This is not the first time an inmate convicted of sexual offenses involving children has died in this prison facility.

One regular worshiper is Joel Kalish, a 38-year-old inmate convicted of drug possession.

The Lawrence jail holds inmates convicted of misdemeanors with maximum terms of up to two and a half years, officials said.

Only 5.6 percent of inmates convicted of murder or attempted murder are released on parole the first time they appear before the board.

Parole has dropped most sharply for inmates convicted of violent crimes like murder, assault, rape and robbery.

Garrison S. Johnson, a black inmate convicted of murder, challenged it in 1997 by filing a federal lawsuit that he drafted himself.

Only inmates convicted of nonviolent offenses are allowed to participate in the program at Rikers, a maximum-security prison complex.

Most inmates convicted of violating local or state laws are sent to city, county, or state jails and prisons.

Traditionally, the county jail had only housed inmates convicted of minor crimes.

His sentence is for a civil matter, so he is entitled to certain privileges denied to inmates convicted of criminal offences.