Gov. Deval Patrick is unveiling a series of changes to Massachusetts’ criminal justice system, including a renewed focus on substance abuse treatment, limits on the use of restraints on mentally ill inmates and a ban on the shackling of pregnant prisoners while in labor.

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SILVER SPRING — A state panel created in response to the death of a Frederick County man with Down syndrome is launching a statewide “listening tour” aimed at improving police interactions with the intellectually and developmentally disabled. The commission is ...

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Four former state prison workers are admitting involvement in the 2008 beating of an inmate at Roxbury Correctional Institution near Hagerstown. Michael Morgan pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore to violating Kenneth Davis’ civil rights. Edwin Stigile, ...

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The grandfather of an infant who was stabbed by her mother during a supervised visit at the Baltimore City Department of Social Services has filed suit against the private on-site security company.

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A state panel tasked with making recommendations about police training about people with intellectual and developmental disabilities says current training is inconsistent and not comprehensive. The initial findings were released Thursday in a progress report by the commission, which was ...

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A federal appellate court has rejected a request for a new trial in the excessive-force lawsuit by the parents of a Frederick County man who died after a sheriff’s deputy twice shot him with a stun-gun.

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JESSUP — Maryland corrections officials are looking for an inmate who was mistakenly released because of a paperwork error. The Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services said Thursday that Sierra Scipioni was released from the Maryland Correctional Institute for ...

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Maryland’s bail-bond system could be replaced by a three-tiered pretrial risk assessment program under a set of recommendations made Thursday by a task force appointed to look at ways to reform the bail review system.

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A panel of state legislators Wednesday recommended changes to state corrections facilities including the hiring of nearly 400 new correctional officers, polygraph examinations for prospective prison employees and nearly $1.1 billion for new jail facilities in Baltimore.

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ANNAPOLIS — A panel of Maryland lawmakers on Wednesday recommended a plan to spend more than $533 million over 10 years to rebuild the old Baltimore City Detention Center, making it more secure and harder for prisoners to sneak in ...

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