor compliance and violations.

Awaiting Idaho Gov. Brad Little’s signature is a bill that empowers local prosecutors to bring charges against public and school libraries if they don’t move “harmful” materials away from children.

“The laws are designed to limit or remove legal protections that libraries have had for decades,” says Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom.

Since the early 1960s, institutions including schools, libraries and museums — as well as educators, librarians and other staffers who distribute materials to children — have largely been exempt from expensive lawsuits or potential criminal charges.

These protections began showing up in states as America grappled with standards surrounding obscenity, which was defined by the Supreme Court in 1973.

Ruling 5-4 in Miller v. California, the justices said obscene materials are not automatically protected by the First Amendment, and offered three criteria that must be met for being labeled obscene: whether the work, taken as a whole, appeals to “prurient interest,” whether “the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law,” and whether the work lacks “serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.”

Eventually, almost every state adopted protections for educators, librarians and museum officials, among others who provide information to minors.

“Until recently, police and prosecutors were unable to pursue charges against public libraries over materials that make certain individuals uncomfortable. These exemptions have prevented spurious prosecutions of teachers over health and sexuality curriculum, art, theater, and difficult subjects in English classes,” stated a 2023 report from EveryLibrary, a national political action committee that opposes censorship.

Arkansas and Indiana targeted educators and librarians with criminalization laws last year. Tennessee criminalized publishers that provide “obscene” materials to public schools.

Some Republicans are seeking penalties and restrictions that would apply nationwide. Referring to “pornography” in the foreword to Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s blueprint for a possible second Donald Trump administration, the right-wing group’s president, Kevin Roberts, wrote that the “people who produce and distribute it should be imprisoned. Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders.”

Arkansas’ version was temporarily blocked by a federal judge after a coalition of librarians and publishers challenged the legality of subjecting librarians and booksellers to criminal charges if they provide “harmful” materials to minors.

Indiana lawmakers stripped away “educational purposes” as a defense for school librarians and educators charged with giving minors “obscene” or “harmful” material — felonies punishable by up to 2½ years in jail and $10,000 in fines. The law also requires public catalogs of what’s in each school library and systems for responding to complaints.

Indiana’s law took effect January 1. It’s likely a matter of when — not if — a lawsuit is filed, and the anxiety has created a chilling effect.

“It’s putting fear into some people. It’s very scary,” said Diane Rogers, a school librarian who serves as president of the Indiana Library Federation. “If you’re a licensed teacher just being charged with a felony potentially gets rid of your license even if you’re found innocent. That’s a very serious thing.”

Rogers said she’s confident Indiana’s school libraries don’t offer obscene materials, but she’s seen reports that some districts have moved certain titles to higher age groups or required parental approval to check them out.

A PEN America list shows 300 titles were removed from school libraries across 11 Missouri districts after lawmakers in 2022 banned “sexually explicit” material, punishable by up to a year in jail or a $2,000 fine. The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri and library groups challenged the law last year, but it remains in effect pending a motion for the state to intervene.

“Gender Queer” is another title no longer available to high schoolers in Clayton, where district officials recently turned their attention to Mike Curato’s graphic novel, “Flamer,” about a teenager who struggles with his sexual identity and how to fit in at Boy Scout camp. The American Library Association included “Flamer” on its list of 2023’s most challenged and/or banned books .

“We had a lot of conversations about how to interpret the law and not be in violation,” Bober said. “But we also didn’t want to overreach and overcensor our collections. With ‘Flamer,’ we did not feel we were in violation of the law.”