penitentiary
Example Sentences
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Alcatraz, which opened as a federal penitentiary in 1934, was once considered among the most secure prisons in the United States due to its isolated island location and the strong currents surrounding it.
From Barron's ● Apr. 3, 2026
Early last year, prison officials transferred Hernández out of the federal detention center in Brooklyn, which largely holds pretrial detainees, and sent him to the high-security Hazelton penitentiary in West Virginia.
From Salon ● Feb. 19, 2026
Several defense attorneys filed court declarations describing meetings and conference calls with Christopher Synsvoll, a Bureau of Prisons attorney based at the Florence penitentiary who served as liaison to the inmates’ lawyers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2025
Inside the penitentiary, with a backdrop of heavily tattooed prisoners stacked behind bars, Noem went on X to deliver a warning.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 28, 2025
It’s bad enough that the great city of San Francisco should suffer the indignity of a maximum security federal penitentiary in its midst without being subject to these sorts of sick and dangerous shenanigans.
From "Al Capone Does My Shirts" by Gennifer Choldenko
Time served for the state convictions will run at the same time as the federal sentences, and the men will serve their time in federal penitentiaries.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 9, 2024
La Regional jail is located in a large prison compound which houses a total of five penitentiaries and more than 12,000 inmates.
From BBC ● Jan. 8, 2024
A Mexican national, Madrigal served a 77-month sentence for illegally reentering the country at federal penitentiaries in Victorville and Leavenworth, Kan., law enforcement records show.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2023
According to the Prison Policy Initiative, more than 1 million people are held in state penitentiaries, of which 71% will be re-arrested within three to five years after committing additional offenses.
From Reuters ● Aug. 2, 2023
That has been true since penitentiaries first opened in America.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
Vocabulary lists containing penitentiary
Fences
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A Long Way from Chicago
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They Called Us Enemy
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