​This week, the redistricting drama continues. In case you forgot, redistricting is that complicated process every 10 years when states across the country redraw congressional and state legislative boundaries based on Census data.

Well, there's been a lot of controversy in New York this time around about the way those lines are drawn and their impact on ethnic groups that live in the city -- and new data to be presented next week could shake things up further. Next Tuesday in Albany, the state will discuss new stats about prisoner populations, which could have a meaningful impact on how lines are drawn and the campaigns of redistricting advocacy groups.

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​Remember the gimmicky Bouquet Bandit from last summer? He was the gentleman robber who robbed a couple banks using only a bouquet of flowers. (We tried to nickname him the "Horti-Robber," but it didn't work.) The bandit, whose real name is Edward Pemberton, managed to pull off two bank robberies before being caught. Today, he was sentenced to at least six and up to 12 years in prison.

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​Ruth Madoff has finally left Bernie Madoff, her husband of 52 years who will be behind bars for the rest of his life. According to the Post, it's a last-ditch attempt to re-forge a connection with estranged son Andrew, who shunned her completely after the suicide of his brother Mark in December of last year. Andrew's family even turned her away when she flew to Greenwich to attend Mark's memorial service at Andrew's home. More >>

​Jonathan May-Bowles, the man who famously threw a pie in the face of Rupert Murdoch during the media mogul's hearing last month, has just updated his blog from jail. Bowles, who often goes by the name "Jonnie Marbles," posts on a blogspot domain called "Anarch*ish*." He has posted twice since being sentenced and gives a look into his world during his six-week stint in Wandsworth Prison.

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​On the subject of the pre-dawn electrical fire in A-block at Sing Sing Prison in April, the Voice continues to receive letters from inmates aggrieved over the warden's handling of the crisis. In all, well over two dozen inmates have written the Voice in recent weeks to complain about the incident.

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Laffer's mugshot

​While in jail for allegedly killing four people at a pharmacy in Medford, Long Island, last month, David Laffer, who hit the pharmacy in search of pills for himself and his wife, Melinda Brady, became concerned about his upcoming jury duty -- he'd been called to serve starting June 28, but was arrested on June 23. Don't you hate it when you have competing engagements? In a handwritten letter obtained by the Post, Laffer wrote to the Commissioner of Jurors, "Please be advised that at the current time I am supposed to be 'on call' for potential jury service. However, I have recently (as of 23 Jun) been arrested and am currently detained at Riverhead Correctional Facility on some very serious felony charges. I simply wished to relay this to you, so as not to get into any further legal troubles."

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​Apparently the Rikers Island visiting rooms were getting "really gross" and "out of control" -- including quickies in front of kids -- when significant others would come to visit their "sex-starved" inmate loved-ones, leading to a strict new dress code. Now, the Daily News reports, women "spilling out of their tight tops, miniskirts or ripped jeans" get put into XXL neon green t-shirts like naughty high schoolers relegated into P.E. clothes for their sartorial crimes. "I have to wear what?" one visiting woman gasped. "You're just trying to make me look bad in front of my man."

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Philly?!

​Former New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress was released this morning from prison after doing almost two years on weapons charges. As no one's likely to forget, Burress shot himself in the leg at a nightclub with the Glock he had tucked into his sweatpants. "I think he's learned an awful lot," said his agent about the prison stint, while also noting that Burress is in good physical condition and will be ready to play. "Running, staying in shape, sprints, jogging, lifting weights," that sort of thing -- "as much as you can do in a facility like this." Giants running back Brandon Jacobs, a close friend of Plaxico's, said "there is no chance Plaxico Burress is a New York Giant after he comes home," but division rivals the Philadelphia Eagles have been floated as a potential landing place, which might explain that awful hat. [ESPN]

​Another 70 inmates are complaining about missteps in Sing Sing correctional facility officials' handling of the April 18 pre-dawn electrical fire at the upstate prison, the Voice has learned.

Some 700 inmates had to be relocated following the fire, many suffering respiratory injuries. In all, 117 Sing Sing inmates have written letters complaining about the prison's handling of the fire.

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New details are emerging about the April 18 fire at Sing Sing prison in Ossining, N.Y. which forced the relocation of 700 prisoners, the Voice has learned.

Prison officials had told the press that no inmates or staff were injured in the smoky, pre-dawn electrical blaze at the 185-year old complex, but some 60 letters written by inmates to a Brooklyn law firm sharply dispute that account.

"They were trapped in their cells for three hours, in the dark, with a lot of smoke," says attorney Cynthia Conti-Cook, to whom the inmates sent their letters. "The men suffered chest pains, problems breathing, wheezing, asthma attacks, headaches, and at least one who had a seizure."

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