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How Jails Became a Breeding Ground for the Coronavirus
Loaded on Jan. 1, 2021
by Keith Sanders
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2021, page 34
Filed under:
COVID-19,
Conditions of Confinement,
Overcrowding,
Hygiene Supplies.
Location:
Minnesota.
by Keith Sanders
Back in August 2020, “things at Waseca were calm,” recalled Channing Lacy. Like many other women incarcerated in the low-security Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Waseca, Minnesota, the 33-year-old considered herself lucky that the prison had reported just five cases of COVID-19 through early August …
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More from this issue:
- Tougher Than the Rest: No Criminal Justice Reform “Miracle” in Texas, by Marie Gottschalk
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- North Carolina Prisoners at Deadliest Federal Prison File Suit on COVID-19 Response, by Matthew Clarke
- Sixth Circuit Grants Qualified Immunity to Sheriff in Tennessee Prisoner’s Assault Case, by David Reutter
- Preliminary Studies: Black/Latino Populations Disproportionately Affected by COVID-19, by Douglas Ankney
- North Carolina Cancer Patient Dies From COVID-19 After BOP Denies Compassionate Release and Sentencing Judge Rejects Appeal, by Derek Gilna
- Federal Lawsuit Claims Texas Jail Released Man When Medical Problems Became Too Much Trouble, Resulting in Coma, by Dale Chappell
- Pandemic Medical Update: The Latest on Vaccines and Prisoners, by Michael D. Cohen, MD
- Magic as Rehabilitation, by Jayson Hawkins
- CoreCivic Sued Over Prisoner Who Committed Suicide in Tennessee Prison, by Matthew Clarke
- In Prisons, the Press Also Yearns to Be Free, by Casey Bastian
- California: Prisoner-Run Journalism Thrives with San Quentin News, Ear Hustle, by David Reutter
- My Ankle Monitor Won’t Let Me Take Out The Garbage, by Eleanor Bader
- Tennessee Juvenile Murderer’s Sentence Commuted, by Edward Lyon
- How Jails Became a Breeding Ground for the Coronavirus, by Keith Sanders
- Charges Finally Announced 32 Months After South Carolina Prison Riot, by David Reutter
- Salt Lake County, Utah, Settles Federal Civil Rights Wrongful Death Claim for $950,000, by Derek Gilna
- Alabama Court Allows Lawsuit Over Indigent Traffic Offenders Jailed for Not Paying Fines, by David Reutter
- Court Rejects Class Status for Nebraska Prisoners Facing Substandard Health Care, by David Reutter
- Urban Redo: Lorton, Virginia Prison Recreated as Liberty Village, by Kevin Bliss
- Second Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment in New York Prisoner’s Due Process Lawsuit, by David Reutter
- Seventh Circuit: Nurse’s Deliberate Indifference to Prisoner’s Pain Negates Summary Judgment Grant, by David Reutter
- St. Louis, Missouri Guard Has History of Taser Abuse, by Daniel A. Rosen
- South Florida: Jail Hotline Releases Report on Inadequate Health Care During Pandemic, by Saraana Jamraj
- Former Prisoners Making Less Than Minimum Wage Working for Nonprofit Doe Fund, by Dale Chappell
- Rapper Sues BOP Alleging Torture, by David Reutter
- Montana Supreme Court: Jail’s Blanket Strip Search Policy Violates Law, by Matthew Clarke
- As Prison COVID-19 Cases and Deaths Rise, Washington State Supreme Court Looks Away, by Mark Wilson
- Some Prisons Bear Names of Enslavers, Oppressors, Racists and Segregationists, by Matthew Clarke
- Over Half the Prisoners Test Positive for COVID-19 at Arizona Prison, by Matthew Clarke
- New Book on Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration, by Edward Lyon
- Louisiana’s COVID-19 Prisoner Furlough Panel Next to Useless, by Edward Lyon
- COVID-19 Hits Fairfax, Virginia Juvenile Detention Center, by Kevin Bliss
- Seventh Circuit Holds Illinois Prisoners Retain Fourth Amendment Rights to Bodily Privacy, Overruling Circuit Precedents, by Matthew Clarke
- Federal Class Action Settlement Aims to Eliminate Horrific Conditions at Santa Barbara, California Jails in Three Years, by Derek Gilna
- Almost Half of North Dakota Jail Tests Positive for COVID-19, by David Reutter
- Former Pennsylvania Prisoner’s Complaint Cures Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies, by David Reutter
- U.S. Prisons Originally Designed to Prevent Spread of Disease Become Breeding Ground During Pandemic, by Edward Lyon
- Opioid Crisis in Canadian Prisons Needs to be Addressed, by Kevin Bliss
- Georgia Prisoners Lacked Food, Water, Leading to Melee, by Jayson Hawkins
- CoreCivic and Securus Technologies Agree to Pay $3.7 Million to Settle Suit for Illegally Recording Attorney-Client Conversations, by Douglas Ankney
- $2 Million Settlement in Lawsuit Over N.Y. Prisoner Denied Emergency Eye Surgery Until She Went Blind, by Matthew Clarke
- Scottish Prisoners Issued Mobile Phones During Pandemic, by Kevin Bliss
- Private Health Care Services in County Jails Comes at High Price, by Kevin Bliss
- Sixth Circuit Holds Ohio Prisoner Can Be Executed Despite Previous Botched Attempt, by Matthew Clarke
- Second Circuit: No Error in Blocking New York Parolee from Attending His Own Civil Rights Trial Against Prison Officials, by Matthew Clarke
- First Former Felon Elected to Washington State Legislature, by Daniel A. Rosen
- Tennessee Prisons “Naughty” List Shows Prison Staff Often Bring in Contraband, by Edward Lyon
- As Millions Suffer, Congress Awards BOP $356 Million for New Kansas Prison, by Mark Wilson
- Alabama Guards Accused of Excessive Use of Force, Hospitalizing One Prisoner and Injuring Another, by Kevin Bliss
- News in Brief
More from Keith Sanders:
- No Summary Judgment for Private Transportation Company in Maryland Detainee’s Suit Alleging “Horrific” 2,000-Mile Journey, Sept. 15, 2023
- California College Offers Housing, Services to Formally Incarcerated Students, Aug. 15, 2023
- New Report Pats BOP on the Back for Addressing Problems With Restrictive Housing, PREA, Aug. 15, 2023
- Ohio Supreme Court Grants State Prisoner Another $1,000 for Denied Records, Aug. 15, 2023
- Prisoner Who Reached $11,400 Retaliation Settlement with South Dakota Jail Tries Again with DOC, July 15, 2023
- More Success for Medication-Assisted Treatment Programs in Prisons and Jails, July 15, 2023
- $15,001 Verdict Against Delaware Guard for Gaping Prisoner’s Butt During Strip Search, July 15, 2023
- Study Shows COVID-19 Drove Prison Death Rates 50% Higher, June 15, 2023
- Wellpath Subsidiary Out of Australian Women’s Prison After Indigenous Prisoner’s Death, June 15, 2023
- Specialized Police Units Hunt People for ICE, June 15, 2023
More from these topics:
- ACLU Threatens New Lawsuit After Indiana County’s Repeated Failures to Abide by 17-Year-Old Settlement Agreement, May 1, 2026. Overcrowding, Exercise, Sanitation, Bedding, Settlements.
- Faced with Record-Breaking Jail Deaths, L.A. County Supervisors Tell Sheriff’s Department to Improve Access to Naloxone, Camera Monitoring, and Security Checks at California Jail, May 1, 2026. Drug Overdose, Overcrowding, Sanitation, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness).
- Texas Moves to Restrict Cashless Bond and Reverse Federal Court-Ordered Misdemeanor Bail Reform, May 1, 2026. Conditions of Confinement, Money/Property, Bail/Pretrial Release, Civil Rights Actions or Offenses/Bivens Actions, Plea Agreements/Guilty Pleas.
- “Large Fight” Broke Out at Alaska Prison After Downsizing Effort, April 1, 2026. Transfers, Cost of Prison Systems, Totality of Conditions, Failure to Protect (General), Overcrowding.
- Houston Jail Renews $38 Million Contract to Outsource Detainees to Private Lockups, April 1, 2026. Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Failure to Treat, Overcrowding, Staffing, Medical Neglect/Malpractice.
- Montana Switches to Sending Prisoners to a Private Prison in Mississippi, April 1, 2026. Out of State Transfers, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Overcrowding.
- More Measles Cases Detected at Jails in New Mexico and Texas, April 1, 2026. Private Prisons, Contagious Disease -- Misc., Overcrowding, Jail Specific, Immigration Detention.
- Idaho DOC Transfers Prisoners to Arizona Facility Run by CoreCivic, April 1, 2026. Out of State Transfers, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Overcrowding.
- Colorado Law Intended to Reduce Prison Population Hasn’t Improved Conditions, March 1, 2026. Overcrowding, Parole, halfway houses, Reduction of Prison Population.
- Report Finds Persistent Overcrowding Drives Cascade of Problems at Atlanta’s Fulton County Jail, March 1, 2026. Overcrowding, Staffing, Pretrial Detention and Detainees, Bail/Pretrial Release, Indictment/Information.

