Prison gangs

Ten years ago, El Salvador was the most dangerous country in the world. The authorities declared war on street and prison gangs, and the murder rate fell 50-fold. 1.3% of the country’s population was sent to prison. Many ended up there without trial – and with no hope of ever being released. In February 2025,…

An attack by inmates at a Virginia prison injured five guards, according to state corrections officials who said most of the assailants were MS-13 gang members who entered the US illegally. Three guards were stabbed and were transported for medical treatment along with two others hurt Friday at Wallens Ridge State Prison in western Virginia,…

On April, 1, 2025, gang members stormed the town of Mirebalais in central Haiti on Monday and released about 500 inmates from prison. A spokesman for Haiti’s national police said extra officers had been deployed to the town, which is located 50km (30 miles) north-east of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Police officials said they had regained…

On Friday, March 14, 2025, President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act to order the deportations of suspected members of the Venezuelan gang he has accused of “unlawfully infiltrating” the US. The US formally designated Tren de Aragua a “foreign terrorist organization” last month. The US district judge James Boasberg had attempted to halt the…

Sureños gang members armed themselves with prison-made weapons and makeshift body armor before launching a deadly assault at Ely State Prison. As a result, two of the three inmates who were killed Tuesday, July 30, 2024, at Ely State Prison. Prosecutors alleged that 20 prisoners charged in the 2024 killings of three inmates at a…

This article focuses on Hispanic street and prison gangs, which – along with other gangs – constitute a significant and iconic phenomenon of contemporary political discourse in the United States, as well as social and economic life in this country. In the XXI century, the prison systems of most countries continue to be characterised by…

Staffing vacancies for correctional officers at 20 of Georgia’s 34 prisons have reached emergency levels, making it impossible to keep up with even basic protocols such as routine counts of prisoners. At some prisons, gangs are effectively running the facilities, in part due to a lack of staff, using violence to maintain control. The violence…

Plaintiff is a state prisoner in the custody of CDCR, presently incarcerated at Corcoran State Prison, in Corcoran. The events giving rise to this lawsuit occurred on July 28, 2010, when Plaintiff made prison officials aware that his life was in danger due to gang disassociation. A few days prior, Plaintiff overheard that a member…

After hearing evidence defendants Jamie Ramirez and Albert Villa participated in a beating of another inmate while in custody at Southwest Detention Center, a jury convicted them of one count of assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury. The jury also found true the allegation that defendants committed the assault “for the benefit…