The family of a Merced inmate fatally stabbed nearly 180 times at a state prison is suing the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for "deliberate indifference" after horrifying video of the killing went viral.

A cell block at the Cummins Unit of the Arkansas Department of Corrections. (Danny Johnston/AP) The Arkansas Department of Corrections is set to ban all physical books, magazines and newspapers sent directly to inmates -- a restriction, pushed as a drug-fighting measure, that would be strictest of its kind in prisons across the country.

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. A county office was accused of coercing detention center inmates into converting to Christianity, but the sheriff in charge of the jail said there is no truth to the claims.