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Washington State Closes McNeil Island Prison
by David M. Reutter
Citing $12 million in annual savings, the Washington State Department of Corrections (WDOC) has closed the 1,200-bed McNeil Island Corrections Center. A 2009 audit, however, found there would be no actual savings because it would cost the same amount to continue operating the island’s civil commitment …
Citing $12 million in annual savings, the Washington State Department of Corrections (WDOC) has closed the 1,200-bed McNeil Island Corrections Center. A 2009 audit, however, found there would be no actual savings because it would cost the same amount to continue operating the island’s civil commitment …
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More from this issue:
- Remembering Attica Forty Years Later, by Dennis Cunningham
- Extra Earned Time Sentence Reductions Save Oregon $25 Million
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- 800,000 Ex-Offenders Regain Voting Rights – 5.3 Million More to Go
- Female Prisoners Removed from CCA Facility in Kentucky
- PLN Files Censorship Suit Against Michigan Jail over “Postcard Only” Policy
- Reform Comes to Maine Supermax: New commissioner cuts population by more than half; prisoner rights advocates help in the reform, by Lance Tapley
- $73,700 Jury Award for Guard’s Sexual Encounters with Massachusetts Prisoner, by David Reutter
- New Mexico Spends $20 Million in Federal Stimulus Money to Fund Prison Jobs
- Sixth Circuit Upholds Tennessee’s Financial Obligation Re-Enfranchisement Law, by Mark Wilson
- Ninth Circuit Finds Maricopa County Jail’s Cross-Gender Strip Searches Unreasonable
- $60 Million in Strip Search Settlements for Cook County Jail Prisoners, by Derek Gilna
- California: OAL Disapproves Proposed Parole Board Regulation Formalizing Lifer Risk Assessments, by Michael Brodheim
- Feds Pay Wrongfully Convicted D.C. Men $1.9 Million
- Florida Reenacts Reconstruction-Era Felon Disenfranchisement Rule, by David Reutter
- EEOC Files Suit Against GEO Group for Sexual Harassment at Arizona Prisons
- Georgia Deputy Fired for Refusing Threesome with Sheriff
- Feds Intervene in Suit, Allege “Sadistic” Stun Gun Use at Ohio Jail; Jail Settles, by Brandon Sample
- Federal Court Dismisses Virginia Lifers’ Parole Suit
- New Laws Improve Job Prospects for Former Prisoners
- Florida Prisoner’s Suicide Suit Settles for $500,000
- $85,000 Settlement in Philadelphia Wrongful Imprisonment Suit
- Former Federal Prisoner Seeks Almost $280,000 in Attorney Fees from BOP
- Prisoners Used to Clean Foreclosed Houses in Georgia
- Third Circuit Upholds Unanimity Requirement for Pennsylvania Pardon Recommendations
- Texas Chaplain Who Complained of Jail Conditions Reinstated, Suit Settled
- Protective Order Denied in Privately Run Florida Juvenile Facility Class-Action Suit, by David Reutter
- $4.5 Million Settlement in Texas County Jail Strip Search Suit
- Florida’s House Speaker Wants to Quicken Executions, by David Reutter
- Third Circuit Upholds Pennsylvania Sex Offender Treatment Parole Requirement, by Mark Wilson
- Michigan Prisoner’s Failure to Protect Case Settles for $100,000
- Florida Courts Criticize Indefinite Detention While Awaiting Civil Commitment Trials
- North Carolina Prisoner’s First-Degree Murder Conviction is Valid Basis to Deny Awarding Good Time Credits, by David Reutter
- Parole Violator Leaps to Death at Alaskan Jail
- North Carolina Jail Prisoner Housed with TB Infected Cellmate Receives $2,250 Settlement
- New Mexico State Auditor Investigates Prison Contracts
- Washington State Closes McNeil Island Prison, by David Reutter
- Canadian Prison Guards Hold Prisoners at Gunpoint for 10 Days
- Smoke ’Em if You Got ’Em, Says Oklahoma DOC
- California: Orange County Jail System Ordered to Remedy ADA Violations, by Michael Brodheim
- Oregon Settles Prisoner’s Heart Failure Medical Mistreatment Case for $390,000, by Mark Wilson
- Arizona County to Pay Ex-Prisoner $325,000 in Jail Guard Beating
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- Federal Stimulus Money Not Spent as Intended by San Diego County Probation Department
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- California State Auditor Reports on CDCR Malfeasance
- Official Capacity Not the Same as Governmental Agency in Texas Civil Suit, by Matthew Clarke
- News In Brief
More from David Reutter:
- Tenth Circuit: Colorado Governor Unentitled to Eleventh Amendment Immunity on Claim Related to DOC Religious Policies, Aug. 1, 2026
- Michigan Appeals Court: Witnesses Cannot be Forced to Wear Jail Clothes at Trial, Aug. 1, 2026
- Sixth Circuit Affirms Denial of State-Law Qualified Immunity in Scabies Case, Aug. 1, 2026
- Fourth Circuit Revives Disabled Prisoner’s Claim for Denial of Out-of-Cell Exercise Time, Aug. 1, 2026
- Sixth Circuit Announces State-Law Exceptions to Appeal Deadlines Preserve “Pending” Status Under AEDPA, Holding Belated-Appeal Procedures Toll Federal Habeas Limitations Period, April 1, 2026
- Florida Supreme Court Announces Rule 3.170(f)’s Good-Cause Plea-Withdrawal Standard Does Not Apply at Post-Appeal Resentencing, April 1, 2026
- Colorado Supreme Court Announces Defendant Must Be Competent Before Undergoing Mental-Condition Examination Under § 16-8-107(3)(b), April 1, 2026
- California Court of Appeal Announces Plea Agreements Cannot Bar § 1172.1 Resentencing, Holds Merit-Based Denial of Petition Is Appealable, April 1, 2026
- Georgia Supreme Court Clarifies That Failure to Object to Ineligible Juror Does Not Constitute Waiver Unless Party Knew or Could Have Discovered Ineligibility Through Ordinary Diligence, April 1, 2026
- Washington State Guard’s Conviction Affirmed in Self-Inflicted Gunshot Wound Scheme, March 1, 2026
More from these topics:
- “Safe Inside” Review Paid for by DOJ Found Prisons Grew Much Deadlier in Five Year-Period, Aug. 1, 2026. Work Conditions/Safety, Statistics/Trends, Cost of Prison Systems, Staffing, Assaults on Staff.
- Three Detainees Die in Four Days at the Tarrant County Jail, Aug. 1, 2026. Jail Misconduct, Statistics/Trends, Wrongful Death, Compassionate Release.
- Prison Policy Initiative Updates Its “Money of Mass Incarceration” Report, Aug. 1, 2026. Statistics/Trends, Cost of Prison Systems, Forfeiture, Effects of Mass Incarceration, Ability to Pay.
- Detainee Deaths Went Unreported at Dallas County Jail, July 1, 2026. Jail Misconduct, Statistics/Trends, Databases, Public Records.
- Prisoners’ Risk of Death In Custody More than Doubles in Solitary Confinement, July 1, 2026. Statistics/Trends, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Confinement in Segregated Housing, Administrative Detention/Segregation.
- Wisconsin State Prison Population Approaches Record High, July 1, 2026. Statistics/Trends, Overcrowding, Staffing, Pardons/Clemency, Reduction of Prison Population.
- Study Shows That Suicide Intervention During and After Incarceration Reduces Suicide Attempts by 55%, June 1, 2026. Statistics/Trends, Suicides, Health care.
- Texas Executes 600th Prisoner Since Reinstating Death Penalty in 1976, June 1, 2026. Racial Discrimination, Statistics/Trends, Death Penalty, Mental Retardation/Intellectual Disability.
- Number of Prisoners Awaiting Transfer from Jail Surging in Indiana, June 1, 2026. Transfers, Statistics/Trends, Cost of Prison Systems, Overcrowding, Jail Specific.
- Report Finds Stark Racial Disparities in Wisconsin Prisons, June 1, 2026. Racial Discrimination, Native American, Statistics/Trends.

