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Massachusetts Medical Parole Cases and COVID-19 Prisoner Deaths
by Ed Lyon
As early as February 2020, medical and corrections experts warned criminal justice officials across the U.S. of the danger COVID-19 posed to crowded prison populations, encouraging them to parole as many prisoners as feasible. By late 2020, though, officials with the Massachusetts Department of Corrections …
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More from this issue:
- The 10 Worst Sheriffs in America, by Nicole Audrey Spector
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Auditor Slams California ICE Facility That Released Detainees With COVID-19, by Edward Lyon
- Sen. Warren Investigation Exposes Broken Prison Accreditation System, by Jayson Hawkins
- Kentucky Consolidated Local Government Entitled to Sovereign Immunity, by David Reutter
- 25 Years of the AEDPA: Where do We Stand?, by Dale Chappell
- Prisoners Released Without COVID Tests Face Difficult Reentry, by Jayson Hawkins
- Pandemic Medical Update, by Michael D. Cohen, MD
- Former Georgia Sheriff Deputies Denied Immunity in Criminal Case for Taser Death of Unarmed Man, by David Reutter
- Law Passes Requiring Parents in New York Prisons to be Housed Close to Their Children, by Kevin Bliss
- Mentally Ill Alabama Prisoner Dies in 101-Degree Cell, by Edward Lyon
- Trump Pardons Highlight System’s Flaws, by Jayson Hawkins
- Prioritizing Incarcerated People for Vaccine Quickly Reduced COVID in IL Prisons, by Brian Dolinar
- Massachusetts Medical Parole Cases and COVID-19 Prisoner Deaths, by Edward Lyon
- Class Action Lawsuit Over COVID at Chesapeake, MD Jail Reaches Settlement, by David Reutter
- DOJ: Florida Women’s Prison Subjects Prisoners to Unconstitutional Risk of Sexual Abuse, by Kevin Bliss, David Reutter
- New Hampshire Prisoner Sues to Enforce Conditions of Consent Decree, by David Reutter
- Connecticut Supermax Closing After Lawsuit Filed Seeking to Reduce Use of Solitary, by Anthony Accurso
- Court Orders In-Person Inspection of Michigan Facility to Determine COVID-19 Policy Compliance, by David Reutter
- Inspection Reports Reveal Filthy Conditions In Arizona Prison Kitchens, by Jimmy Jenkins
- Prison Overcrowding Continues During COVID-19 Pandemic, by Edward Lyon
- NY Prisoner Entitled to Release Upon Reaching Conditional Release Date, by David Reutter
- Kentucky Leases Closed Private Prison to Use as State Facility, by Edward Lyon
- Prisoners Find Their Voice in Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop, by Edward Lyon
- Texas Republican Representative Proposes Renaming Prisons With Names Honoring Enslavers, Oppressors and Convict Leasers, by Matthew Clarke
- Draconian Use of Solitary Confinement in North Carolina, by Keith Sanders
- Inspector General Calls California Prison Reform Efforts a $10 Million Failure, by Matthew Clarke
- New Jersey Man Dies Soon After Exonerated of Sex Offense, by Edward Lyon
- Sixth Circuit Refuses to Extend Bivens to BOP Prisoner’s First Amendment Claims, by Mark Wilson
- Activism and Art Team Up to Abolish Mass Incarceration, by Keith Sanders
- Connecticut Prisoner Population Lowest in Over Three Decades Due to Coronavirus, by Douglas Ankney
- DWN Report Shows ICE Facilities Were Community Superspreaders of COVID-19, by Matthew Clarke
- State Prison System Takes Over County Jail, by Edward Lyon
- PA Lawsuit Claims Allegheny County Jail Sergeant Brutalized Disabled Women, by David Reutter
- GEO Group Puts Money, Lobbyist into Defeating Bill to Prohibit Private Prisons in Virginia, by David Reutter
- Six Howard County, Indiana Jail Guards Fired Over Sexual Assaults and Harassment of Prisoners, by Michael Fortino, Ph.D
- Guard Commits Suicide Amidst Allegations in Federal Prison, by Jayson Hawkins
- Fourth Circuit Holds Immigrant Children’s Mental Health Care Should Be Up to Professional Standards, by David Reutter
- Federal Agencies Rack Up Nearly One Thousand Arrest-Related or In-Custody Deaths in Two Years, DOJ Report Finds, by David Reutter
- Pew Study Shows Crime Falls but Spending on Jails Soar, by David Reutter
- State Auditor Report Critical of Texas Prison Agribusiness, by Matthew Clarke
- Amending the 13th Amendment, by Edward Lyon
- Auditor Appalled at Lack of Spending Controls in Mississippi Prison System, by David Reutter
- Washington Gives Right to Vote to 20,000 People Previously Incarcerated, by Juliette LaMarr
- Pushing Back on Prison Labor, by Lilah Burke
- Fourth Circuit Holds Deaf Federal Civilly Committed Sex Offender Has First Amendment Right of Access to Point-to-Point Videocalls in BOP Prison, by Matthew Clarke
- Ninth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Lawsuit in Prisoner Overdose at San Diego Jail, by Matthew Clarke
- Microsoft Invests in Digital Incarceration, by Jayson Hawkins
- Resources for Understanding Today’s Prison System, by Kevin Bliss
- NC Prisoner Survives Summary Judgment for Two Excessive Force Claims, by David Reutter
- Staff Shortages in Georgia Prisons Reach Crisis Levels, by Keith Sanders
- Colorado Grants COVID-19-Related Clemencies, by Edward Lyon
- U.S. DOJ Statistics on Race and Ethnicity of Violent Crime Perpetrators, by Matthew Clarke
- News in Brief
More from Edward Lyon:
- “There you go, Agent Orange!” Former South Carolina Sheriff Federally Indicted for Assaulting Jail Detainee, May 1, 2024
- Texas Prisons are Fire Traps, July 15, 2023
- The World’s Biggest Prison, July 15, 2023
- U.S. Prisoner Numbers Slowly Declining, June 15, 2023
- Civilian Police With Military Equipment, June 15, 2023
- California Easing Housing Hurdles for Released Prisoners, June 1, 2023
- Warden Ousted from Troubled Alabama Prison After DUI Arrest, May 1, 2023
- $20,000 Settlement for Ohio Prisoner’s Slip-and-Fall Injury, May 1, 2023
- $32,500 Medical Malpractice Award to Ohio Prisoner for Ripped-Out Catheter, May 1, 2023
- New York State’s Veterans Treatment Courts, April 15, 2023
More from these topics:
- SCOTUS Continues to Hack Away At First Step Act, July 1, 2026. Conditions of Confinement, PLRA, Post-release, ex-offender, re-entry, Sentences - Corrections or Modifications of, Compassionate Release.
- Louisiana’s Atavistic Approach to Criminal Sentencing and Parole Demonstrates Politicians’ Failure to Learn from Past Mistakes, July 1, 2026. Medical, Conditions of Confinement, Sentencing, Parole, Prisoners' Rights.
- California Appeals Court Sustains Amendments to CDCR that Narrow Youth Parole Eligibility Rules, July 1, 2026. Parole, Equal Protection Clause/Claims, Juvenile Offenses/Offenders, Credits, Prison Regulations.
- SCOTUS Announces Sentencing Disparities Created by Nonretroactive Statutory Amendments Cannot Constitute Extraordinary and Compelling Reasons for Compassionate Release, June 1, 2026. First Step Act, Mandatory Minimum Sentence, Statutory Construction/Interpretation, Sentencing Disparity, Compassionate Release.
- Florida Federal Court Excoriates BOP for Health Care Failures, Grants Prisoner Early Release to Seek Treatment for Possible Breast Cancer, June 1, 2026. DOC/BOP misconduct, Systemic Medical Neglect, Cancer, Failure to Treat, Compassionate Release.
- Sixth Circuit Rules Prisoner Held After Parole Board Ordered Release on Parole Could Not State a Rights Violation Claim, June 1, 2026. Parole, Overdetention, Qualified Immunity, Fourteenth Amendment, rights, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights.
- Uncounted COVID Deaths Reveal a Troubling Truth About Official Death Records, May 1, 2026. Racial Discrimination, Medical Records, COVID-19, Statistics/Trends, Databases.
- California Spends $300 Million Each Year Incarcerating Senior Citizens in Women’s Prisons, April 1, 2026. Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Totality of Conditions, Parole, Life without Parole (LWOP), Americans with Disabilities Act.
- Watchdog Blasts BOP for Failure to Treat Prisoner’s Preventable Cancer, March 1, 2026. Systemic Medical Neglect, Cancer, Failure to Treat, Contempt (Civil Procedure), Compassionate Release.
- Colorado Law Intended to Reduce Prison Population Hasn’t Improved Conditions, March 1, 2026. Overcrowding, Parole, halfway houses, Reduction of Prison Population.

