prison

The struggles of prisoners illustrate flaws in Nebraska’s prison education system despite some recent successes. Getting a post-secondary education while incarcerated is challenging, confusing and ever-changing.

Interviews and surveys for this investigation revealed long wait times for routine dental care, failure to follow American Dental Association recommendations for cleanings and tooth extractions in cases of pain.

As some lawmakers warm to the idea of rehabilitation, years of study by experts point to the need to change the way people convicted of crimes are sentenced.

This documentary explores the mental health crisis unfolding inside Nebraska’s prisons: the severe shortage of mental health professionals.

Overcrowded Nebraska prisons force some inmates to share cells that were designed for just one person. Experts say this can exacerbate or cause mental health problems.

A female program director and a man convicted of murder fell in love and conceived a child inside an Omaha prison. Now they're trying to successfully co-parent after the state moved the father west.

Nearly 20,000 people are released from Missouri prisons each year. Going home is an adjustment — and a relief. Hear from one man who returned home after 37 years. Plus: Get caught up on news from around the metro.

According to the Missouri Department of Corrections, approximately 19,000 people are released from prison every year. For Paige Spears, it took 37 years to walk free.

The lawsuit filed by the MacArthur Justice Center says that in the summer, the lack of air conditioning or heat solutions at Missouri's Algoa Correctional Center violate the constitutional rights of people detained there.

The bill has been introduced for five straight years in the Missouri legislature, but failed to make it to committee hearings until now. It's named after Larry Miller, who was stabbed to death in custody while correctional officers were not around.

Father Emil Kapaun served as an Army chaplain in the Korean war, and was awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor. In February, Pope Francis named him "venerable," bringing him one step closer to canonization as a saint. But interest in his life — and traffic to his hometown of Pilsen, Kansas — is already picking up.

Sandra Hemme was freed from prison after 43 years for a murder she didn't commit, and her case illustrates how difficult it is to correct errors in the criminal justice system. That's especially true in Missouri, where the attorney general's office aggressively opposes innocence claims regardless of the evidence.