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Seventh Circuit Reinstates Illinois DOC Prisoner’s Suit Against Wexford Psychiatrist
by Matt Clarke
On February 9, 2021, the Seventh Circuit court of appeals held that a district court erred when it departed significantly from Pruitt v. Mote, 503 F.3d 647 (7th Cir. 2007) in its consideration of a mentally ill Illinois prisoner’s motion to recruit counsel. The …
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More from this issue:
- 25 Years of the Prison Litigation Reform Act, by John Boston
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Investigation Finds “Deadly Delays” in Cancer Diagnosis at Washington State Prisons, by David Reutter
- Whistleblowers: Software Bug Keeping Hundreds of Arizona Prisoners Beyond Release Dates, by Jimmy Jenkins
- How Sheriffs Are Extracting Wealth from People in Jail, by Katie Jane Fernelius
- Illinois First State to Abolish Cash Bail, by Daniel A. Rosen
- CFPB and Three States Sue Over Predatory Immigrant Bail and GPS Scam, by David Reutter
- Smart Communications Contract Reveals Plans for Expanding Privatized Prison Mail, by Kevin Bliss
- Scores of Ecuadoran Prisoners Die in Coordinated Melees
- Florida Supreme Court Disbars Attorney For Making Sex Films in Jail Visiting Room, by Matthew Clarke
- Justice Delayed in California Jails: Lengthy Pretrial Imprisonment Common, by Daniel A. Rosen
- New York State Law Ends Long-Term Solitary Confinement in Prisons and Jails, by Matthew Clarke
- $1,000 Award to Ohio Prisoner for Violation of Public Records Act
- Resisting a Prison Without End, by Jayson Hawkins, Panagioti Tsolkas
- Seventh Circuit Says Racial Disparity Argument ‘Too Weak to Require Discussion’ in COVID-Related Motion for Compassionate Release, by David Reutter
- Ohio Enacts Criminal Justice Reform in 2020, by David Reutter
- Seventh Circuit Reinstates Illinois DOC Prisoner’s Suit Against Wexford Psychiatrist, by Matthew Clarke
- $1.65 Million Settlement for Family of Prisoner Killed at Rikers Island
- Sixth Circuit Reinstates Lawsuit Over Kentucky Jail Prisoner’s Suicide, by Matthew Clarke
- Rebellion at GEO-Run Prison in New Mexico
- Louisiana Law School Counts Deaths Behind Bars Because State Won’t, by Daniel A. Rosen
- NYC Department of Corrections Continued Noncompliance to Consent Decree and Spending Nearly Half A Million Dollars Per Prisoner in 2020, by Kevin Bliss
- $11,000 Recovery for Asthmatic Indiana Prisoner in Denial of Treatment After Cell Block Fire
- Second Circuit Holds Control Unit Placement for Former Death Row Prisoners Unconstitutional Bill of Attainder, by David Reutter
- Minnesota Mothers to Receive More Bonding Time with Their Newborn Children, by Kevin Bliss
- South Carolina to Use Firing Squads to Execute Prisoners, by Keith Sanders
- Medical Update: COVID is Not Over, by Michael D. Cohen, MD
- America’s Biggest Jails Are Frontline Environmental Justice Communities, by Adam Mahoney
- Planned Massive Shortfall in Funding to Maintain Minnesota Prisons, by Anthony Accurso
- Federal Judge Rejects BOP’s Attempts to Keep Videos of Force-Feeding Prisoners at ADX Secret, by Dale Chappell
- Florida Prisons Face Ongoing Staff Shortages Due to Low Pay And Long Hours, by David Reutter
- HRDC Settles Censorship Lawsuit with Johnson County, Kansas Jail for $50,000 and Policy Changes, by Derek Gilna
- U.S. Department of Justice Publishes Statistics on Prisoners’ Deaths, by Matthew Clarke
- Virginia Federal Court Sentences Former Superintendent of Rockbridge County Jail to 51 Months in Prison for Brutality and Corruption
- No Qualified Immunity for Oregon Prison Officials’ COVID-19 Response; Class Certified, by Mark Wilson
- Illinois Prisoner Gets Mixed Results in Appeal of Suit Against Wexford and Doctors, by David Reutter
- Report Shows Official Misconduct Responsible for More than Half of Exonerations, by Dale Chappell
- Seven Guards Fired After Prisoner Dies in TX Jail, by Keith Sanders
- Virginia Prison Guards Attack Prisoners with Dogs, by Keith Sanders
- Connecticut Makes All Prison Communications Free, Makes History, by Daniel A. Rosen
- Orange County California Jail Guard Investigated for Burning Mentally Ill Prisoner, by Daniel A. Rosen
- Potential Radioactive Exposure to Manatee County Jail Prisoners in Florida, by Kevin Bliss
- Change in Good Time Makes Tens of Thousands of California Prisoners Eligible for Release, by Matthew Clarke
- Anti-Parole Whistleblower Prompts Investigation of Virginia Parole Board, by Casey Bastian
- No Mutual Assent Where Detainee Forced to Accept Release Card in HRDC Case, by David Reutter
- California Juvenile Court Erred in Removing Child from Imprisoned Father’s Care
- $550,000 in Damages Ordered to Woman Prisoner Raped by New York Guard
- News in Brief
More from Matthew Clarke:
- Seventh Circuit Grants Qualified Immunity to Detectives Who Revealed Prisoner Was Informant, Denies Him Anonymity, Aug. 1, 2026
- Seventh Circuit Holds Federal Law Prohibits County Jail from Forcing Immigration Detainees to Perform Custodial Labor by Threatening Solitary Confinement, Aug. 1, 2026
- New Mexico Supreme Court Holds Corrections Department Regulations Do Not Exempt Use-Of-Force Documents from Public Records Disclosure, Aug. 1, 2026
- DOJ Issues Memorandum Over BOP Employees Abusing Their Law Enforcement Credentials to Illegally Purchase Personal Firearms, Aug. 1, 2026
- Seventh Circuit Upholds Summary Judgment Against Former Illinois Prison Guards Challenging Termination for Violating Use of Force Policy, Aug. 1, 2026
- Federal Court Issues Preliminary Injunction Barring Enforcement of Executive Order to Transfer Trans Women Prisoners to Men’s Prisons, Aug. 1, 2026
- Idaho Supreme Court Holds Indigent Parents Have Constitutional Right to Counsel at Public Expense, July 1, 2026
- Free Phone Calls Saved Prisoners and Their Families More than $600 Million, Report Finds, July 1, 2026
- California Appeals Court Holds Defendant Cannot Be Penalized for Failing to Appear at Sentencing When He Was Being Held in Another County’s Jail on Preexisting Charges, July 1, 2026
- SCOTUS Reverses Mississippi Capital Conviction, July 1, 2026
More from these topics:
- Mississippi DOC Held Mentally Unwell Prisoners in Solitary, Many Died Because of It, Sept. 1, 2026. Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, Staff Training, Deliberate Indifference.
- $800,000 Settlement Reached in Hawai‘i Jail Suicide Case, Sept. 1, 2026. Staffing, Failure to Train/Supervise, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides.
- Isolation and Medical Neglect at Illinois’ Joliet Treatment Center Drive Prisoners to Set Fatal Fires, Sept. 1, 2026. Systemic Medical Neglect, Security Systems, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness).
- Court Shuts Down Arizona Attempt to Fill Medical Staff Vacancies with Under-Qualified Providers, Sept. 1, 2026. Systemic Medical Neglect, Staffing, Injunctions, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness).
- Illinois Prisons Have Gone a Year Without Long-term Healthcare Contract, Sept. 1, 2026. Wexford Health Services, Centurion, Systemic Medical Neglect, Private Contractors, Staffing.
- Federal Court Upholds Consultants’ Finding that Oklahoma Is Not Honoring Its Consent Decree to Provide Mental Health Treatment, Sept. 1, 2026. Consent Decrees, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Pretrial Detention and Detainees, Competency Hearing, Inadequate Health Care Facilities.
- $4.5 Million Paid by Cook County for Detainee Suicide in Chicago Jail, Aug. 1, 2026. Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, Administrative Detention/Segregation, Deliberate Indifference.
- Death of Seattle Detainee—Jailed Despite Not Being “Grounded in Reality”—Costs King County $3.5 Million Settlement, Aug. 1, 2026. Restraints, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Monell Liability.
- Oregon Agrees to $2.3 Million Settlement After Guards Toss Mentally Ill Prisoner in Solitary, Taunt Him Until He Kills Himself, Aug. 1, 2026. Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Deliberate Indifference.
- Fourth Circuit Affirms Damages Class Certification in Opioid Treatment Denial, Aug. 1, 2026. Wexford Health Services, Drug/Alcohol Withdrawal, Failure to Treat, Class Certification, Deliberate Indifference.

